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The Future of Our Cities – Challenging Urbane Logistics (Part 1/3)
Set the course for urban logistics now! – four scenarios for 2030
77 percent of all Germans live in cities. Within the next 10 years, another 1.6 million inhabitants will be added. Thus, the proportion will rise to almost 80 percent. Still, all these people want to be mobile and need to be supplied with goods. Urban transport planning is one of the great social challenges of our time. Accordingly, the public debate is rather controversial. The focus is clearly on …
The exoskeletons are coming: Robots to wear?
Today, servomotors make it easier for us to drive cars. In a few years’ time exoskeletons will be strapped on to do physically demanding work. Especially when it comes to the repeated lifting of heavy loads, the servomotors of the supporting 'outer skeleton' offer real relief. 'Maloche 4.0', so to say: thanks to the latest sensor and actuator technology, heavy work becomes much easier and more …
Automated Loading and Unloading Requires Close Cooperation
Automation in specific terms: Aside from the theoretical concepts regarding the transition of an entire service industry to digital tools, logistics specialists already automated many small, specific tasks. For example, DB Schenker is already testing many processes in an effort to automate logistics in a useful way whether it is a warehouse or through autonomous vehicles. But the automation of the …
Digitalization and e-commerce in Africa: Africa makes leaps and has its first unicorn
So far, Amazon has found Africa a hard nut to crack just as much as its Chinese competitor Alibaba. After all, the (non-existent) infrastructure of the Central African states is a major obstacle for e-commerce. How to order if landline connections are missing? How to pay online when most people do not have a bank account? Jumia tries anyway and likes to call itself the Amazon of Africa. Founded …
Digitization: Japan wants to become Society 5.0
Germany has coined the slogan 'Industry 4.0'. Japan responds with its initiative of 'Society 5.0'. Did we miss a step in the development? What does Japan expect from the digital networking of a society? Even though Society 5.0 sounds a little bit extravagant, Japan's visions of a digitally networked society should be taken seriously. On the one hand, because Japan will be hosting the Olympic Games …
By rail to China
In the 20th century, there were two means of transport for the exchange of goods between China and Europe: ship and plane. The first one is relatively cheap, but you have to calculate up to 6 weeks for the sea transport depending on origin and destination. Air freight takes only a few days, but costs more money. Now, there is a third way! The New Silk Road - "One belt - one road" In 2011, the port of …
On the steel thread – The urban ropeway
Cologne, London, La Paz: Thousands of people hover from shore to shore on the iron rope, towards touristic attractions or remote plateaus. If Thomas Horn has his way, Frankfurt will also soon belong to the select circle of metropolises that operate an urban ropeway. In five years, it should be finished. The director of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main regional authority, together with RMV business executive …
Our cities on the way to multimodal mobility – who is moving forward?
The solution sounds simple in theory. The customer wants to get from A to B in a certain period of time not being interested in anything else. Ideally, he gets out of his own vehicle, which he usually drives by himself, and changes to bus or train. The offer is supplemented by other private mobility providers. Traffic jams and expensive or even non-existent parking will be passé, the habitats in the …