(Yicai Global) Sept. 14 -- Chinese companies are coming up with ways to free up elevator space inside office buildings while helping delivery workers move onto the next order faster.

Some firms in Shanghai have begun to use service robots to deliver meals inside office buildings, Yicai Global learned.

Ele.me and Meituan Dianping, China's two leading takeout delivery platforms, have recently added options that provide more flexibility for drivers after magazine Nothing But Storytelling revealed that those couriers who miss their 30-minute deadline could be fired.

Tech comes to human's aid. One of the helpers is Shanghai-based startup Yogo Robot as the company's bots have delivered more than 150,000 orders across the city over the past more than a year, according to Zhao Ming, founder and chief executive.

An office building with 2,000 people will generate nearly 100 takeout orders during lunchtime, according to Zhao. That would mean 25 trips for one Yogo robot.

The droid can make a takeout driver save about a third of their time on each order as the courier can leave the food inside the device's four lockers that open with a password. The bot can even communicate with an Internet of Things elevator to call the lift and make a judgment based on cameras and sensors about whether the elevator is too full to enter.

Editor: Zhang Yushuo, Emmi Laine