(Yicai Global) July 10 -- Alibaba Group Holding’s supermarket chain Freshippo, also known as Hema Fresh, has opened its biggest supply chain center in Shanghai.

The one-million-square-foot hub integrates the processing of agricultural produce, research and development of ready-to-eat foods, cold storage of semi-finished foods, a centralized kitchen, and cold chain logistics distribution, Freshippo said in a press release today.

The center, which took three years to build, will support Freshippo Supermarkets, Freshippo X members-only outlets, and other retail stores in the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Hefei. It can sort more than 2.8 million items per day.

“This is Freshippo’s first wholly automated park,” said Hao Jingbin, director of the new center. “It also leverages technologies such as fifth-generation network, the internet of things, and blockchain to achieve full automation and digitization of the entire supply chain, which helps to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce operational costs.”

The hub boasts automated equipment such as guided vehicles, robotic arms, and cross-belt sorters. AGVs use quick response codes and inertial navigation technologies, allowing them to be deployed on the cloud server during the product sorting process. Based on intelligent algorithms, AGVs can follow the optimal path and work together to transport unpacked goods.

Founded in Shanghai in 2015, Freshippo operates more than 300 stores across 27 Chinese cities and has seven supply chain centers.

Editor: Futura Costaglione