On Thursday 23 February, ICD took a study trip to Emden, the city where the Volkswagen ID3 and ID4 are manufactured.

This time we were guests at the Hochschule Emden Leer and the aim was to learn more about digitalisation of logistics. With a constant stream of trucks in the background delivering products to the Volkswagen factories, this was an excellent place to think of smart new logistics concepts. Handling a few products is easy, but when the flow of goods increases, it is important to make timely and appropriate choices in time for efficient execution of both supply and removal and internal logistics. That is why HSEL set up a so-called Anwendungszentrum to gather knowledge of new developments in logistics in a neutral and accessible way.

A delegation from Philips, Ventura, Photonis, NHL Stenden and Hanze University of Applied Sciences, who were already fairly familiar with the topic, were prepared to exchange knowledge with our German hosts.

The room was made up of various technological concepts in which the visitors were also actively involved. So we were able to sniff out concepts like pick-by-light, pick-by-voice, pick-by-glass, RFID tags, cobots for handling, digital labelling, track & tracing by beacons, exoskeletons etc.

In addition to visiting this centre, several professors specialising in automation and robotisation welcomed us in the morning. They had prepared a comprehensive outline of their knowledge structure and materials to give us a good idea of the content knowledge of trainees from northern Germany. Of course, these students are also welcome to do internships or graduation projects at one of the ICD companies.

We would like to warmly thank our host Andre Wessels. He looks forward to more visits to the HSEL and the Anwederzentrum for logistics!