Material Flow Round Table: IFOY, hurray! This is what winners look like

Oliver Kneidl, Publisher of Materialfluss - das Magazin für Intralogistik and Martin Schrüfer, Managing Editor-in-Chief, welcomed Thomas A. Fischer, Managing Director Sales & Marketing (CSO) of Still GmbH, Uwe Schildheuer, Managing Director Torwegge GmbH & Co. KG and Dr. Lars Brzoska, Member of the Board of Management of Jungheinrich AG and responsible for Sales, to the morning round in conference room A110 at Messe München. As expected, the gentlemen came to the meeting in good spirits and not at all visually or linguistically damaged by the party. Thomas A. Fischer and Lars Brzoska had even brought the trophies with them. A lively discussion quickly ensued, which even reached the future of intralogistics at its brilliant conclusion.

"Who wins is a well-kept secret"

Material flow: A question that many of our readers are keenly interested in and that is always hotly debated: The myth "Nobody knows who will win before the award ceremony" - Is it really true?

Yes, absolutely.

Lars Brzoska: Yes, it's a well-kept secret and that's a good thing.

Uwe Schildheuer: We were there for the first time and I initially thought that someone would find out beforehand. But no, the tension was high until the very end.

MFL: What was your first thought when you heard the name of your company?

Fischer: I agree with the previous speaker. The IFOY is an incentive for our team to keep going and get even better. My first thoughts: As you can go away empty-handed in a year, you're even happier to win a double - that's not just the case in soccer.

Torwegge: Victory against a giant

MFL: Mr. Schildheuer, you are starting out as a newcomer ... What does it mean to have won against a giant like SSI Schäfer?

We presented the autonomous version of the vehicle for the first time at LogiMAT and are now entering into project discussions. The award will help us, because suddenly people have more confidence in the quality of the product as a result of the win. Now we have to implement this in the installations at the customer's premises. We have to prove the trust that the jury has placed in us in everyday life.

"The breakthrough in autonomous driving is just around the corner. The technology is now so robust that it is ready for industrial use." Uwe Schildheuer, Torwegge - Photo: Thilo Härdtlein

MFL: How long are we talking about?Schildheuer: Interest in the vehicle has been extremely high since the presentation. The industry thinks our TORsten is great and we will be ready to deliver from October.

MFL: What role does victory over a market leader like SSI Schäfer, which was also nominated, play?Schildheuer: The people involved there and we have known each other for more than 25 years - we appreciate and respect each other. But of course, as with the double victory for Still, it is something special for us to have won against such a competitor. And now the product is being sold (laughs).

Still: Cost-saving and well received

MFL: Mr. Fischer, you won in the special vehicles category. Is that the engineer in you that's happy? Or the businessman?

A project like this is somewhat different from an electric counterbalance truck, because here we are talking about a very special solution developed by a very small team. The solution reduces costs and has been well received by the customer. Ultimately, it's not about the technology, but the benefits for the user. This can also be seen from the fact that our solution replaces forklifts that were previously used by the customer.

Brzoska: Hopefully not ours (laughs).

Fischer: We don't make any distinction here; if the optimum solution requires it, we will also replace our own fleet. If you don't develop exclusively in the customer's interest, you lose.

MFL: Mr. Fischer, what does the businessman in you say about such special solutions? Is there a lot of margin in them or are they more like prestige orders?Fischer: There are definitely exciting margins in special machine construction. You can't just buy these solutions on the market. Our business generally thrives on applications for customers, i.e. their wishes. Focusing on small or large series as quickly as possible is the wrong approach.

MFL: Despite all the differences, is there a general trend in custom-made products?Fischer: In this case, we are talking about tugger train solutions. Around two thirds of these are always customer-specific. The use, application and load carrier must be coordinated.

Schildheuer: We also see that we have to be very customer-specific when it comes to load carriers. That was also the reason behind the design of TORsten, to decouple the platform from the substructure. This makes the driving component reusable and usable for different tasks.

MFL: Mr. Fischer, how quickly did the development go?Fischer: Quickly. The requirements have to be developed and tested in just a few weeks. We're talking about a project run of a few months.

Jungheinrich with an award-winning idea: forklift tracking made easy

MFL: Mr. Brzoska, the idea for forklift tracking, for which Jungheinrich received an award in the Special of the Year category, could have been conceived earlier. Why only now?

That's usually the case. The idea came about when one of our teams working on digitalization thought about forklift tracking in response to a customer request. We are customer-oriented, l'art pour l'art no longer exists. Saving costs, making products safer, that sells later. And our solution, which is not rocket science, is geared towards this. But it has features that work better than comparable ideas. Great customer benefits were generated through simple implementability. We realize that everyone is talking about Industry 4.0, but there are still customers who don't even know at a glance how many forklifts they have or where they are currently located. They then start counting... Creating transparency can save costs ad hoc.

MFL: I would like to put this question to everyone: How do you encourage the emergence of ideas in your companies?Schildheuer: Sometimes it's the spontaneous flash of inspiration. Torwegge started out 16 years ago as a dealer in wheels and castors and then developed into intralogistics via topics such as ergonomics. TORsten emerged from one of the customer-specific projects; the decisive factor was a small, agile team that we gave extensive freedom to make decisions for the project. That creates enthusiasm in the teams.

Fischer: The question is how a managing director can organize such ideas so that they can grow. We have also found that it is a good idea not to staff the teams that deal with digitalization from the traditional mechanical engineering teams. It makes sense to separate them.

Autonomy is on the rise - but is it wanted?

"Talking about wage costs is one thing. The question is rather whether you can still find employees for these activities at all." Dr. Lars Brzoska, Jungheinrich - Photo: Thilo Härdtlein

MFL: Mr. Fischer, let's talk about the winner of the Warehouse Truck category, the iGo neo CX20. What's next for the product, which has attracted a lot of attention since its presentation at LogiMAT 2016?

In the meantime, there are already software updates that we are making available to customers. The device is a classic horizontal order picker, the special feature lies in the sensors and the intelligence. We work with our customers to develop these further and our customers benefit from this through software updates. There is never a point at which you are "finished".

MFL: Are there already spillover effects on other product lines?Fischer: The demand for autonomous vehicles is not just in the order picking sector, but also affects other areas, such as tugger trains, tow tractors and so on. We are working on this. Perhaps a word about development. In contrast to the special vehicle, this was years of groundwork that took almost ten years.

MFL: How loudly are customers calling for driverless solutions, Mr. Brzoska? This is a very controversial issue across the industry?Brzoska: If we look at the size of the market for AGVs, i.e. unmanned automated vehicles, it is still relatively small. But it is growing strongly. We can compare this with other products such as lithium-ion batteries. There is initially a phase where people talk about it for years and cheerfully develop it, show it, win awards, but don't get a sales curve. But this then follows later when certain conditions are met. We are talking about evolution and will see strong growth rates. The pressure to make further cost savings is enormous. And that doesn't just apply to high-wage countries. Autonomous vehicles drive in three shifts, so it is easy to calculate when it is worth using them over the human model.

MFL: Do you agree, Mr. Schildheuer? Schildheuer: Definitely. The breakthrough is just around the corner. The technological requirements are now so robust that they are suitable for industrial use. Secondly, the flexibility is so high that they can be integrated into existing operational environments. In the past, automation, for example through conveyor technology, entailed major structural changes in warehouses. This is no longer necessary today.

Talking about wage costs is one thing. The question is rather whether you can still find employees for these comparatively "simple" tasks.

Schildheuer: Yes, I agree. When order volatility increases due to e-commerce, for example with its same-day delivery, you have to absorb this with staff. But that usually no longer works because the market is short of good staff.

Fischer: The iGo neo is deliberately not an AGV, but "only" moves autonomously. Here, man and machine work together. Combining the talents of humans, for example in fast and accurate order picking, with those of a machine is what it's all about. In this respect, I believe that the iGo neo can also play a role in the volume segment.

MFL: If science were sitting here at the table with us, it would certainly argue that people in the warehouse tend to disrupt the processes ...Schildheuer: I don't think science still thinks that. Scientists have now also accepted collaborative systems. The majority of shelf picking will be done by people.

Brzoska: A lot is possible today, but it's not economical - especially when it comes to picking. It's about finding the balance between chic and useful.

The hype surrounding Industry 4.0 certainly has a kernel of truth. However, as entrepreneurs, we have to ask ourselves a question that we cannot solve alone: What does this mean for the world of work? How will it be organized? If we automate everything, this must be discussed by politicians and society. This component is extremely important for us as a company.

MFL: Mr. Fischer, what do you want to do to catch up with Jungheinrich next year after the double victory in 2017? Since the first IFOY award in 2013, Jungheinrich has won a total of seven trophies, but Still has only won six ...Fischer: That's bitter news. (laughs)

MFL: That's why we saved them until last. Perhaps the thought comforts you: other well-known manufacturers have only been able to collect two or three IFOYs ...Fischer: Okay, so 13 of the 22 IFOYs awarded so far have come from Hamburg, if I'm doing my math right. For a long time there was a billboard at Hamburg Airport advertising Hamburg as Europe's capital for forklift trucks. In this respect, the fact that we have won so many trophies together spurs me on and I am working on more. (laughs)

Many nominees, many honors ...

MFL: What would you like to see at IFOY 2018?

As mentioned at the beginning, the jury has evolved and sharpened the process. I'm sure that's a good thing for everyone, because the harder and more transparent the jury works, the more valuable the prize is. I hope that many companies will take part next year, we really value the competition.

IFOY Award - Photo: Thilo Härdtlein

Fischer: I agree with Mr. Brzoska. However, I am missing a member from France on the jury, a country that is an important market for us. I would like to see that.

MFL: We see it the same way. Yes, the award has set standards with its attention to detail compared to many a readers' choice with a few hundred entries. The internationality of the jury and the innovation check in particular bring a lot of knowledge to the table. Thank you very much for the interview and we wish you a safe journey home.

The interview was conducted by Oliver Kneidl and Martin Schrüfer.

JM Fachmedien and the IFOY

JM Fachmedien, publisher of the trade journals Materialfluss, LT-manager and Baugewerbe Unternehmermagazin, has been a partner of the IFOY Awards since 2014. LT-manager was the first media partner in 2014, followed by Materialfluss in 2015 and Martin Schrüfer, Managing Editor-in-Chief, has been a member of the jury's advisory board since 2016.

The Materialfluss Round Table series is one of the magazine's trademarks. Most recently, a round table on the topic of green logistics appeared in issue 4/17. The upcoming round table will look at innovative leaps in materials handling and lifting technology, in particular cranes and components. The article will appear in Materialfluss issue 8-9/17 on September 21.