ONE FOR TWO
THE LINDE MATERIAL HANDLING DATA LOGGING AND TRANSFER SYSTEM
INDUSTRY 4.0
The networked factory
4
LOGISTICS 4.0
The intelligent fleet
6
CONNECT:
02 03
The vehicles moving through our towns and on our roads and highways are controlled by increasingly intelligent algorithms and assis-tance systems under the hood and in the passenger compartment. As a result, valua-ble data is also produced that will enavalua-ble networked, coordinated mass mobility for the first time – it will be safer, cleaner and more stress-free.
READING OR MEETING AT 120 KM/H
The most spectacular developments in this field include the “autonomous vehicle” of the kind that ideas powerhouse Rinspeed AG has presented with its XchangE concept car. Linde Material Handling was also involved in this forward-looking prototype, contributing the data logging and transfer system from its connect: suite. But what can you do with all the extra time you gain when the vehicle finds its own way, maintains a safe distance to the next cars, communicates with other vehicles and guidance systems and monitors the fuel and the air conditioning?
ARRIVED IN THE FUTURE
Surprisingly, when it comes to visions of this kind, automobiles are lagging far behind logistics vehicles such as forklift trucks. Smart fleet management systems controlled by intelligent high technology have long since become an indispensable reality in warehouses and logistics centres. Forklift trucks began talking to their fleet managers long ago. After all, logistics has always fo-cused on keeping everything in view, on efficiency and on costs. Road transport is only now beginning to discover its smart future, logistics is already living it.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS OF
RECENT DECADES INDICATE THE
DIRECTION HUMAN-MACHINE
COMMUNICATION WILL TAKE IN
THE FUTURE.
TRAILBLAZING
UNBEATABLE
IQ
MACHINES
LEARN TO TALK
LOGISTICS 4.0
Digitization in industry will funda-mentally change logistics. Modules will act and communicate autono-mously in the fleet of the future. Fleet managers will control pro-cesses in real time and set new
records in goods handling. Page 6
NEW SOFTWARE
When it comes to material flows in production halls and warehouses, the focus will be firmly on planability, effi-ciency and economy. For the first time, Linde Material Handling is offering a fully integrated management system for mate-rial handling with connect:. The software’s modular expandability means it can manage fleets of any size and achieve the very highest efficiency. Page 8
INDUSTRY 4.0
Production and logistics systems will control themselves in the factory of the future. Machines and humans are intelligently net-worked. The fourth industrial revo-lution will set entirely new
stand-ards for efficiency and flexibility. Page 4
04 05
INDUSTRY 4.0
THE NETWORKED FACTORY
THE VISION
A car component detects that it will soon need to be replaced. It sends a message to the manufacturer. The machines in the factory configure themselves and automatically produce the new part. They send it to the workshop where the car has already made an appointment.
This is the Industry 4.0 vision. Products and ma-chines are intelligent, digitally networked, commu-nicate with one another and manage themselves. Virtual and physical reality are merged into a cy-ber-physical system (CPS). The Internet of Things and Services also connects actors far beyond the confines of one company.
THE CHALLENGE
Increasing digitization in industry makes great demands on production systems. In the future, manufacturing and logistics will have to be even more flexible, more individual and faster. State-of-the-art information and communication technolo-gies are the prerequisite for dependably mastering the growing complexity of processes.
THE OPPORTUNITY
How businesses overcome these challenges de-pends crucially on the level of innovation of their IT. Smart networks offer companies the opportunity to secure a major competitive edge for the future. If they are willing to innovate, they can play an active part in shaping the fourth industrial revolu-tion.
1.0
Steam and water power initiate machine-based production. 2.0
Electrical energy stimulates mass production on assembly lines. 3.0
Electronics and IT open the door for automated production.
4.0
Cyber-physical systems facilitate autonomous, flexible production. LATE 18C EARLY 20C CIRCA 1970 NEAR FUTURE LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY
IT-MEGATRENDS
Contemporary IT megatrends are shaping the development of Industry 4.0. They are creating the technological preconditions for intelligent production and logistics systems. Three subjects are particularly relevant here:
BIG DATA
The increasing flood of data will become the greatest challenge for industry. Above all, data-intensive sectors such as storage and transport logistics are affected. Finding and managing appropriate IT solutions will be crucial.
CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing involves complex IT infrastructures that can be accessed at any time from any place. It offers Industry 4.0 new ways of flexibly processing and storing data.
MOBILITY
This involves mobile workplaces, the centralized administration of mobile devices (Mobile Device Management) and much more. The trend towards mobility is making increasing progress in industry. It will become a key foundation for human-machine communication in the future.
06 07
INCREASING COMPLEXITY
Logistical processes are becoming more complex as the volume of data and the extent of networking increase. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) in Dortmund refer to superexponential growth in complexity1.
The reasons for this are:
• Structural complexity: globalization and the in-creasing level of networking
• Data complexity: every decade the volume of logis-tical data increases by a factor of 1,000
• Product complexity: batches of one – the desire for personalized production
• Economic complexity: the result of networking and eCommerce
SELF-ORGANIZING LOGISTICS
The answer to increasing complexity is self-organiz-ing adaptable logistics. This will involve the realiza-tion of a shift away from centralized control toward decentralized logistics systems. The intelligence of a fleet is distributed among individual, adaptable mod-ules that act autonomously and communicate among themselves.
In the future, produced goods will already know where they are and where they are supposed to be
LOGISTICS
THE INTELLIGENT FLEET
4.0
The digitization of industry is leading to a fundamental change in logistics. Modules will act and communicate autonomously in the fleet of the future. Fleet managers will control processes in real time and set new records in goods handling.
“CENTRAL CONTROL
AND DATA
ANALY-SIS CAN MAKE
VE-HICLE FLEETS MUCH
MORE EFFICIENT.”
Maik Manthey is responsible for New Business & Products at Linde Material Handling and therefore also for the introduction of the connect: logistics solution in the Connected Solutions business area.
LINDE MATERIAL HANDLING IS EU-ROPE’S LEADING MANUFACTURER OF INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS, SUCH AS, FOR EXAMPLE, FORKLIFTS. WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR NETWORKING IN LOGISTICS? Manthey: In almost all regions of the world population is increasing – and therefore so is the handling of goods. The development of online trade is encouraging this trend even more. Not only is the world market for our prod-ucts growing as a result – it has now reached roughly one million vehicles a year – but the requirements in terms of the cost and energy efficiency of mate-rial handling are also steadily increas-ing. And that is precisely where net-working comes into play inside handling centres in order to make vehicle fleets more cost-effective. Furthermore, in-creasingly integrated intralogistics is embedded in the already advanced networking and control of material flows outside warehouses – in other words, on the roads and in the ports.
FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS’ PERSPECTIVE, WHAT ARE THE TANGIBLE ADVANTAGES OF THE ELECTRONIC COORDINATION OF A FLEET OF FORKLIFTS?
Manthey: The incentive to deploy the new system is quite simply avoiding wasting money. Industrial trucks are
capital goods. As an entrepreneur, therefore, you want to reduce the num-ber of empty runs. You would like to always send the truck of the right weight category – in other words, avoid sending a vehicle that can lift one tonne to a five-tonne pallet, or vice versa. Intelligent fleet coordination enables you to maintain an overview, to opti-mize routes and reduce unnecessary costs. That’s just one example among many of how central control and data analysis can make vehicle fleets much more efficient.
WHAT DOES THE MEDIUM-TERM FUTURE OF THESE SYSTEMS LOOK LIKE? HOW DO YOU ENVISION NETWORKED LOGISTICS CENTRES IN SEVERAL YEARS OR DECADES?
Manthey: What we definitely anticipate is that virtually all the sensor data from the vehicles of a fleet – such as energy consumption, lifting performance and much more – will be transmitted to a control desk in real time and then a fleet manager can navigate the trucks from there with a click of the mouse. A driver will have an appropriate display in front of him on which he is then directed, for example, to drive to Hall 5 to take pal-lets A, B and C to Hall 3. From the fleet manager’s perspective that would be a little like a Holodeck in Star Trek – in other words, a simulated world that presents a goods handling centre in which the fleet can be controlled by hand gestures. We are really not so very far away from this vision with connect: or, for example, the industrial truck guidance systems on which we are currently working at Linde. transported. They transmit their coordinates
to the logistics network and an industrial truck collects them. A module on the vehi-cle monitors the journey or assumes control itself. It in turn transmits data to another module that monitors all vehicles and routes across all locations. This unit calcu-lates the efficiency of goods handling and the overall costs of the fleet.
HUMAN-MACHINE DIALOGUE
The decentralized logistics network creates new interfaces for human-machine commu-nication. On one hand, fleet managers can control processes in real time from any location using a tablet computer, mobile phone or desktop computer. On the other, employees receive support from a mobile assistance system. This helps to optimize all levels of the logistics process – from goods transport to transshipment and stock man-agement to commissioning.
1Source: Martin Fiedler, “Effizienzsteigerung in der Logistik – dank
CPS” (Increasing Efficiency in Logistics through CPS), Fraun-hofer-Institut für Materialfluß und Logistik, Dortmund 2013.
Maik Manthey, Head of New Business & Products by Linde Material Handling
FLEET MANAGEMENT
MADE EASY
08 08
08 09
INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Sensors and a built-in data module monitor move-ments and conditions. The information is passed on via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or GPRS.
SMARTPHONE, TABLET, LAPTOP
A range of different mobile devices is used as needed by service engineers, fleet managers and also drivers to communicate with connect:.
LOCAL SERVERS
Where data remains in the company, a local computer takes care of the
preparation and processing of the truck data.
Linde Material Handling’s new product suite teaches forklift trucks to talk. As a result, industrial trucks become “quantifiable” capital goods.
A raft of sensors measures absolutely everything about the vehicle that the fleet manager, driver and mechanic needs to know. Hundreds of these data items – from oil level to distance travelled, location, capacity and work-load to the charging state of the drive battery and even
small knocks – are transmitted via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or mobile telephony and then compiled by connect: into intelligent microeconomic information that helps to reduce costs. The result is optimized fleet deployment, battery consumption, route finding, maintenance cycles and shift lengths. However, the system also provides improved safety. It becomes impossible for a driver to climb into a truck without first identifying himself. Has he been for his routine eye checkup? Does he have the
CONNECT:
FLEET MANAGEMENT
MADE EASY
Sometimes even the most robust forklift truck urgently needs a spare part. Even before the driver can notify his boss, the fleet manager receives an email: “Dear Customer, Forklift Truck No. 12, Warehouse Area G, needs to have an important wear part replaced. The local service engineer has been informed and the part ordered. We will contact you again shortly...”
The message comes from the Arrival Control app. The Deutsche Telekom business solution informs waiting customers about the location and arrival of the delivery service precisely to the minute. Linde Material Handling and Deutsche Telekom are testing the use of the app in combination with Connected Solutions in the Customer Service division in order to save time in service logistics and to increase transparency for customers.
MESSAGE FOR THE FLEET MANAGER
The engineer sends his assignment data to Arrival Control, which again contacts the fleet manager: “Your service engineer will undertake the repair tomorrow between 10 and 11 a.m. The necessary spare parts will be delivered at the same time. Below you will find your consignment tracking data.”
SERVICE ON THE SPOT
On the day of the repair the engineer drives to the customer in the service vehicle. The Arrival Con-trol app informs him of the current delivery status via the on-board computer: “Spare parts will be delivered at the factory gate in 1.5 hours.” The fleet manager also receives an update with infor-mation about the exact arrival time and the dura-tion of the repair. The truck can then be immedi-ately put back to work at the given time.
ARRIVAL CONTROL
SERVICE JUST IN TIME
YOUR CONTACT Christine Becker
Manager Product Marketing & Communication Customer Services
EMAIL: [email protected]
CLOUD SERVER
If desired, data can be trans-mitted via a cloud to the servers at Linde MH where it is analyzed with special tools.
FLEET EXPERTS
The experts at Linde MH analyze the data, give cus-tomers tailormade improve-ment suggestions and opti-mize maintenance.
requisite driver’s licence? Checks that usually have to be carried out painstakingly by hand can now be done automatically by connect: for the entire fleet. Custom-ers can decide for themselves whether they want to keep their data on their own servers or send it to the Linde MH data centre where it undergoes detailed anal-ysis before being returned to the customer with sugges-tions on how to optimize their logistics even further.
010 010
010 011
NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
Innovation takes place when it is needed. New lighting technologies that consume a fraction of the electricity of incandescent light bulbs were developed when energy costs skyrocketed. Vehicle movements will eventually be coordi-nated because roads are becoming increasingly crowded.
AIMING FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY
It is not surprising that logistics long ago began moving toward a future reminiscent of science fiction – with virtual fleet management, increasing numbers of driverless vehi-cles and fully automatic guidance systems for forklifts and pallet trucks. The goal has always been maximum efficiency in the flow of material.
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE IS KEY
The fleet manager is at the centre of this process. He is the addressee of the detailed flow of data that is now transmitted by networked forklift fleets to realize intelligent journey plan-ning. “The fleet manager’s everyday experience therefore shapes the future of logistics business when it comes to tech-nologies and economic considerations,” says Boris Schröder, Product Manager Connected Solutions. The optimum organiza-tion and deployment of a vehicle fleet can only be realized when the practical knowledge of the fleet manager on the spot is combined with the abstract analysis of forklift data – such as remaining running time and procurement, energy and mainte-nance costs – on the computers at Linde Material Handling.
BIG DATA
INNOVATIONS
FOR LOGISTICS
Like the amount of traffic on the
roads, the volume of data on our
in-formation highways continues to grow.
The great challenge for logistics is
developing analytical techniques that
increase efficiency. The fleet
manag-er’s experience is the most valuable
resource for improving state-of-the-art
control systems in warehouses and
transshipment centres.
MARSROVER: Autonomous driving already exists on Mars, although our neighbouring planet has not yet experienced gridlock. Intelligent data exchange means NASA’s Curiosity rover knows what to do when its control team 78 million kilometres away tells it to drive to Aeolis Mons or Gale Crater – or even just charge its batteries in the sun.
SMART GRID: The idea that “electricity comes out of the socket” is old hat. Intelligent electricity networks are being set up that use detailed meas-urement data to effectively use the capacity of generators and grids. The concentrated intelli-gence of smart grids control whether air condi-tioning systems are switched off at peak prices, whether overcapacity is stored in car batteries or whether gas-fired power plants can interact with small local photovoltaic facilities.
HOME AUTOMATION: It all began with pioneers who programmed their coffee machine to switch on at 7:30 a.m. by setting a timer before they went to bed. Now the combined brain power of smart heating thermostats, an intelligent and sensitive lighting and energy management sys-tem and a clever admittance control unit – in other words, the completely networked digital home – is well on the way to becoming normality.
INTELLIGENT
MACHINE
THINKS, MACHINE ACTS
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN GLOBAL DATA VOLUME
2011 2013 2007 2009 2015 7.2 3.6 1.8 0.9 0.45
Source: Freudenberg IT SE & CoKG (www.freudenberg-it.com) Details in zettabytes
IMPRINT
Responsible:
Marcus Rügamer
Linde Material Handling GmbH www.linde-mh.com
Design, Editing, Production:
SCRIPT Corporate+Public Communication GmbH www.script-com.de
PUSHING
LIMITS
Setting new standards in its class: The new generation
of reach forklift truck, the R14–R20, from Linde. The new
series sets itself apart with more stringent standards
for ensuring safe handling of loads, ergonomics and
economic efficiency, and can even be individually
adjusted to suit the driver’s needs.
A series more varied than ever before offers the ideal
solution for every requirement. See what’s so great about
it for yourself and acquaint yourself with the new reach
forklift trucks from Linde.
Linde Material Handling-
Engineered for your performance
The new generation of reach
forklift truck — R14–R20
Picture Credits:
Pages 1, 3, 7, 8 and 9: © Linde Material Handling GmbH; pages 1, 2 and 3: © Rindspeed AG; pages 4, 5, 6, 7 and 11: © picture alliance/dpa; pages 8, 9, 10 and 11: © fotolia, Tatyana Drozdova, monicaodo, Gina Sanders; page 11: © picture alliance/empics
