Online shopping is popular. Over the past decade, online spending in the Netherlands has increased from around 10 billion to nearly 26 billion euros, according to industry organization Thuiswinkel.org. According to the CBS, the corona measures in 2020 and 2021 led to a growth of 40 to 60% in the number of online purchases. It is expected that also after the corona crisis there will remain a further shift from physical shopping to online shopping.

This strong growth in e-commerce is causing practical problems for companies in the logistics chain between the webshop and the parcel delivery company. The labor market is tight, automation in the form of robots or machines is very  expensive and the effects of the delivery economy on the climate and environment must be minimized. There is therefore a major challenge to innovate the logistics sector so that it can meet demand now and in the future and employees can work efficiently and sustainably.

 

SLEM

In Limburg, a consortium of 15 partners is active under the OPZuid project "Smarter Logistics E-fulfilment Management" (SLEM) to address this problem. The consortium is led by Limburg's regional development company LIOF. Business developer and project leader Rob Wammes of LIOF explains the central problem definition of the project: "We at LIOF have a large network in the logistics sector and speak to many entrepreneurs in the industry. Almost all of them have indicated that they are short of people to handle the large amount of packages without compromising on service. The fact that foreign employees have gone back to their countries of origin due to the pandemic has only exacerbated the shortage of available workers. As a result, current employees have to do more and faster work, which means they experience an ever-increasing workload."

The objective of the SLEM project is to lower this investment threshold for companies in the logistics chain. Rob Wammes explains: "In the project we are developing various solutions for this. The focus is on how innovative techniques can be applied in logistics business processes with only limited modification effort." The first work package concerns the development of technical tools to relieve employees of their workload. This includes automation such as robotic arms and automated guided vehicles that can be modified and deployed relatively easily. The second work package concerns the promotion of knowledge transfer between employees. Software is being developed for augmented reality glasses that employees use during their work to work faster and more efficiently. This should prevent making mistakes and the associated extra time investment. The third work package concerns the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm that makes it easier to process data on packages. This makes it faster to check, for example, whether a package from abroad meets customs requirements. Time-consuming customs administration processes, caused by the Brexit, among other things, are thus significantly accelerated.

With these three innovative and handy solutions, the SLEM project hopes to lower the threshold for companies to renew their logistics processes. Within some of the work packages, the first tests have already been carried out on location at the partners to see how the accelerated modification and application work in practice. With the development from the SLEM project a number of future problems can already be solved. Rob Wammes gives an example: "At one of the partners we tested the augmented reality glasses with the specially developed software. In the test, an employee was asked to mount a supply hose. This could be done in two ways, bottom or top. Using the developed software presented on the augmented reality glasses, the employee was instructed to apply the hose along the bottom. Mounted along the top, the supply hose would wear out too quickly, requiring all the assembly work to be redone in two years. Because the employee was instructed to do it differently, the assembly process went efficiently and well."

After starting in 2019, however, the project was delayed by a year  due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rob Wammes looks back, "The project had some start-up problems due to changes in staffing. The fact that we could hardly meet physically in recent years also caused the partners to lose motivation for the project." Since mid-2021, however, things have been running smoothly again: "Last year we submitted a request to Stimulus to extend the term. We paused for a moment to focus on the expectations and to see how we wanted to continue working together. Stimulus thought along with us and granted the extension. The project is now on track and there is confidence among the partners that the project goals can actually be achieved by mid-2023. Through physical meetings, workshops and gatherings, all those involved are again fully motivated to put their shoulders to the wheel. I think it's great to see that the project is really alive again."

According to Rob Wammes, the partners involved in the consortium make the project unique: "The partnership consists of LIOF as the coordinator, knowledge institutions such as Fontys, the TU/e and Maastricht University, SMEs and large logistics parties such as Herbalife and Schneider. Knowledge available at the knowledge institutes is directly applied on the shop floor of logistics companies. And the involvement and commitment of such large parties indicates that there is a major problem in the logistics sector. This also provides the ultimate opportunity to apply the knowledge secured at the knowledge institutes to the shop floor at logistics companies" The award of the OPZuid subsidy played a major role in this. Although the parties were already part of the Smart Logistics Center Venlo partnership, there was no cooperation to solve this problem. To give them a push in the right direction, LIOF submitted an OPZuid application on behalf of the partners. The subsidy encourages them to invest time and resources themselves, and to actually start collaborating on solutions for the entire chain;

As for the future, the consortium is ambitious: "We hope that the innovations will land with partners inside and outside the partnership. We have started sharing the first project results in our logistics newsletter and are getting a lot of response from companies that are interested in using these techniques as well. If parties want to think along with us, we warmly invite them to contact us. We hope that these techniques can make a real contribution to the redesign of work processes in the logistics sector. All input in this regard is most welcome.". But above all, the consortium hopes that the innovations from this living lab will set in motion a transition in which work processes in the logistics sector are designed more efficiently, the level of automation is increased and the workload is reduced. By working on all these fronts, the logistics sector will be ready for the challenges of both today and tomorrow!

 

Source: Stimulus