A major milestone in real-world AGF performance and logistics innovation

May 15–16, 2025 | Hefei, China — The First Global Autonomous Forklift (AGF) Application Scenario Competition concluded successfully in Hefei, China. Hosted by the Mobile Robot Industry Alliance, the event focused on practical, scenario-based evaluations of unmanned forklifts across real industrial challenges and deployment conditions.

🏁 Competition Highlights

Top AGF solution providers from across the globe gathered to demonstrate their capabilities in four core competition zones, covering essential operational scenarios in warehousing and logistics:

• High-Efficiency Material Handling

• Obstacle Avoidance in Complex Environments

• Precision High Stacking

• Heavy Load Lifting & Cage Stacking

Hangcha Intelligence stood out with its Mini Stacking AGV, winning the “Outstanding Leadership Award” and the “Millimeter-Level Precision Golden Steering Wheel Award,” showcasing strength in high-density stacking, agility in narrow aisles, and coordination across multi-level operations.

🔍 Technical Achievements & Innovations

• Navigation: Most entries relied on SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), enabling navigation in 1.9m-wide aisles without the need for QR codes or magnetic strips.

• Task Orchestration: Real-time scheduling systems enabled multi-vehicle coordination and integration with warehouse management systems (WMS).

• Charging & Runtime: Fast-charging battery systems ensured near-continuous operation while reducing energy consumption by up to 30%.

Hangcha CTO Tao Yikun delivered a keynote speech highlighting the shift from “automated execution” to “cognitive collaboration,” emphasizing AI-powered perception, adaptive tasking, and standardized testing as core to the next generation of industrial forklifts.

📈 Market Trends & Industry Outlook

• The global autonomous forklift market is projected to reach $270M–$690M in 2025, with CAGR of 9–13.5%, expected to double by 2030–2032.

• The Asia-Pacific region accounts for nearly 50% of the global market share, led by demand from China and India.

• Key growth drivers include labor shortages, e-commerce fulfillment demands, safety compliance pressures, and rising expectations for operational efficiency.

✅ Final Takeaway

The competition marked a turning point — not in proving that AGFs can work, but in demonstrating how well they perform under industrial pressure.

It also signaled a broader industry shift: from early pilots to measurable, scenario-driven benchmarks, accelerating commercial deployment and ecosystem integration.

As AI, coordination algorithms, battery systems, and performance standards continue to advance, autonomous forklifts are poised to become a core enabler of smart intralogistics, delivering safety, agility, and scalability to complex supply chains.