The digitalization of the logistics industry is progressing only slowly.

The current level of digitalization in the logistics sector is still not very high: in an industry comparison, it ranks tenth and is thus at the bottom of the ranking among the ten economic sectors studied. This is the result of the study "Industry Atlas Digital Transformation," conducted by the Digital Intelligence Institute on behalf of the D.velop Group. The greatest deficits of the logistics sector, according to the study, lie in the strategic area. Only 18 percent of the logistics companies surveyed assign a fundamental importance to digital transformation from a strategic perspective. For all others, it is unclear who is driving strategic development and bearing responsibility for it. The continued use of a lot of paper is also an obstacle to digital transformation.
According to the study, only in every fifth logistics company are business processes predominantly digitally organized and free of media breaks to 80 percent and more. Furthermore, companies' willingness to invest in digital business models is not particularly pronounced: only 17 percent have currently allocated additional funds for digital transformation projects. Leaders in digitalization, in industry comparison, are the companies of the information and communication technology sector. At a significant distance follow banks and insurance companies, the media and entertainment industry, followed by the electronics industry.

Start-ups aim to become the interface to new logistics

Several young companies and innovative start-ups have intensively addressed the digitalization of processes in logistics and developed digital business models, which they will present at Hypermotion from November 20 to 22, 2017. Among them is the Munich-based technology start-up Loadfox - a "ride-sharing service" for freight. An intelligent algorithm is supposed to combine partial loads into profitable tours, thus optimally utilizing existing truck capacities. Mesaic Technology GmbH, a start-up from Hamburg, has developed its own platform that intelligently connects service providers and customers online via messenger. Meanwhile, Metrilus GmbH has developed a system for automatic freight measurement. Using several real-time 3D cameras and sensors, packages and even complete pallets can be measured with an app to calculate their length, width, and height within seconds. Integration with existing systems, such as weight determination, is seamlessly possible. The start-up M2MGo is dedicated to the topic of "simple and fast networking" to process raw data in real time. With the enterprise content management system, even non-programmers can create individual and complex applications, portals, and apps in the field of the Internet of Things/Industry 4.0 as easily as with a construction kit using drag & drop. Additionally, legacy systems as well as device data and APIs can be easily integrated. At Hypermotion, young German companies can present themselves in a start-up area under particularly favorable conditions. With the Smart Mobility & Integrated Logistics Experiments Labs (SmileX Lab), Hypermotion becomes a future lab where new solutions for intelligent transport systems are developed. As part of an ITS Hackathon aimed at software developers, new applications for intelligent networking in smart regions will be programmed directly on-site. Another component of the SmileX Labs are TED Talks and a career day for innovation and talent promotion. The conclusion of the SmileX Labs is a Melt-Down, where the solutions and concepts for Mobility 4.0 developed during the hackathon, among other things, will be presented.

What do customers get out of it?

A broad platform: The Hypermotion Future Lab unites conferences, trade shows, think tanks, as well as showcases on the outdoor grounds and technical visits to companies and institutions in the region. In the process, established companies from the transport and logistics sector meet mobility pioneers and visionaries, start-ups, scientists, and other experts.