Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML
Almost exactly eight years ago, at the 35th Zukunftskongress Logistik event in Dortmund, the Rhenus Group and Fraunhofer IML broke the news: they were going to collaborate in an Enterprise Lab. Since then, they have racked up a number of successes as partners in the Rhenus Enterprise Lab – and in the coming years, they aim to shape the future of logistics together.
In 2017, Fraunhofer IML announced its collaboration with Rhenus in a dedicated Enterprise Lab by sharing an image of two puzzle pieces being pushed toward each other – it was the start of a genuine success story. In its 112 years of company history, Rhenus has developed extensive know-how in numerous areas: The experts at this global logistics service provider know how to further develop and optimize logistics processes along their customers’ supply chains. From innovative solutions for all stages of the supply chain right through to warehousing and conventional transportation, Rhenus offers its customers almost everything in the logistics field. Meanwhile, Fraunhofer IML’s expertise extends to many different areas of logistics research: it was with the aim of giving companies access to this expertise and the latest technologies and findings in logistics research that the concept of Enterprise Labs was devised at the institute in 2013. The Enterprise Lab Center in Dortmund allows partner companies to position themselves at the forefront of cutting-edge, agile, interdisciplinary research. The prototype center has a number of state-ofthe-art laboratories where components and prototypes can be manufactured as needed and tested out. The Enterprise Labs also have integrated coworking spaces so project partners can collaborate directly on site. The establishment of a dedicated Enterprise Lab gave Rhenus new ways of accessing this infrastructure, allowing the group’s employees to delve deeply into the research world and find optimal tailored solutions. Half full or half empty? Rhenus employees and customers have both been mulling over this famous question for many years, but in a rather specific context: It relates to containers for files and data carriers that have to be kept locked to maintain security. However, if a service provider employee cannot look inside of the container, then they will not be able to tell whether it is half full or half empty. To take a German example: For many years, it was common for some secure containers to be emptied when they were only half full, while elsewhere, early emptying had to be manually requested for full containers.
This was the first project that the researchers at the Rhenus Enterprise Lab tackled together, and it was a roaring success: Rhenus customers are already using large numbers of these smart secure containers and the figures just keep on climbing. So what does the smart container look like? Quite normal actually: It looks just like the thousands of other document bins in office buildings around Germany. However, it has one small, but important difference: the “Rhenus ITCPRO level sensor.” The sensor, which is no larger than a cigarette packet, can automatically determine how full its respective bin is. It transfers this data to the waste disposal company’s ERP system, which triggers automatic and timely bin collection and ensures customers no longer have to worry about secure containers for files and data carriers overflowing. What’s more, this also prevents empty collection runs, as the containers are emptied at exactly the right time – which results in huge CO2 footprint improvements for Rhenus customers, as Dr. Stephan Peters, Member of the Management Board of the Rhenus Group, emphasized when the ITCPRO components were released as open source code in January 2024: “The ITCPRO level sensor minimizes the number of empty collection runs and increases efficiency in collection planning, resulting in a significant overall reduction in collection runs – as innovation developers, we are delighted to give other companies access to this valuable method of reducing their CO2 footprint.” When it was developed, this solution represented an important step toward establishing the internet of things (IoT) at Rhenus – allowing the group to establish its position as a pioneer in this field. The sensor also offers other major advantages, such as its long service life and its independence from local infrastructure, which was achieved by using the narrow-band IoT mobile communications standard and makes the sensor particularly energy efficient. The idea of using this mobile communications standard was developed in collaboration with another Enterprise Lab partner: Deutsche Telekom. ”Discover Logistics” spoke to André Remy and Michael Novoselsky from Rhenus about the partners‘ plans for the future.
