INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
We support our customers' success by constantly further developing our own services. With digitalization projects and innovative approaches, we help shape more efficient and sustainable logistics while making our company fit for the future.
UN goal
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
Implementation at BLG
We are already seeing a shortage of skilled workers in many areas. For example, it is extremely difficult to find qualified forklift drivers on the labor market – and this is a growing trend that we expect will continue. In our response to the challenges of the future, we are also leveraging the possibilities that digitalization and automation offer.
Within the scope of a first automation project of this kind, we have integrated a driverless transport system into our processes at the Bremen site. Started as a 100-day project, two autonomous forklifts now permanently perform a range of operations alongside their human colleagues. The warehouse interfaces with the vehicles to form an intelligent unit by directly transmitting orders generated by the warehouse management system to the forklifts, which then process them. An in-built laser scanner enables the vehicles to navigate autonomously and, above all, safely around the warehouse at a speed of up to 2.5 m/s. Another advantage is that they can operate around the clock. This allows us to handle significantly higher throughput volumes and at the same time to deploy our employees for other tasks. The integration of the system therefore has long-term cost and quality advantages.
Equipped with intelligent software, the forklifts are particularly efficient at handling recurring transport tasks. Thanks to state-of-the-art lithium-ion technology, the trucks can operate for up to eight hours at full capacity. When the battery needs charging, the forklifts automatically drive to the charging stations at predefined intervals. The success of the project confirms that integrating automated and networked solutions into logistics processes pays off. In combination with other applications such as the Internet of Things, this will enable us to build resilient and more sustainable logistics.
