China Leading Automation Race, Companies Replacing Up To 90% In Workforce With Robots

The age of automation is coming and there’s absolutely nothing that people can do about it. At this moment, China is taking the lead in terms of the number of companies adopting the trend. Some have replaced their human workforces outright while others opted to simply supplement their labor with innovative robots.

Of the companies that have chosen to use robots to cut costs and boost productivity, one of the best examples of what automation looks like is Shentong Express. As a Chinese shipping firm, Shentong uses tiny, box-shaped robots to receive packages from workers, have them checked via scanner, and then bring them to their appropriate stations, Futurism reports.

As viewers will see with the video below, the way these robots move almost appear similar to that of worker ants where every unit is moving in unison. On top of being self-charging, which effectively means that they can work all day, every day, the company has since cut costs by half and increased productivity by 30 percent. It even had a drastic effect on accuracy, which is great news for absolutely everyone but the workers.

Because of Shentong and other companies transitioning to a more automated system like it, China has become a hotspot for robotic innovation, CNBC reports. It even surpasses many other countries in terms of innovative prospects, as Turing Robot CEO Yu Zhichen told the publication.

"I've been to the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, and Israel, and the opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship in China are just as good — in some respects it's actually better," Yu said.

Much of this has to do with the country’s willingness to drop its workforce, with some even going so far as eliminating 90 percent of its manpower in favor of using machines. China has also invested a lot in its technology sector, making for a robust technical population.