Presentations MHF Seminar 17 May available

Theme: ‘Winning Innovations in Material Handling’

The spring Material Handling Forum seminar was held on 17 May 2017 at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Tom Bonkenburg (St. Onge Company) made clear that not much has changed between 1817 and 2017. In 1817 we handled boxes manually and nowadays we still do that. However, there are many more tools now. Nowadays, there are robots in the warehouse, but they cannot do everything yet. This is a challenge for science.

Michiel de Looze emphasized that new warehouse workers will have to collaborate with robots. Systems should be designed around the people, rather than the person around the system.

Martijn Wisse explained how his team won the Amazon Picking Challenge. Their robot managed to pick 12 out of 39 different objects within 15 minutes time. The objects consisted of different materials, different textures, sizes and weights, and were stored in deep bins. The team only had 5 minutes preparation time after receiving the task file.

Roel Post analyzed fresh grocery suppliers that have committed to VMI policy. VMI does not always appear to bring value to the retailer and vendor. He derived necessary factors that drive such benefits.

Jan Willem Klinkenberg emphasized that e-commerce consumers nowadays expect same day delivery, at a distinct moment. He gave insights in what it takes to satisfy these needs.

René de Koster gave an overview of the many innovations in Material Handling that have appeared over the last 15 years, to address the demands of society. The Logistica Award recognizes the best Dutch innovations. Candidates for this competition are advised to sign up at the website of Vakbeurs Logistica.

Presentations available

The presentations of the seminar speakers are available now.