Logistics Center Accidents Surge... AI Safety Monitoring Expands Rapidly

[Financial News] Boxes passing endlessly on the conveyor belt. Logistics centers, where hundreds of thousands of shipments are received and dispatched daily, are spaces where small mistakes can lead directly to major accidents. This is why the logistics industry is rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) safety monitoring systems.
According to the National Logistics Integration Information Center on the 24th, domestic parcel volume increased by 42% from 3.63 billion in 2021 to 5.15 billion in 2023 over two years. In line with this, the registered area of logistics centers also increased by 48% during the same period, but the increase in the number of workers was only 8%, failing to keep pace with the expansion of management personnel. On-site, operational issues such as misdelivery and loss, as well as accidents involving falls, collisions, and fires, are compounding, increasing the sense of crisis.
In fact, a fire at a logistics warehouse in Gyeonggi-do in 2020 claimed 38 lives, and repeated accidents such as conveyor belt entrapment, forklift collisions, and loading and unloading falls have occurred at multiple centers in the metropolitan area from 2022 to 2024. According to statistics from the Fire Department, there were 1,387 warehouse facility fires in 2019 alone. The logistics industry points out that expanding scale without supplementing manpower has reached the limits of on-site management.
The problem is that delivery accidents are also serious. According to a survey by the Korea Consumer Agency, product loss accounts for 30.3% of all delivery accidents. The main causes are internal management issues such as packaging omissions or label errors. This directly leads to costs for refunds and redelivery, as well as a decline in corporate credibility.
In response, the industry sees limitations in existing CCTV-centered management and is moving to introduce AI-based new technologies. Security company S1 has introduced △ a 'Logistics Tracking Solution' that can track the entire logistics process of a product by simply entering the tracking number △ an 'SVMS Safety Monitoring Solution' that detects fires, falls, and unauthorized entries in real-time and alerts managers.
The logistics tracking solution automatically links and stores videos taken on conveyor belts and workstations with tracking numbers. If a problem occurs, entering the number allows you to check how the product went through the packaging and sorting process. Since its introduction, BGF Logistics' Geomdan Center has reduced misdelivery and loss rates by about 30% over two years, reducing losses by more than 10 million won per month and over 100 million won annually.
SVMS Safety Monitoring automatically recognizes fires, worker falls, and entry into dangerous areas with AI algorithms and immediately alerts the control center and managers. It aims to prevent accidents in advance or minimize damage spread.
On the 19th, S1 and BGF Logistics signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at their headquarters for the introduction of the logistics tracking system. By the end of the year, they plan to establish the system in 19 ambient centers and some partner centers operated by BGF Logistics, and conduct a pilot operation at one cold storage center. They are also considering expanding to centers nationwide in the future.
An industry official said, "Logistics centers need to simultaneously address business losses due to misdelivery and loss and worker safety accidents," adding, "We will solve the logistics industry's concerns together through the introduction of advanced solutions that can enhance efficiency and safety."

jimnn@fnnews.com Shin Ji-min Reporter