Digitized in-house transport

In order to precisely plan, control, and monitor intralogistics processes with industrial trucks and identify potential process improvements, reliable data on in-house transport movements are needed. These data are often derived from stock records from the corresponding IT system or collected manually. In order to boost transparency and efficiency in the deployment and tracking of industrial trucks, Fraunhofer IIS and the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services SCS convert standard forklifts and tugger trains into a cyber-physical system: relevant data are collected using positioning technologies developed by Fraunhofer IIS, and can be analyzed and interpreted using a universal software platform and a corresponding front end. To generate additional, company-specific information, the mobile positioning systems can be extended with a range of sensors for load recognition or shock detection, for example. In this way, key performance indicators are identified along with any potential for optimization – be it in terms of throughput times for trips, time intervals for loading and unloading, or the number of empty trips. The system allows for simple and temporary installation as well as flexible evaluation options whereby the current status of a transport system can be displayed in the form of motion profiles reliably and with a high level of detail.