FORUM: Utility and futility of green intralogistics
The future of efficient intralogistics

Tuesday, 8 February from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm, Forum 1- Hall 1
Organisation/Chair: Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund, and holder of the chair of Transportation and Warehousing at the University of Dortmund

NOTE: Simultaneous translation into English is provided


Global climate change and the increasing scarcity of resources have pushed the topics of 'CO2 Emissions' and 'energy efficiency' into the mainstream of the social and industrial consciousness over the past ten years, making them into a global economic political issue. In the logistics sector this development has given rise to the concept of 'green logistics'. While the focus was initially on issues within transport logistics, other areas of logistics have gradually been encompassed within it. These include intralogistics.

Increasing the level of efficiency or cutting the energy consumption of plants can make a real contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions. The 'green' concept is now firmly anchored in the intralogistics sector and is expressed in the wide range of energy-efficient solutions available on the market. One example is the modern generation of stacker cranes. Braking energy released in the stacker crane is used to help power other equipment and machinery instead of being converted into heat through the braking resistance. More energy saving can be achieved through the use of intelligent control units, as implemented in energy saving circuits which switch individual plant areas on and off on demand, depending on plant utilization.

However the cost-effectiveness of such types of innovations often remains in question. Operating costs, and energy costs in particular, play a crucial role throughout the life cycle of an intralogistics system. As a proportion of the lifecycle costs, investment and procurement costs generally only account for between ten and fifteen percent. Consequently reducing energy costs offers considerable potential for saving resources and improving overall cost-efficiency. But how and to what extent can energy costs in intralogistics be saved through innovative products? Are energy-efficient systems worth the extra cost and do the achievable energy savings lag behind the investment costs? In the trade forum leading experts from the intralogistics sector will present current innovations and provide answers to the question of cost-effectiveness.



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