FlexIn²Log | Increase flexibility and efficiency of inbound and internal logistics

The FlexIn²Log project aims to support manufacturing companies and their logistics and ICT partners to use digital technologies and platforms, and digitally driven AMRs to increase the flexibility and efficiency of inbound and internal logistics.

Context

The demand for customer-specific production (smaller batches) with short lead times is on the rise. Most companies look for a solution in the production processes and not in the upstream supply chain and internal logistics. This means that solutions are not always ideal.
On the one hand, we need supply and internal logistics to become more flexible and transparent, taking material transport and transfer away from production operators. On the other hand, we need more automation to safeguard internal logistics from too much manual work and planning and inspection errors. Specific warehouse logistics and supply chains for the parts, materials and packaging will result additional efficiency gains.
The COOCK project 'FlexIn²Log', Sirris and VIL (the innovation platform for the logistics sector in Flanders and Spearhead cluster Logistics) strives to provide the manufacturing industry with additional practical experience in making the supply chain to the production floor more flexible and efficient. 

Objective

FLEXIN²LOG aims to make inbound (supply chain) and internal logistics operations (warehouse and production floor) of manufacturing companies more flexible and efficient by accelerating the introduction of digital technologies/platforms and digitally controlled autonomous mobile robots (AMR).
This presents some significant opportunities for industrial SMEs:

• Accelerating and aligning the logistics supply chain to facilitate production changes.
• Reducing internal delivery quantities (reducing inventory in production).
• Increasing the predictability of logistics movements.
• Relieve operators of non-production tasks.
• Drastically reducing the number of errors (such as missing or wrong components in production).
• Increasing productivity and competitiveness through automation and enhancement of logistics processes on the production floor, the preceding warehouse logistics, and the supply chain of materials and parts.

Results

• Overview of state-of-the art technologies for:
  • Digitalisation of the flow of goods between warehouse and production.
  • Digitalisation and monitoring inbound logistics via existing management systems.
  • Automation of internal transport towards the production floor.
• Making PoCs on digitalisation of order picking in function of production and set up a logistics concept for digital planning and control of inbound and internal logistics tasks linked to existing WMS/ERP/MES.
• Setting up demonstrators using generic use cases for the automated transport between warehouse and production with AMRs.
• Developing a toolbox to evolve from the current to the ideal future situation: determining ROI, do's and don'ts, a working method to allocate tasks to operators and AMRs.

Target group

Do you belong to the target group - manufacturing companies and their logistics departments, logistics service providers, consulting companies specialised in warehouse optimisation and supply chain management, providers of warehouse management system (WMS) and business management applications (ERP) and integrators of warehouse automation - and would you like to participate in the project? Become a member of the support group and enjoy some important benefits!

Funding

Reference

• VLAIO COOCK Flexin2Log