An entire supply chain on show

• Special “Innovative Logistics Solutions” display at CeMAT 2016

Logistics professionals wanting to walk the length of an entire supply chain will be able to do precisely that at next year’s CeMAT trade fair in Hannover, Germany (31 May to 3 June). The Innovative Logistics Solutions showcase in Hall 27 will provide an inspirational and informative look at a fully functional supply chain employing all the latest high tech. Visitors will be able to witness every step, live in action, from offloading operations at the container terminal right through to finished goods loading at dispatch and onward transport. The various links of the process chain will feature the latest software and hardware solutions on offer by CeMAT exhibitors.

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The display is co-organized by the Institute for Distribution and Trade Logistics (IDH), a member of Germany’s Association for the Promotion of Innovative Methods in Logistics (VVL), the Bremen-based communication agency dialog4research and the CeMAT team. “Our aim in mounting the display is to boost awareness and acceptance of automation solutions in the logistics sector. Next year, we will be focusing on Industry 4.0 technologies in particular. Because we will be showing a complete supply chain, our visitors will be able to see each solution in context, which will no doubt give them new ideas for the design of their own supply chains,” explained Wolfgang Pech, Deutsche Messe’s Senior Vice President responsible for CeMAT.

CeMAT’s living supply chain consist of five parts:

Transport logistics: This section is all about planning the transportation of goods, whether by road, rail, water or air. It is also concerned with handling and unloading containers.

Freight arrival and unloading: A large number of new innovations have become established in this area of logistics in recent years. These include systems that automatically identify and log incoming goods, for instance via RFID technology. Other systems automatically depalletize the goods. The exciting highlights here include loading and unloading robots.

Goods handling systems: In-factory handling systems for moving goods in and out of storage and production can be highly complex. This is an area where innovative warehousing systems facilitate quick, flexible and efficient goods storage and retrieval for on-shipment or processing.

Picking and packing small parts: What belongs together, goes together. Before they are dispatched, small parts are picked, weighed, measured in 3D, packaged, tagged with barcodes/RFID labels and stacked onto pallets. This area of logistics has also seen many intelligent automation solutions in recent years.

Loading systems: onward shipment: Goods are assembled into groups, automatically placed into containers or other loading units, loaded onto trucks, trains, ships or aircraft and secured in place. This final part of the supply chain has also benefited enormously from a wide range of innovations.

“The Innovative Logistics Solutions showcase, which will be staged for the second time next year, is designed to bring together all the different parts of the logistics chain and show how they are connected,” said Pech. “Both visitors and exhibitors at next year’s CeMAT stand to learn a lot from the display because it will not only provide detailed insight into the innovative products and solutions on show, but will also highlight their unique benefits within the context of a full-fledged supply chain.”

The special display will be located in Hall 27, in the immediate vicinity of the West 2 entrance.