Beumer and Fraunhofer launch three-year plan to develop mobile robots for logistics

Seeking advances in automated logistics solutions, Beumer Group will partner with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML to launch a joint "Enterprise Lab" to develop a scalable platform for mobile robotics. The three-year effort will be located at the Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund, Germany, and include five full-time positions from the institute. According to the partners, the format of the research co-operation enables close integration of industry and science: Beumer gains direct access to the latest research results and laboratory facilities, while Fraunhofer experts can work with their new industrial partner to bring specific developments and products to market maturity. For example, under the agreement, new technologies from the lab can be quickly transferred to pilot projects and product improvements at Beumer, ranging from sortation robots for parcel centers to smart baggage transporters for airports. "Instead of setting up an isolated island laboratory, we are using the Fraunhofer ‘Enterprise Lab’ as a tried and tested format for incorporating external cutting-edge research directly into our product development,” Beumer’s chief technology officer, Volker Jungbluth, said in a release. "Mobile robotics perfectly complements our product and system portfolio in our core areas of 'Conveying and Sorting' and offers clear technological and economic advantages: flexibly scalable, space-efficient, fail-safe and powerful.”