NAPA Auto Parts picks Hai Robotics' HaiPick robots, integrated by Hy-Tek, for a US flow-center overhaul
Chinese warehouse-robot maker Hai Robotics and US integrator Hy-Tek Intralogistics said in a press release on Oct 15 that NAPA Auto Parts has selected them to automate its flow-center operations with a multi-robot HaiPick system.
The release gives no site, robot count, contract value or start date. The win comes as US rules on foreign-produced robots tighten, a risk MEKAWIRE has tracked since the FCC's July notice.
NAPA Auto Parts, the US parts distributor with nearly 6,000 stores, has chosen Shenzhen-based Hai Robotics and US integrator Hy-Tek Intralogistics to automate its flow-center operations, the two suppliers said in a press release on Oct 15. Hy-Tek designed the system around several HaiPick models, Hai Robotics' line of case-handling autonomous storage and retrieval robots.
The announcement is thin on numbers, and that is the first thing a buyer or investor should notice. It does not name the facility, the number of robots, the storage positions, the contract value or when the system goes live.
What the release does say
Hy-Tek acted as systems integrator and engineered a multi-robot Hai Robotics system meant to handle NAPA's varied SKU profile in one automated storage and retrieval solution, according to the release. Before committing, NAPA tested the technology in Hy-Tek's Innovation Lab, which the companies describe as a live warehouse environment, to validate performance and refine the design. The stated goals are higher storage density, throughput and order accuracy. NAPA's network carries about 800,000 parts, accessories and supplies and serves more than 18,000 auto-care centres, the release says.
Executives from all three companies are quoted: Hy-Tek's Derek Miller and Hai Robotics' Hunter Senn, both vice presidents of sales, and NAPA design-engineering director Tyler Park, who said the lab trial gave the team confidence before implementation.
Why the try-before-you-buy lab matters
Case-handling robots that climb racks to fetch totes and cartons are sold against fixed shuttle and cube-storage systems. A lab where a customer can run its own SKUs reduces the integration risk that slows these deals, and it shifts bargaining power toward integrators that own such facilities.
MEKAWIRE analysis
The deal shows Chinese warehouse robots are still winning blue-chip US accounts through American integrators, but the integrator, not the robot maker, now carries the political risk.
Hai Robotics last disclosed new capital in 2021, when it raised a combined USD 200m Series C and D, according to MEKAWIRE's database. Its listed rival Geek+ said US revenue overtook China in 2025. Both rely on US partners to win and service accounts like NAPA.
- Hai Robotics
- China
- Series C and D (combined)
- Sep 21, 2021
- USD 200m
- Exotec
- France
- Series D at USD 2bn post-money
- Jan 17, 2022
- USD 335m
- Locus Robotics
- US
- Series F
- Nov 29, 2022
- USD 117m
- Geek+
- China
- HKEX listing
- Jul 9, 2025
- HKD 2.71bn
Disclosed figures from company and exchange releases; not estimates.
As of Oct 16, 2026
The strongest counter-argument to the risk view is that the US Federal Communications Commission's July 28 public notice on adding foreign-produced advanced robots to its Covered List has not, as far as the companies have disclosed, been applied to warehouse AS/RS. Korea's robot association set up a response team in September, which MEKAWIRE reported, and Hai Robotics' release does not mention the rule.
Bull case: NAPA rolls the design across its distribution network and Hy-Tek becomes a repeat channel. Bear case: a covered-list decision or customer caution freezes follow-on sites. Signals to watch: any FCC order on robots, a NAPA site announcement with robot counts, and Hai Robotics' next funding or listing filing.
- Automated fulfilment for NAPA flow-center operations, multi-robot AS/RS
- NAPA Auto Parts: nearly 6,000 stores, 18,000+ auto-care centres, about 800,000 parts
- Hai Robotics (HaiPick Systems) with Hy-Tek Intralogistics as integrator
- Pre-deployment trial in Hy-Tek's Innovation Lab
- Hai Robotics press release, Oct 15, 2026
- Site, robot count, contract value, go-live date
Why it matters
A large, named US distributor choosing a Chinese AS/RS vendor is a reference account in a market where references decide deals, at a moment when US policy on foreign robots is under review.
Rival analysis
HaiPick competes with Exotec's Skypod, AutoStore cube storage, Geek+ and Locus Robotics. Exotec and Locus have disclosed larger late-stage rounds in our data; AutoStore and Geek+ are listed.
Valuation context
Hai Robotics' last disclosed round in MEKAWIRE data is the combined USD 200m Series C and D of Sep 2021; no newer valuation is disclosed.
Supply-chain implications
Robots are made by a Shenzhen company and integrated and serviced in the US by Hy-Tek, which concentrates any regulatory exposure on hardware origin.
Signals to watch
FCC decisions on the robot covered list; NAPA site disclosures; Hai Robotics capital-markets filings.
Analyst view
Confidence medium that this is a meaningful reference win; low on its size, which is undisclosed.
Questions you should be asking
How many robots and sites? Is the contract hardware sale or robots-as-a-service? How would an FCC listing affect installed systems?