STILL conneXXt Nr. 01 English

13 Prof. Michael ten Hompel, Managing Director at Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, answers questions on the interaction between humans and machines as part of Industry 4.0. WHAT KIND OF IMPACT IS THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION HAVING ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN HUMANS AND MACHINES? Things will start to make their own decisions. The warehouses of the near future will see humans, machines and items all interacting with one another within a sort of social network. This will throw an entirely new light on how humans and machines collaborate. We will be dealing with autonomous systems which will automatically contact us. This type of autonomous behaviour is really at the heart of the revolution. WHAT SORT OF DECISIONS DO YOU MEAN SPECIFICALLY? Imagine, if you will, an order picker who has just picked a box and then discovers that a part is missing. At this point, he must now decide whether the box should go out as it is or whether it’s worth waiting for the missing part to arrive. Up until now, the employee would have had to ask his colleagues. But in the future, he will be able to ask the shelves whether the part has already been re-ordered. The shelves will in turn ask the fleet of trucks to give exact details about when the part will arrive. This will enable the employee to obtain the information he needs to make his decision. WOULD YOU IDENTIFY ORDER PICKING AS AN AREA WITHIN LOGISTICS WHICH CAN BENEFIT FROM A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF ADDED VALUE BY MAKING USE OF AUTONOMY? Yes and that is in fact the case right now. It’s exactly what STILL has introduced to the market with the iGo neo. For me, it’s the perfect example to show where this journey is heading. The forklift truck recognises its operator and follows him or her here, there and everywhere without the need to dig any guidance strips in the ground or carry out any similar work. This autonomous manner of driving whilst following a human is Industry 4.0 in its purest form. IF WE REGARD THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AS A JOURNEY, WHERE DO YOU THINK WE ARE ON THIS JOURNEY AT THE MOMENT AND HOW FAR HAVE WE STILL GOT TO GO TO REACH OUR DESTINATION? The fourth industrial revolution was proclaimed five years ago at the Hannover Messe trade fair. From experience we know that this kind of revolution takes ten years before it reaches its ultimate conclusion. This means we are right in the middle of this one. I firmly believe that it will be considered completely normal to communicate with shelves in five years’ time. But whether they actually talk back is, of course, an entirely different matter (he laughs). At the same time, we will continue to see even smarter driverless transport systems and, in this respect, it’s not an exaggeration to say that STILL is leading the pack by some way. WHAT ROLE WILL SOFTWARE HAVE ALONG THIS JOURNEY? An all-important one! Whole new business segments will be opened up within the logistics sector in relation to software and apps. If you don’t have an app, you won’t be doing business! That is perhaps being a little too black and white but it clearly highlights how we see things. WHAT NEEDS DOING MOST URGENTLY TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN LOOK BACK ON A TRULY REVOLUTIONISED INDUSTRY IN FIVE YEARS? It all revolves around being able to uncover opportunities which can meaningfully make use of the new technologies and developments whilst also creating added value. It will be of crucial importance to bring products onto the market which have an immediate and clear benefit for users. One thing is certain: completely new business models will come into existence. “IT WILL BE CONSIDERED COMPLETELY NORMAL TO COMMUNICATE WITH SHELVES IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME” TITLE STORY

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