MODEX 2026: Cainiao debuts ZeeBot climbing robot

Company says new robot doubles storage and retrieval productivity in live operations

Cainiao

By Robotics 24/7 Staff    April 18, 2026         

MODEX 2026: Cainiao debuts ZeeBot climbing robot

Cainiao

Cainiao released the ZeeBot rack-climbing warehouse robot at MODEX 2026.

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MODEX 2026: Cainiao debuts ZeeBot climbing robot

Cainiao

Cainiao released the ZeeBot rack-climbing warehouse robot at MODEX 2026.

Global e-commerce logistics and logistics technology provider Cainiao launched the ZeeBot at MODEX 2026.

The company said that ZeeBot is its first self-developed rack-climbing warehouse robot.

First deployments show storage and retrieval increases

Cainiao said that the first warehouse project powered by ZeeBot has been delivered and is now operating in Guangdong, China.

The company said that results from the deployment show that the new robot has increased storage and retrieval productivity by 100%, with ZeeBot able to climb the height of a five-level rack in as little as 10 seconds.

“Logistics workflows are long and complex. Traditional automation can deliver major efficiency gains at individual steps, but the end-to-end process is often fragmented, leaving gaps in the automated flow,” said Bi Jianghua, vice president of Cainiao Group and general manager of logistics technology. “As a key product designed to connect multiple operational links, ZeeBot will help warehouses move beyond point automation to a new phase of AI-scheduled, end-to-end multi-robot collaboration.”

Cainiao said that ZeeBot represents a milestone in the company’s in-house development of core logistics technology and highlights the industry’s shift from software-enabled, point automation toward AI-driven, end-to-end intelligent operations.

ZeeBot is built for the warehouse

The company said that ZeeBot was purpose-built for warehouse environments and is designed to solve a common limitation in automated facilities: horizontal movement and vertical storage are often handled by separate systems, and the handoffs between them can restrict throughput.

Cainiao said that ZeeBot combines both functions in a single robot. It travels quickly through ultra-narrow aisles on the warehouse floor, then climbs racking to retrieve and put away totes. Coordinated through fleet-level scheduling, the company said that its system increases storage density and improves overall flow. It also delivers system-level flexibility because robots are not tied to a fixed aisle, and instead, they can be dispatched in parallel to wherever capacity is needed. 

 

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