FlexIn2Log

On the one hand, supply and internal logistics must become more flexible and transparent in order to take material transport and transfer away from production workers. On the other hand, more automation is needed to safeguard internal logistics from too much manual work and errors in its planning or control. How can digital technologies/platforms and digitally controlled autonomous mobile robots be implemented more quickly to achieve flexibility and efficiency gains? How can this create added value in practice, also in SME companies? VIL, together with the manufacturing companies and their logistics and ICT partners, will answer all these questions in a very practical way.

Opportunities

• Accelerating and aligning the logistics supply chain to facilitate production changes
• Reducing internal delivery quantities (less stock in production)
• Increasing the predictability of logistical movements
• Relieving operators of non-production tasks
• Drastically reducing the number of errors (missing or wrong components in production)
• Increasing productivity and competitiveness by automating and optimizing the logistics processes on the production floor, the warehouse logistics preceding it and the supply chain of materials and parts

Results

• Within this project, VIL and Sirris conducted a market study on the most advanced smart transport robots (AGVs and AMRs) to automate internal transport within warehouses and production logistics, aiming to increase efficiency and avoid damage.
• The project provided a clear methodology and roadmap, giving companies the necessary tools to conduct a feasibility study.
• Two key tools, AGVSim and the ROI tool, are included in the VIL Logibox. AGVSim makes it possible to estimate the number of transport robots needed for specific logistics tasks. The ROI tool’s user-friendly web application can calculate the business case.
• The project’s final result included a physical demonstrator, demonstrating that full digitisation of the logistics process is a basic requirement for project success.
• The testing and validation of a multi-brand fleet management system demonstrated the feasibility of combining transport robots from different brands.
• The digitalisation and integration of the different systems can be set up efficiently by using standards such as MQTT. However, it is not yet plug-and-play, and progress is still needed on standardisation.
• The calculated business case at Haelvoet showed that a positive ROI within 2-3 years is realistic.