Loading and unloading trucks is a time-consuming process that is mostly carried out manually. Truck drivers spend a significant amount of time every year waiting at warehouses to load and unload. For shippers these processes are seen as a necessary evil. VIL is working out the project ‘OptiCharge’ to see how automation can make loading and unloading more efficient.
This project deals with the ICT paradox in Flanders. A highly developed ICT industry is present in our region. Yet a lot of companies experience difficulties in getting an overview of this fast evolving environment and in setting clear goals to make their digital transformation tangible and feasible. Moreover, the ICT industry is often not involved with digital transformation initiatives.
Technological evolutions impact what current and future logistic employees should be able to do and know. A competence forcast clarifies the expected shifts, which allows to anticipate and suggest adjustments on education.
With this project VIL has examined how the new generation of exoskeletons can be used for manuel activities in the logistics sector. The objective was to reduce physical strain for employees and to increase productivity of repetitive tasks and heavy lifting.
Log!Ville is the landmark innovation centre for the logistics ecosystem.
The Physical Internet: an open logistics system which pursues physical, digital and operational interconnectivity trough clustering data, interfaces, protocols, etc. VIL participates the European project SENSE which aims to use the Physical Internet to achieve co-modal transport services on a European level, within a well synchronizes, intelligent and seamless network, and thereby give optimal support to the supply chain.
Self-driving electric vehicles: they’re already undergoing thorough testing for passenger transport. Can these self-driving vehicles also be used to carry goods in logistics operations, specifically in the context of urban logistics? This futuristic project begins by setting out the requirements.
Low power wide area networks (LPWAN) such as Sigfox or LoRa could well play a major role in the future. VIL will investigate what these wireless, energy-efficient networks could mean for tracking and monitoring assets and high value goods.
Through this project, in conjunction with the road haulage sector, VIL aims to design a costing model that reflects the actual profitability of every transport order carried out.
With Crowd Logistics, private individuals or semi-professionals are used to transport goods. What business models can apply to this? What are the legal implications? How can this be integrated into business logistics and what is its added value, both for logistical actors and for society in general?
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?
Innovation is important. Innovation makes for better margins, for a better world. But innovation is not always easy and success is not always guaranteed. And it requires an investment from you, in people and in time.
That is why you can rely on the expertise of VIL and on a reserved budget for innovation projects related to logistics!
