KORTHOS / ECOSYSTEM / PRODUCT

AutoFork

About

About AutoFork

AutoFork is Hakuou Robotics’ autonomous walkie forklift, combining a compact chassis with pallet recognition and interfaces to warehouse equipment. It supports fixed pickup positions and recognition of multiple staged pallets, allowing transport instructions to accommodate changes in pallet placement.

At Nippon TransCity’s Mie Asahi Logistics Center, a single AutoFork Standard moves pallets from staging areas to a vertical conveyor. Workers place the pallets and issue transport instructions; the robot retrieves the load, checks whether the conveyor is occupied and waits when necessary before placing it. The installation connects floor-level transport with an existing vertical handling process.

Capabilities

Source-backed capabilities

  • Pallet transport and handling

    Customer-site use - 2026-08-05 - The connected workflow covers pallet handling between the factory and logistics centre.

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  • Autonomous pallet transport

    Customer-site use - 2026-07-28 - picked finished-product pallets from multiple staging rows and loaded them into a vertical conveyor - environment: Nippon TransCity Mie Asahi Logistics Center

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  • Pallet transport and handling

    Customer-site use - 2026-07-28 - transported pallets between staging positions and the vertical conveyor - environment: Nippon TransCity Mie Asahi Logistics Center

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Operations

  • Operating Milestone

    approximately 50 pallets per day - 2026-08-05 - Ebara Logistics - food-factory palletizer and logistics workflow - AutoFork entered live operation at Ebara Logistics’ Tsuyama centre, exchanging PLC signals with a robotic palletizer to move finished and empty pallets across a roughly 50-pallet-per-day workflow that includes overnight operation.

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  • Operating Milestone

    100–150 pallets per day - 2026-07-28 - Nippon TransCity - logistics centre vertical pallet transport - One AutoFork Standard entered stable operation at a Nippon TransCity logistics site, handling a workflow of 100–150 pallets per day through a vertical conveyor interface.

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  • Order / Commitment

    10 units - 2026-04-15 - manufacturing and logistics sites - Hakuou said the first 10-unit production lot of AutoFork sold out about three months after availability began, with units entering live manufacturing and logistics operations.

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Timeline

  • Hakuou Robotics puts AutoFork into operation at Ebara Logistics

    2026-08-05 - Deployment - AutoFork removes finished pallets and replenishes empty pallets for the production line. The connected workflow covers pallet handling between the factory and logistics centre. The system can continue the pallet-transfer workflow overnight.

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  • Hakuou Robotics deploys AutoFork at Nippon TransCity logistics site

    2026-07-28 - Deployment - The production unit picks pallets from multiple staging rows and loads them into the vertical conveyor. A fork-tip sensor checks whether the conveyor is occupied and holds the robot back when required. The site went live about one month after ordering and is Hakuou's first deployment through Logisnext Japan.

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  • Hakuou and Mitsubishi Logisnext sign AutoFork sales partnership in Japan

    2025-08-28 - Partnership - Hakuou Robotics signed a sales cooperation agreement with Mitsubishi Logisnext for AutoFork, with nationwide dealer sales scheduled to start on 1 September 2025. The product uses a Mitsubishi Logisnext walkie-lift base vehicle with Hakuou’s automation functions and can switch between manual and unmanned operation. AutoFork offers same-day route setup through playback learning, 360-degree obstacle sensing, multi-pallet recognition and a 570-kilogram maximum load; maintenance is split between Hakuou’s automation systems and the base vehicle’s manual functions.

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  • Prologis invests in Hakuou Robotics

    2024-08-27 - Funding - Hakuou Robotics completed a third-party allotment to Prologis to expand AutoFork development, sales and support. Prologis invested in early August 2024. Hakuou said the funding would support hiring and AutoFork commercialization.

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Context

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