With its 19th event, the TEAM Logistics Forum on November 27 in Paderborn demonstrated the importance of professional exchange and looking beyond one's own company's horizons. "Every year, we try to set the tone and highlight trends for the logistics of tomorrow as well as provide practical suggestions," explained Michael Baranowski, Managing Director of TEAM GmbH, the organizer of the forum. The fact that the concept was well received was demonstrated by the renewed increase in the number of participants and the cooperation with the BVL and, for the first time, the VDI. materialfluss and LT-manager supported the logistics forum as media partners, and the event was once again moderated by the titles' managing editor-in-chief, Martin Schrüfer.

Dennis Schenkel from the management consultancy neuland digital vision & transformation opened the forum with the topic "Earth 5.0: Let's save the world - Why digitalization ensures that we don't need a second planet". "We must not repeat the mistakes of the western world of building prosperity solely through the consumption of resources. In future, the new infrastructure of prosperity must come from the software and service sector instead of the product sector," emphasized Schenkel and called for the opportunities offered by digitalization to be exploited.

Inspired by the visions, Detlef Spee from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) picked up the thread directly and addressed the "Effects of digital transformation on logistics planning and WMS systems" in his presentation. "In the future, the warehouse will no longer have fixed structures, but can look different every day. We have to be able to live this changeability," emphasized Spee. This flexibility, the increasing collection of data in real time, new applications such as gamification and the increasing volume of data must also be able to be mapped by warehouse management systems (WMS). He therefore advised participants to expand master data in the WMS, extend the overall use of communication and provide parallel digital support for man and machine.

In the practical presentation, Christian Adelmann from Wolf Butterback KG and TEAM project manager Stefan Seifert reported on the introduction of the WMS ProStore 10 in ongoing multi-shift operation. The manufacturer of frozen baked goods has replaced its previous warehouse management system, including material flow control, with its plant and warehouse expansion in Fürth together with TEAM. "With the introduction of ProStore, we finally have standardized workflows and can train new employees more quickly. Thanks to pick-by-voice, we have been able to significantly reduce our picking error rate and have performance reserves for our rapidly increasing order volume. In addition, ProStore enables us to carry out continuous stocktaking and seamless batch tracking," summarized Adelmann.

Workshops on automation, blockchain and AI

In the afternoon, the participants received in-depth information on the challenges and opportunities of the digital transformation in four parallel workshops. In the Automation | Picking topic block, Peter Bimmermann from AutoStore stated: "In the future, distribution centers will have to become more intelligent, be able to react flexibly and adapt quickly. Complex systems and long project lead times no longer fit the bill". He therefore recommended introducing simple and manageable automation and making investments for the short-term horizon.

There was also great interest in the Blockchain | Artificial Intelligence (AI) workshop: Jens Lusebrink and Holger Klug from Oracle Germany presented various examples of the use of blockchain technology in logistics. Under Blockchain Cloud Service, Oracle offers various applications that can be used, for example, to implement intelligent track & trace systems, track the origin of products and monitor cold chains or the use of devices and systems.

Dr. Gunnar Schomaker from the Software Innovation Campus Paderborn (SICP) posed the question "Artificial intelligence - the opportunity for the future?". In the age of exponentially growing computing power and the aspirations of Industry 4.0, the topic is currently experiencing an enormous upswing. Transport logistics, which has been centrally organized up to now, must transform itself into smart transport systems. However, this is still a long way off, as the logistics industry is in the process of oversleeping digitalization. AI tools could help to plan ahead and react quickly to events, particularly in the area of supply chain management.

In the 'IT | Technology' workshop, Dr. Marco Plaß, Team Leader Logistics at TEAM GmbH, presented how up-to-date and transparent the visualization of logistics information is in the new control station of the ProStore warehouse management system.

Frank Zscherlich, Head of Logistics at TEAM, then presented how data analytics and big data can be used in ProStore and how "big data techniques can benefit small data". He demonstrated that an increase in the efficiency of forklift transports of around 20% using a heuristic TSP process is entirely realistic.

In the concluding keynote speech entitled "A world on the move", journalist and publicist Roland Tichy called for more courage, less state regulation and freedom for the market to produce innovations. With regard to demographic change, he stated: "We need capital-intensive, super high-tech jobs to secure prosperity in this country and organize social progress." The participants also agreed that these jobs must be created in logistics in the future.

Next year, the TEAM Logistics Forum will celebrate its 20th anniversary on November 26 and, as a network meeting, will help to initiate and shape change in logistics.

Videos on the topic:

Video 1: TEAM Logistics Forum 2018: Christian Adelmann on the use of TEAMs proStore

Video 2: TEAM Logistics Forum 2018: Dennis Schenkel on digitalization in logistics

Video 3: TEAM Logistics Forum 2018: Detlef Spee gives intralogistics experts the digitalization certificate

Video 4: TEAM Logistics Forum 2018: Michael Baranowski on the beginnings of the industry get-together