In his subsequent keynote speech, Prof. Dr. Michael Schröder from the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in Mannheim gave an overview of current global trends and their impact on the supply chain. Schröder sees the implementation of green logistics strategies and the topic of sustainability as a whole as well as the increasing dynamics and volatility of short delivery times as key challenges for the future. This requires companies to adopt an increasingly local production and logistics strategy with an expansion of the regional infrastructure close to the customer. "The central warehouse concept no longer works," Schröder stated and therefore sees a need for local investment in modern intralogistics solutions to increase local productivity - whether with robots, driverless transport systems, innovative sorting technologies or smart assistance systems.

Matthias Graefe, Director of Supply Chain Transformation at IBM Deutschland GmbH, took the audience on a journey into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with IBM Watson and demonstrated the various possible applications of the system for logistics and supply chain management: "Our aim is to reduce the complexity of our processes for our employees in order to reduce their workload, train new employees more quickly and make existing knowledge in the company available worldwide." In the IBM production value chain, the system now primarily serves as a platform for the global exchange of information and data, but also as a digital assistant in the event of problems. In addition to pure order and shipment data, Watson also evaluates other relevant data, for example from the areas of traffic, weather or news, in order to better assess risks and identify possible alternatives. Today, IBM employees see Watson more as a colleague than a software tool. For acceptance, it was important to closely involve employees with expert knowledge in the development and learning of the AI. IBM has still left the decision-making authority with the responsible employee, in that every proposed solution must be personally evaluated by Watson. Graefe sees this interaction as the key to success and the right tool for advancing from the old to the new digital world. Graefe sees language as the interface of the future and recommended to the audience that people should be involved in such projects. He concluded with a quote from Garry Kasparov, who was beaten by the chess computer DeepBlue in 1996 as the reigning world chess champion: "Don't fear intelligence machines, work with them!"

Frank Zscherlich and Dr.-Ing. Marco Plaß from TEAM GmbH took a brief look back at the world of technology in 1999 before moving on to the virtual reality of today's logistics world. In a live demonstration, they explained the opportunities offered by the combination of a warehouse management system and the use of virtual reality (VR) glasses for employee training. Using the ProStore® VR training module as an example, they immersed themselves in the virtual world of a warehouse together with the audience and ran through the specified picking tasks.

The ProStore® VR training module enables new employees, for example, to actively experience, learn and train picking processes in a virtual warehouse. At the same time, the virtual warehouse offers a safe, controlled environment in which implementation errors have no impact. Nevertheless, a trainer watching from "outside" can provide qualified feedback for improvement and evaluate results. ProStore® VR training uses the latest second-generation VR goggles, which enable immersion without prior knowledge or preparation thanks to their responsiveness, display quality and wearing comfort. They can also be used for training prior to the go-live phase of a warehouse or for targeted training of infrequent and therefore particularly error-prone activities. Initial tests at the customer glaskoch B. Koch jr. GmbH + Co KG, better known under the renowned LEONARDO brand, were very positive.

In the afternoon, participants had the choice between eight workshops in which innovations relating to automation, order picking, voice, data glasses, drones and transport management were presented. The logistics ideas from three start-up companies were particularly exciting: Cellumation from Bremen, Doks.innovation from Kassel and MotionMiners from Dortmund.

Hendrik Thamer, CEO of Cellumation, presented a new, highly flexible sorter solution for complex motion sequences in the smallest of spaces, based on the principle of cellular conveyor technology. The freely configurable system consists of small hexagonal modules with specially arranged wheels, each of which is individually and specifically controlled. This allows several objects to be moved and positioned simultaneously and independently of each other along any path at a speed of up to 2 m/s. "Our celluveyor can move parcels or containers and other load carriers or goods with flat bottoms completely freely on one level and is capable of performing all conveyor technology tasks," explained Thamer. New movement sequences can be set up very easily using tablets. As the modules can be changed according to the plug & play principle, module replacement and maintenance can also be carried out very easily. The young company has already implemented ten systems and is expanding its production capacities.

The software and robotics company doks. innovation was founded in Dortmund in 2017 as part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML and has already won several awards for its drones. Maik Schockenhoff, Product Marketing Manager at doks. innovation, reported on the various solutions offered for intralogistics, which range from digital stock recording and inventory processes to master data management and transportation over short distances in industrial and logistics areas. The systems are already being used by various customers - for example, to localize goods in real time, transmit visual impressions in the form of images, automate scanning processes, generate volume and dimensional information or document loading processes in the area of inbound and outbound processes.

MotionMiners GmbH is a spin-off of the Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund. With its Motion Mining® technology, the start-up has developed a method for automatically analyzing manual work processes. Project manager Hauke Pahl explained how sensors and machine learning algorithms are used to determine data on ergonomics, productivity and efficiency in order to uncover potential for improvement. The non-personal measurement sets, measurement over several days and complete anonymization of employee data guarantee reliable and anonymous measurement series over a representative period of time. Using the example of order picking with industrial trucks, Pahl showed how MotionMiners was able to uncover waste caused by waiting times or unnecessary routes when evaluating the process indicators.

In the final keynote speech, extreme swimmer André Wiersig captivated the audience. The father of three and marketing and sales manager of an IT consulting company was the first German and 16th person in the world to complete the Oceans Seven - the seven most difficult straits in the world to swim across. On Pentecost Sunday 2019, he completed the crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar and told an eager audience what it feels like to swim at night in complete darkness in water that is just 12 degrees Celsius, wearing only swimming trunks, a swimming cap and goggles. He experienced strong currents, extreme wind, high waves, encounters with poisonous jellyfish, sharks and other fish as well as sea lions. The challenges were tough tests, but he wanted to show what is possible with targeted preparation. His advice to the audience: "Tackle things, overcome limits with self-confidence and self-assurance. And: you're only as good as the people behind you."

Next year, the congress will take place again in Paderborn on November 24, 2020.