handling: What new freedom does artificial intelligence offer in the design of warehouse solutions? How should we imagine a modern warehouse in 15 years' time?
In 15 years' time, AI will be approximately 1000 times more powerful than it is today. By then, AI will have access to all data from the entire value chain of all stored products and will be able to realize the entire delivery process from production to customer-specific delivery in the shortest possible way at the lowest cost and with the smallest ecological footprint.

And asked the other way around: where do you see the limits of AI in intralogistics?
When gigantic amounts of data and many factors come together, artificial intelligence is superior to human intelligence because AI is able to determine relationships from gigantic amounts of data from different sources in a short time in order to create added value. But only humans can think logically and distinguish useful from worthless AI advice. Machine thinking is limited because a computer can only identify patterns. Only humans can recognize the meaningfulness and logic behind them.

The development of automation technology has accelerated thanks to Industry 4.0 and artificial intelligence. Where is the general trend heading?
Everyone is talking about Industry 4.0 and everything behind it. We are well advanced in digitalization today and we hardly do anything analog anymore. Robots and the interfaces between machines and people will play an even greater role in the future. What's more, robots will increasingly have artificial intelligence.

What does this mean in concrete terms for intralogistics? Why don't you give us some examples?
Let's take order picking. Previously, you had to describe to the picking robot exactly where it would find the item to be picked. With AI, the robots can see and decide which of the many items in a container is the right one. If this item is blocked by another package, it can push it away with its gripper finger to ultimately complete its task. If the robot masters this process independently, then it has a certain intelligence because it makes different decisions along the way of gripping. This is what we call artificial intelligence. If we take this a step further, there will be unlimited possibilities in the future.

And for the world of work?
The world of work will continue to change in the future with all the new technologies. But this has already happened in the last 50 years. Fifty years ago, 65 percent of all employees were blue-collar workers and today it's still 24 percent. Here too, jobs have changed and people have adapted to them. This will continue to be the case in the future, although the topic of HMI will become increasingly important. HMI stands for Human Machine Interface, i.e. the interaction between man and machine. This will be much more collaborative and will increasingly reduce physical work.

Isn't it only a matter of time before humans become superfluous in logistics?
Basically yes, but .... basically yes, because that is our business model. We automate manual processes. That's how we earn our money. Of course, this means that jobs are lost or change. But at the same time, new jobs are created. Maintenance staff and plant operators are needed on the plants. These are jobs that did not previously exist in the warehouses. The working environment for warehouse operators and order pickers will change due to technology. People will have to adapt their skills here, but the jobs will continue to exist. However, we also create jobs here with every automation system that we sell.

Where will automation solutions be developed in the future? Can Western industry hold its own against China?
Today, we still have a clear technological and quality advantage over China. For the future, it is important to maintain this lead and, if possible, extend it even further through innovations and good ideas. If we succeed in building up a competitive advantage on the cost side in combination with further automation, then we will be well positioned in Europe.

You get around a lot and see many solutions in practice. What was the most innovative warehouse you have seen in recent months? What makes it stand out?
Basically, the basic structure of most automated storage systems doesn't differ too much. I have seen the most innovative warehouse in recent months from a competitor, but understandably I won't tell you who. However, it is always interesting for us to learn from our competitors in order to continuously improve. dsc