Automated driving opens enormous potential in vehicle logistics and vehicle distribution. Last year, Unikie successfully showcased automated vehicle movements in real port operations within Volkswagen Group Logistics in one of the world’s largest vehicle logistics terminals in Emden, Germany.
For the first time in the world, Unikie has now demonstrated automated loading and unloading of vehicles onto railway wagons at the Audi Ingolstadt site, the largest production facility and the headquarters of the Audi Group. It represents an important milestone towards automation of the entire vehicle logistics network of the Volkswagen Group.
“I am delighted that we have experienced a world premiere here in Ingolstadt. We have built a test field where we were able to demonstrate automated loading of passenger cars onto a train platform and bring the process closer to series production,” clarified Peter Hörndlein, Managing Director Vehicle Logistics at Volkswagen Group Logistics.
Vehicle dispatches include many manual handovers and a great deal of process-related effort. Automating vehicle movements opens huge potential for efficiency gains and cost reductions in factories. With Unikie Marshalling Solution, the vehicles can be maneuvered in very tight and congested spaces reliably and efficiently.
“What we saw here in Ingolstadt was very impressive, and we demonstrated once again the innovative spirit that exists in the supply chain both at Audi and across the Volkswagen Group. The insights we have gained together with our partners will help us make our supply chain even more digital, efficient, and resilient,” said Thomas Gensberger, Head of Supply Chain Steering O2D at AUDI AG.
“In Ingolstadt, Unikie turned automated rail loading of vehicles into a reality with the Unikie Marshalling Solution. It’s by far the most complex use case in vehicle logistics, providing an excellent opportunity for process optimization. This is a great achievement for us, proving that the solution is approaching industrial operations,” said Vesa Kiviranta, CBO, Automotive & Marshalling Solutions at Unikie.
“Building on their established partnership, Unikie and Deutsche Telekom are scaling automated marshalling across the mobility and logistics ecosystem. We combine Unikie’s automation technology with Telekom’s connectivity and digital infrastructure to enable automated driving applications from vehicle production and logistics hubs to ports, terminals, depots and fleet operations,” stated Enno Borchers, Industry Partner, Automotive at Deutsche Telekom.
The Audi automated rail loading is part of the AutoLog project*, which explores how automotive compounds and seaports could operate in the future when logistics is no longer constrained by the availability of drivers. The project focuses on efficient, fully driverless operation in mixed traffic, opening the door to new processes and optimization opportunities. The project is conducted at the Volkswagen logistics terminal in Emden, the largest seaport in the Volkswagen Group.
*AutoLog is part of the IHATEC II funding program and is carried out together with Volkswagen Group Logistics, Deutsche Telekom, Unikie and BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik.
