At the hotel lobby, robots welcome guests, handle check-in and checkout procedures, and deliver meals; in the kitchen and bar area, they cook, prepare rice, pour draft beer, and make coffee. Outdoors, they mow lawns, while indoors they perform deep cleaning tasks such as scrubbing, sweeping, and dust polishing. Nanjing’s robots are truly versatile, capable of handling both front-of-house and back-of-house operations. What else can’t they do?
On the afternoon of September 3rd, a specialized matchmaking event for the hotel industry was held, organized by the Municipal Robot Industry Advancement Office and Hexi Group, and hosted by Jinfan Hotel & Tourism Development (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. The event, part of the "Ning Industrial Products Promotion" initiative, attracted numerous key hotel enterprises, robot development companies, and property management firms from across the city. It served as a platform to showcase the latest technological achievements and application capabilities of various robot products designed for hotels, while also creating a vital link between local robot technology and the specific needs of hotel service scenarios. The goal was to explore practical pathways for robot technology to empower hotel operations, boost efficiency, and reduce costs.
Spotlight on Live Demonstrations: Diverse Robots Showcase Complementary Strengths
At the venue, the Nanjing Jiangbin Hotel, a "landscape gardener" robot could be seen moving back and forth across the lawn, giving the green grass a precise trim. Zhao Cheng, an engineer at Sumec Hardware Tools Co., Ltd., explained, "This is our robotic lawnmower. It’s designed for maintaining large lawns over 2,000 square meters, can operate automatically on a set schedule, and one unit can replace the work of multiple people." He added that this model is primarily exported to countries like Germany, France, and the UK, with annual sales reaching 2,000 to 3,000 units. For the hotel sector specifically, Sumec also introduced a more compact "mini" version of the mower at the event.
As attendees stepped into the hotel lobby, a smart service robot from Jiangsu Nanda Electronics Co., Ltd. enthusiastically greeted everyone, saying, "Welcome to the special matchmaking event for the hotel industry." In a hotel setting, this robot is capable of handling tasks such as guest reception, self-service check-in and checkout, meal delivery, and conference services.
Cleaning is a critical operation in hotels, and Xiazhi Technology Co., Ltd. demonstrated its medium-sized indoor high-performance cleaning robot designed to simplify this chore. "Our robot supports scrubbing, sweeping, and dust polishing all in one machine, achieving deep floor cleaning and significantly increasing cleaning frequency," explained a representative from Xiazhi Technology. The robot is designed to operate at extremely low noise levels, making it suitable for the quiet environment hotels require.
Additionally, Huaxia Robotics captured attention with its bionic humanoid robots, "Xia Lan" and "Xing Xia Xing," which displayed their intelligent interaction capabilities to the attendees. According to an official from the Municipal Robot Industry Advancement Office, the participating robot companies, including Yijiahe, Jiangsu Jicui, Nanjing Tianchuang, Nanda Electronics, Xiazhi Technology, Leying Technology, and Huaxia Robotics, cover various specialized fields such as cleaning robots, food delivery robots, reception and guide robots, inspection robots, and cooking robots. Each brings distinct advantages in whole-machine R&D, intelligent perception, voice interaction, and cloud platform scheduling, making them highly complementary.
Announced Demand: More Than 100 Robots Needed Across 12 Specific Scenarios
How can these diverse robots be successfully implemented in real hotel operations? This matchmaking event was specifically designed to establish a bridge between supply and demand, fostering the integrated development of the robotics industry and hotel services. Wang Fei, Director of Housekeeping at Nanjing Jiangbin Hotel, presented the hotel industry's robot requirements on behalf of the consortium. "Our group, which includes Guoqing Hotel, Jumeirah Nanjing, Jinfan Wanyuan Hotel, and Jiangbin Hotel, has identified needs across 12 specific scenarios, including item delivery, cleaning, guest reception, inspection, dining services, and room services," Wang Fei detailed. Among these, high-frequency demands are concentrated in six main categories: delivery robots, unmanned outdoor cleaning robots, unmanned courtyard shuttle vehicles, inspection robots, indoor floor cleaning robots, and banquet serving robots.
The hotel industry currently faces significant challenges, including continuously rising labor costs, structural labor shortages, and the difficulty of balancing standardized service with personalized guest needs. High-frequency scenarios like cleaning, meal delivery, guest guidance, kitchen cooking, and fire control room inspections are prime entry points where service robots can be deployed to create immediate value. It was noted that the Hexi Group and its affiliated hotels have a demand for over 100 robots across these various scenarios, indicating substantial market potential. The organizers stated that these real, specific application needs provide robot companies with clear market direction, laying a solid foundation for precise collaboration between supply and demand. Nanjing’s robotics industry, with its robust technical expertise in intelligent navigation, voice interaction, multi-machine coordination, and cloud platform scheduling, is well-positioned to offer strong support for the intelligent upgrade of the hotel sector.
Enterprise Pitches Highlight Capabilities, Driving Precise Two-Way Matching
In the core segment of the event, seven representative companies specializing in hotel robots, including Tianchuang Robot and Nanda Electronics, presented their technical solutions and product features. Jiangsu Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. focused on food and beverage service scenarios, showcasing its self-developed "Zhi Song Yi Ti" (Intelligent Delivery and Brewing) coffee robot, which impressed the audience with its convenient and intelligent operation, from phone ordering and cup dispensing to elevator travel, cargo bay retrieval, and automatic return to its charging station.
Furthermore, Nanjing Leying Technology Co., Ltd. brought three flagship products to the event. Zhang Haotian, Sales Manager at Leying Technology, described them: "Our rice cooking robot can be powered by gas or electricity and features an intelligent built-in program to ensure optimal taste and nutrition of the rice. Our intelligent wok-cooking robot allows for customized menus, one-touch operation, and automatic stirring and parameter adjustments, making it suitable for various scenarios. Additionally, our beer dispensing machine maintains constant temperature and humidity, uses carbon dioxide, and produces beer with a delicate taste and rich foam."
The event also proved highly beneficial for the hotels representing the demand side. "This platform allowed us to connect with numerous local Nanjing robotics companies at once, discussing intelligent scenario applications for the hotel industry to achieve a win-win outcome," stated Wang Fei. The future of robotics lies in their practical application, and the vitality of that application stems from the scenarios they are used in. With its solid industrial base, abundant application scenarios, and a genuine spirit of open cooperation, Nanjing is in a critical window of rapid expansion and capability enhancement. This special event focused on the hotel industry, a key application scenario for robotics. Through technical exchanges, product showcases, and needs announcements, it built a precise bridge for supply and demand, promoting the deployment and transformation of Nanjing's robotics industry achievements within the hotel context and contributing to the intelligent transformation and upgrade of the city's hospitality sector.