At the 2026 Technology Innovation Catalyst Conference held this afternoon, Shao Jianfei, General Manager of Government and Enterprise Affairs at Star Era Dynamics, shared insights on robotics deployment in logistics during a panel discussion.

According to Shao, customers currently adopt robots primarily for three reasons: difficulties in recruiting and retaining labor, rising management costs year over year, and the enhanced automation and online management capabilities that robots bring to operations.

Shao candidly acknowledged that robots have not yet reached the skill level of experienced human workers, though he noted they are getting close. He expressed confidence that robots will achieve or surpass human performance in the near future.

When evaluating robotic solutions, customers focus on operational efficiency, procurement costs, and the feasibility of large-scale deployment. However, Shao cautioned that deploying 300 robots at once is unrealistic in most cases.

Interestingly, he observed that some customers are willing to give the technology a chance once products reach a 60-70 score on capability assessments. Still, he noted that the current gap remains significant when it comes to establishing operations centers staffed by hundreds of robots.