Swire Coca-Cola gets robots for heavy lifting in satisfying Chinese consumers’ thirst

New automated facility to help meet increasingly diverse demand across emerging sales channels, company says

Chinese consumers are demanding more variety from the drinks sections in their local stores, and Swire Coca-Cola is employing robots to help quench this increasingly diversified thirst.

The company began using a robotic system for order picking this month in a factory in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan province, where it has invested 900 million yuan (US$134.3 million).

“China is a growth market, and consumer habits are changing,” said Peter Mills, chief supply chain officer of Swire Coca-Cola, in Zhengzhou on Friday. “We need to have a more flexible and responsive supply chain to meet the shifting needs, covering emerging sales channels including convenience stores, vending coolers and snack stores.”

The facility automated order picking, which was a heavy challenge in markets where manual labour was still used, according to Mills.