Controlling Logistics and Factory Systems

Manufacturing and logistics are increasingly having to devise and implement new strategies to control processes, and not just because of new technologies. One-dimensional supply chains are transforming into dynamic networks with complex and causal relationships. This is subjecting established control instruments to scrutiny.

The Fraunhofer IFF develops assistance systems that boost manufacturing’s flexibility significantly. We use these systems to optimize logistics processes and help you make decisions about production or staff scheduling, for instance.

Along with flexibility, our research focuses on the resource- and energy-efficient control of processes. The issue of sustainability is causing a paradigm change in manufacturing and logistics too. In the future, this will become an even more important factor in the assessment of production systems and have an even greater impact on businesses’ efficiency.

Apart from manufacturing, we also work in the fields of timber and biomass logistics and transportation and traffic. Raw materials can only be managed sustainably when renewable resources can also be transported cost effectively and with low emissions. All the same, profound changes are in store for ground transportation. We are actively shaping these. We develop solutions that enable and improve communication between vehicles and transportation infrastructures. In this way we are making a valuable contribution to future transportation, which will be more reliable, more resource-optimized and more sustainable than today.

We research a wide range of topics, technologies and methods for our clients and partners, paired with innovative ideas and established expertise in logistics:

• product identification using Auto-ID technologies or inherent product features,
• telematics solutions for flexibly designing communication between machines and products,
• machine learning for data interpretation and pattern recognition as the basis for design and optimization, and
• end-to-end indoor and outdoor tracking of raw material suppliers down to the ultimate customers as the building blocks of fully digital supply chains.

• How can I ensure that my advanced, efficient manufacturing and logistics systems function dependably and reliably?
• How can I deal with the high amount of labor required to organize and control my logistics operations?
• How can I improve efficiency and sustainability in logistics and manufacturing while simultaneously reducing my costs and labor?
• How can I localize and track my raw materials and finished products continuously before, during and after manufacturing?
• How can I get my increasingly more complex structures under control?
• What can I do as I reach the limits of my capacities with my customary manufacturing philosophy?

We are performance-driven from design to operation. So that you can choose your desired direction effectively, we

• rely on internally developed methods of analysis and classification,
• create the base data your business needs together with you,
• digitalize and interconnect infrastructures,
• develop advanced telematics-based control center solutions that collect and analyze data, and
• actively help you minimize design errors and lead times and boost process transparency, reliability and quality.

We will assist you throughout the entire decision and implementation process for the selection and assessment of suitable identification, communications and tracking technologies.

With many years of experience and through close collaboration with partners in the biobased forestry and timber value chain, we provide numerous solutions for the forestry and timber cluster, the sustainable production and supply of the resource wood, and timber logistics planning and control.

We additionally research electric transportation services and develop services and assistance systems specifically for electric vehicles.