Three scenarios for the logistics of the future

Intelligent ERP and WMS systems for greater transparency and delivery reliability

Digitalization reduces costs and has an impact on the external image of a logistics company. Logistics 4.0 also means that customers perceive their delivery partners as very reliable. Among other things, smooth processes contribute to this. These include the implementation of ERP and WMS systems that link the inventories of suppliers and customers with the capacities of logistics providers. This saves a lot of time, but is costly at first: The partners involved must agree on uniform data standards and ideally even on uniform or at least highly compatible software solutions. The logistics of the future could also include greater standardization of such systems, which would save those involved from having to make laborious adjustments. In order for a company to set itself up for the future of logistics completely digitally, certain preparatory work is necessary. These include

• Analysis of external and internal goals
• Determination of requirements and resources
• Summary of market and product segments
• Development of a mission statement and derivation of a global strategy

By introducing suitable modern systems, the first step towards autonomous production and logistics can be taken.

Philipp Kappus, Head of Production

Artificial intelligence for route planning, transportation and purchasing

The first step is to determine the status quo of the existing organization. Only then can the company formulate new goals that can be realized much better with digital structures. The final step is to bring the new logistics strategy to life. In practice, adjustments are still required afterwards. One of the logistics trends of the future is likely to be that such tasks can be completed much faster than before with the help of artificial intelligence. The Fraunhofer Institute already addressed this in a white paper in 2021 . In it, the authors outline a scenario for the year 2030, suggesting that the currently visible trends in logistics could lead to this outcome:

• In 71% of logistics companies, AI will plan all routes and order goods.
• 59% of goods are transported by AI-controlled autonomous vehicles.
• 42% of smaller goods are delivered to the end customer by drones with the help of AI.

According to the authors, the relevance of AI to logistics is hardly surprising because the industry is characterized by certain features. These include certain optimization problems that can be solved most efficiently by artificial intelligence, as well as the immense economic importance of logistics processes. However, as these are completely deterministic and algorithmizable, Logistics 4.0 inevitably leads to an AI-supported supply chain. In addition to the already obligatory digitalization, the logistics of the future will therefore inevitably be based on artificial intelligence.

AI is already commonplace in many areas and will also become increasingly established in operations.

Philipp Kappus, Head of Production

#2: The future of logistics with autonomous transport systems

One of the major logistics trends of the future will be autonomous transportation systems, which will therefore manage without drivers. This is such a crucial scenario, as drivers have played an absolutely central role in the logistics system since the beginning of 2024. Although there are already driverless cabs and cars, haulage companies are still in the early stages of development with autonomous trucks. The fact that AGVs (automated guided vehicles) have been in use in enclosed areas – warehouses, port areas – since the 1950s shows just how strong the demand for such solutions is.

The AGVs move independently through warehouses with the help of magnetic sensors that determine the route. In recent decades, both the sensors and the algorithms for calculating routes have become better and better, making internal warehouse or port logistics much more efficient. However, such vehicles are still guided by grids in the ground and therefore also by predefined routes. The Port of Hamburg Altenwerder, for example, has been using autonomous container movers since 2002.

There are customized solutions for many transport goods.

Philipp Carl, Senior Business Unit Manager Logistics

Autonomous vehicles on the road, rail, air and water

Trends in logistics are now leading to the use of such autonomous means of transportation on the road, rail, air and water. The development of autonomous drones is the most advanced, as there are no obstacles in the air. There are a number of pilot projects for the other routes, which are being tested in non-public areas as of 2024. For example, the Swedish company Einride is currently testing autonomous trucks on the roads. The electric trucks drive with a remote control. This has advantages, as a driver is no longer required and their smooth driving behavior reduces traffic jams, but there is a decisive disadvantage: Autonomous trucks still have to drive with a large gap to the vehicle in front, at least on two-lane roads. Human car drivers sometimes move into the large gap. This then leads to increased braking maneuvers, which in the worst case can trigger a stop-and-go. Apart from this, other questions arise in relation to such trends in logistics:

• Which goods can and should be transported autonomously?
• Are there limits to the dimensions and weights of goods shipped autonomously?
• Can autonomous trucks also travel safely on secondary roads and in urban traffic?
• Will standardized KLTs (small load carriers) ultimately prevail or are autonomous lattice box and pallet transports also conceivable?
• Will the logistics trends of the future possibly lead to the autonomous transportation of special load carriers?

Away from glued-on strips, towards intelligent sensors

Experts agree that induction loops in the ground cannot be the future of logistics. There were such considerations from around 2015: induction was intended to charge electric cars (including electric trucks) and support autonomous driving at the same time. However, the industry soon waved goodbye: if such systems were to be installed on every road in a country in order to get trucks from A to B completely autonomously, the logistics of the future would be prohibitively expensive. Such systems are enormously expensive. Nevertheless, AGVs have developed so well over the last 20 years that their use for Logistics 4.0 also seems conceivable on the road.

In the early 2000s, autonomous vehicles were still only used for internal goods traffic in warehouses, which were guided by adhesive strips on the route. They were already equipped with optical sensors. However, these markings often became detached. If they were not replaced immediately, the vehicle simply stopped. Current generations of vehicles use sensors to orient themselves independently to markings in the room, similar to a robot vacuum cleaner. This is perfectly adequate for production logistics within closed halls. The task now is to make the systems fit for road, rail, water and air transportation. Various manufacturers specializing in industrial trucks and transport technology and production logistics in general are working on this, including

• Jungheinrich
• Lime tree
• Still
• SSI Schäfer
• Gebhardt
• Safelog
• Idealworks
• Magazino-Mobile Industrial Robots
• Agilox
• Robotize
• DS Automation

Modern AGVs navigate independently and without complex markings.

Philipp Carl, Head of Logistics

Focus on AGVs in production

Some of the companies mentioned are also focusing on the logistics of the future in the production hall. After all, this also needs to evolve. This raises various questions, such as transport distances, the nature of transport routes, the frequency of individual journeys and the number of autonomous vehicles required. A key issue for Logistics 4.0 is the way in which AGV systems are controlled. They can be fully integrated into the company’s IT landscape and then have a connection to the internal ERP and WMS/WMS solutions. However, it is also conceivable to use proprietary third-party systems that can either run completely autonomously or be connected to the company’s own existing systems via interfaces.

#3: Process mining and green logistics

Two key logistics trends of the future are process mining and green logistics. The latter results from the growing environmental awareness of consumers and society as a whole. It calls on companies to make the future of logistics more sustainable. The entire industry recognizes that this topic is currently one of the biggest challenges. Process mining supports sustainable processes and therefore also green logistics. It works with innovative, software-supported solutions that optimize processes after in-depth analysis and thus make them more sustainable. Process mining is closely linked to the above-mentioned trends in logistics towards digitalization and artificial intelligence. The technology analyses and visualizes the processes. It therefore supports extensive data evaluation within the company. The data is available for all conceivable areas and at various levels. This includes

• Order processes
• Production processes
• Delivery times
• Costs and margins
• Employees
• Resources

Process mining is a key to the sustainable logistics of tomorrow. By analyzing and optimizing processes, companies can use resources more efficiently and make supply chains more transparent.

Philipp Carl, Head of Logistics

Process mining for state-of-the-art process optimization in logistics

Process mining uses this data to reconstruct actual process flows and uncover weaknesses and potential for improvement. What is important in this context is that it adapts flexibly to business models. This means it can be used in almost any industry. One of the trends in logistics is that it is increasingly used for state-of-the-art process optimization. As such, it raises undreamt-of potential that is likely to be very significant for the future of logistics.

A leading provider in this area is Celonis. The company offers apps for its own process mining platform, which users can use to optimize their specific business processes. Standard connectors enable a quick connection to the company’s own source systems. Users can use ready-made analysis models directly without having to develop them themselves. One of the logistics trends of the future is the use of apps that automatically calculate certain KPIs. They present the results analytically. The implementation effort is low, the results speak for themselves: for Logistics 4.0, the apps score points with user-friendly interfaces that can be operated with practically no learning curve, with fast results, with comprehensive analyses and, last but not least, implementation with very little effort. Celonis offers these three apps, among others, for the logistics of the future:

App for the reduction of emissions

In the spirit of green logistics, the “Shipping Emissions Reduction” app provides a breakdown of all emissions caused by transportation. They are visualized and reductions through more optimal routes are immediately visible. The internal algorithm also takes production logistics cost factors into account.

App for the selection of sustainable suppliers

“Sustainable Spend Management” is an app that Celonis has developed together with EcoVadis. The world’s leading provider of sustainability ratings supplies the required data. The EcoVadis database currently (beginning of 2024) contains around 75,000 companies whose sustainability is determined by the app in the categories of environmental protection, ethics, labor and human rights and sustainable procurement. The companies receive a certificate.

App for determining corporate sustainability

In production logistics, it is predominantly B2B partners who cooperate with each other. Under the name “Rothbaum Sustainability Operations Cockpit”, Rothbaum has developed an app with Celonis that evaluates business partners in terms of their emissions in production and in the internal supply chain. The data required includes actual throughput times, energy consumption as well as production, personnel and depreciation costs. The Celonis app creates 360° transparency regarding the CO₂ emissions of business partners. It can also be used for your own company.

The logistics of the future will be green. Companies may still have a long way to go until then, but time is pressing. Freight transport – especially road transport – is known to contribute significantly to environmentally harmful emissions. Green logistics is therefore a central goal of Logistics 4.0 and one that is much harder to achieve than the digitalization of companies.