Cainiao last week launched ZeeBot, a self-developed rack-climbing warehouse robot, at MODEX 2026. The company also announced that its first ZeeBot-powered warehouse deployment is operating in Guangdong, China.
“Logistics workflows are long and complex. Traditional automation can deliver efficiency at individual steps, but the end-to-end process is often fragmented, leaving gaps in the automated flow,” said Bi Jianghua, general manager of logistics technology and vice president at Cainiao. “As a key product designed to connect multiple operational links, ZeeBot will help warehouses move to a new phase of AI-scheduled, end-to-end multi-robot collaboration.”
As one of the world’s largest e-commerce logistics providers, Cainiao operates a global network that provides large-scale, real-world scenarios to test and validate new logistics technologies. The Hangzhou, China-based company said its technology speeds up iteration and strengthens reliability in production environments.
ZeeBot can handle vertical and horizontal movement
Cainaio said it designed ZeeBot to solve a common automation limitation in warehouse environments. Horizontal movement and vertical storage are often handled by separate systems, and the handoffs between them can restrict throughput, it said.
ZeeBot combines both functions in a single robot. It can travel quickly through ultra-narrow aisles on the warehouse floor, then climb racking to retrieve and put away totes. Coordinated through fleet-level scheduling, the system improves overall flow, according to the company.
Compared with other automated warehouses, ZeeBot-enabled sites deliver clear advantages, claimed Cainiao. It said its robots can travel at speeds of up to 4 m/sec. (8.9 mph) on the floor and climb to racking up to five stories high in as little as 10 seconds. The solution cana also increase storage density, improving space utilization by 40%.
With a modular design that speeds up deployment, it gives warehouses greater flexibility to scale capacity as volumes grow or demand changes, said Cainaio.
Cainaio reports favorable robotics results
In the field, ZeeBot increased storage and retrieval productivity by 100%, reported Cainiao said. The robot is able to climb to the height of a five-level rack in as little as 10 seconds. With the release, the company said it is moving away from software-enabled, point automation toward AI-driven, “end-to-end” intelligent operations.
ZeeBot is now commercially available. Over 100 units are already operating in a logistics warehouse in Dongguan, Guangdong, supporting a leading global cross-border e-commerce platform.
Building on deployments already under way in China, Cainaio said it plans to roll out ZeeBot next in its warehouses and customers in Europe and North America.