CJ Logistics deploys two humanoids on Olive Young packing line
CJ Logistics has deployed two dual arm humanoid robots at an Olive Young distribution center in Yongin, South Korea, where they insert cushioning material into boxes on a live packaging line. The company describes the installation as the first use of humanoids in South Korean logistics operations.
According to BigGo Finance, CJ tested the robots at its Gunpo fulfillment center last year before placing them into the Yongin workflow. CJ characterizes the current deployment as the commercial phase of the project, although the source does not indicate whether the robots have been sold, leased, or developed under another commercial arrangement.
A narrow task in a real operation
The Korea Herald published an image of one robot placing cushioning paper inside a shipping box. It is a constrained packaging task, but one performed inside an operating distribution center rather than as a standalone demonstration.
Important performance details remain undisclosed. CJ has not provided the robot model, locomotion system, autonomy level, payload, cycle time, uptime, intervention rate, or comparison with human packing performance. Those figures will be needed to assess whether the CJ Logistics humanoids can deliver useful throughput beyond proving that the task can be integrated into the line.
CJ says humanoids could complement fixed automation in distribution centers that handle varied products and orders. Their proposed advantage is the ability to work across processes while using facilities designed around human workers, reducing the need to rebuild each station around dedicated machinery.
CJ plans picking, sorting and inspection
Operational data from Yongin will be fed back into AI training to improve accuracy and responses to changing conditions. CJ is also developing what it calls a Robot Foundation Model, which uses vision and sensor inputs to select and execute actions.
The project combines hardware from Robotis, robot hands from Aidin Robotics and foundation model development from Realworld AI. CJ has not identified which organization is responsible for system integration or disclosed the commercial terms of those collaborations.
The planned task sequence starts with packaging and is expected to extend to product picking, sorting and inspection. CJ’s longer term objective is a general purpose logistics humanoid that can complete several processes sequentially with one unit.
Kim Jung-hee, head of the company’s TES Logistics Technology Research Institute, said CJ intends to combine logistics data with AI so the robots can autonomously assess and perform a wider range of tasks. For now, the deployment consists of two machines handling one defined packaging operation, with no published schedule for the broader roles.
Sources: BigGo Finance, The Korea Herald
