To match our ambitions of enhancing the competitiveness of the logistics sector by implementing sustainable and innovative concepts and technologies in our 4 thematic domains, VIL takes on an active role in regional, interregional, and international projects.
VIL instigates, facilitates, engages with, participates in, and leads projects throughout the full implementation process.
‘Waste is the new gold’, so the saying goes. It’s a fact that there’s huge economic potential in recycling. The ambitious ‘Flanders Recycling Hub’ project aims to put Flemish ports on the global map in order to attract flows of materials and recycling activities.
Flexible transport robots, or Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), show great potential. The new generation of transport robots are flexible and compact and have no impact on infrastructure. Some also have a fully autonomous location system on board. In which warehouse operations can they be used?
Through the Value Added Trucking project, VIL aims to investigate which (administrative or other) value-added tasks can be executed by the driver of a self-driving truck. This is not about the technological angle, but the logistical approach: what improvement in efficiency and productivity can be achieved by having the driver on board the self-driving truck […]
In recent months, parcel delivery by using drones has become a topic of discussion. However, the large-scale use of drones for this purpose remains a pipe dream. Drones that collect stock from a warehouse or monitor materials and equipment in a yard offer more opportunities in the short term. This leaves sufficient reasoning for VIL […]
In the last few years, manufacturing companies have been returning their production from Asia or opening additional manufacturing facilities back in Eastern Europe . VIL has launched the ‘Nearshoring’ project in collaboration with seven companies to identify the logistics opportunities presented by this trend to maximally capitalize on it.
The logistics chains for online and offline sales are often completely separate. Ideally, these two logistics chains need to be integrated as much as possible, to meet changing customer requirements and for making the process more efficient. The aim of this new project is therefore the integration of the – currently separate – ‘online’ and […]
Cobots are robots that will follow tasks easily for them to be deployed effortlessly and swiftly, at a low investment cost. Through the ‘Cobots in Logistics’ project, VIL aims to enable the logistics sector to acquire knowledge and practical experience on the possibilities of these flexible service robots.
The surge in wearable technologies, in particular smart glasses, offers opportunities for performing certain logistical tasks more efficiently and accurately, in a highly user-friendly manner. This project aims to identify the potential and opportunities of these technologies and to test them in a practical environment.
