As Japan’s delivery and trucking companies struggle with acute labor shortages, major trading houses think they can help. They are coming up with products to improve efficiency in the logistics sector, including robots and data tracking systems.
Sumitomo Corporation set up a joint venture with a US company in June to market a robot that loads cargo into trucks.
Sumitomo says the machine uses artificial intelligence to detect the size of packages and how to best lift and load them.
The company claims the robot does the job in the same time as human workers and has a track record of success in the US.
The partners aim to sell about 1,500 units to delivery firms in Japan by 2026.
In a related move, Itochu Corporation has joined hands with two other companies to develop software for streamlining shipping services.
Itochu says the system analyzes about 70 data points to optimize cargo handling. These include time required for delivery, size of shipment, and warehouse inventory.
It aims to have the product ready for sale by March, targeting logistics companies in need of better data-crunching to improve efficiency.