EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr

© EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr

A Modern Concept of Logistics

The EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr, honored by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as one of the leading-edge clusters, makes a significant contribution to advancing development in the logistics sector and preparing its members, haulage companies in the metropolitan region Ruhr, and the general logistical network for a progressive future. On a national as well as international level, the EffizienzCluster enjoys an outstanding reputation and has firmly established itself as a driver of innovation and modernised logistical systems, making it a performance defining entity in the economic environment. At the same time, the cluster serves as an important foundation for the formation of new businesses and growth in the region. Considering itself a network of businesses united by a modern understanding of logistics and a sustainable interest in applied research and innovation, the EffizienzCluster Logistic Ruhr provides a unique approach to efficiency in logistics. The cluster management lies with the EffizienzCluster Management GmbH (ECM).

Giving Impetus to “Industry 4.0”

With its technology-based leitmotif “efficiency through autonomous systems”, the EffizienzCluster has centred its research and innovation projects on the topic of “Industry 4.0”. Hence, it addresses the prevalent issue of intelligent and interconnected logistics. Following its leitmotif, conclusions derived from projects within the framework of the cluster initiative and beyond provide an important groundwork for making tomorrow’s logistics increasingly customised and efficient. More than 100 models, concepts, and solutions – so called “building blocks for efficient logistics” – are available as results of diverse projects within the cluster initiative. Participating partners are now able to implement and make direct use of obtained outcomes as they offer new approaches and key technologies throughout the market. These cutting-edge solution strategies reveal how the high-tech sector meets emerging supply- and transportation conceptions, intelligent network systems, and, simultaneously, ecologic and societal challenges such as climate change, scarcity of resources, urbanisation, and demographic change.

Milestones of innovative cluster-research are, among others, the LogisticsMall (a virtual shopping centre for logistics software from cloud systems), as well as intelligent flows of material as being researched in the projects SmartReusable Transport Items (smaRTI) and Cellular Transport Systems (Zellulare Transportsysteme).

New Centres and Initiatives

Substantial themes like Industry 4.0, digitalisation, autonomous development, and data sovereignty, have found their way into institutions and initiatives. The centre of competence “Mittelstand for Industry 4.0” or “Industrial Date Space” are exemplary for this realignment. Within the framework of the European technology platform ALICE, the ECM furthermore fosters the internationalisation of German businesses’ research activities. Such initiatives are carried out in close cooperation with the cluster’s initiator and ideas provider – the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund. An interdisciplinary centre for logistics research is now being created in Dortmund which focuses on concentrating competences and broadening traditional forms of cooperation between academia and the economy. The LogistikCampus, the Fraunhofer-Innovation Center for Logistics and IT (FhG FILIT) as well as additional Fraunhofer-society labs, form crucial meeting-points for such interdisciplinary cooperation. In Frankfurt and Duisburg the collaboration of academia and the economic sector, which originated in the EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr, has, among others, found its expression in the House of Logistics & Mobility (HOLM) and the logistics network DIALOGistik Duisburg e.V. Intensive interexchange and a multiplicity of cooperation projects connect the EffizienzCluster with essential centers for research in logistics and logistics clusters in Europe, specifically the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Spain.