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The transition from waste to resource and recycling management together with the increasing cost pressure, leads to higher quality requirements and efficiency of logistics. This applies to businesses from commercial and municipal waste management as well as industry, trade and service enterprises with in-house waste disposal tasks likewise.
The focus here is on the demand of municipal and commercial waste management. Against the above mentioned background, planning and optimization of internal & external logistics significantly contributes to the profitability of recycling management. These measures include the design of efficient transport chains and the optimization of complex logistics networks similarly like the optimization of waste collection, waste transport and waste handling to give just a few examples. Another building block for a comprehensive consulting service is the planning of facilities and companies in the field of recycling management. In terms of logistics site consultancy, operational transport and material flow planning or ergonomic design of workplaces, the Fraunhofer IML has already supported several recycling management companies with optimizing their plant logistics.
Further optimization potentials can be developed by the application of innovative hard and software in logistics processes. The Fraunhofer IML supports businesses with the selection, introduction, adaptation, along with purchase of suitable ICT and in addition, elaborates innovative approaches in the area of the mathematical optimization (e.g. in district and route planning) as well as development of software prototypes. Special highlight of the offered range of services by Fraunhofer IML is the testing site Laboratory for Waste Management, Information and Communication Technologies, briefly "WICI".
As a result of rising prices for secondary raw materials as well as improved waste disposal logistics in companies, potentials emerge by optimizing the in-house waste management. Through our expertise in the field of the commercial and municipal waste management as well as our know-how in advising companies, we develop integrated, cross-functional concepts for an operational waste management. This includes i.a. independent and comprehensive analysis, planning and optimization of material and information flows, as well as waste disposal processes (e.g. container and container locations, emptying cycles). Aim of our activities is to develop cost-effective solutions for our customers and to implement them in the operational practice.
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Overview
Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML