We’re a global innovation firm,
imagining tomorrow’s
products, services and businesses
– and creating them today.
imagining tomorrow’s
products, services and businesses
– and creating them today.
Working with Toyota Industries
to redefine the future of supply chains
Online shopping skyrocketed, the travel industry faced unexpected shifts, and buying patterns caused changes in all markets around the world. These are some of the key aspects that shaped the new challenges for the logistics industry.
In their mission to create future-proof solutions, Toyota’s Branch, Vanderlande, tackled these challenges first-hand. As global market leaders in logistics and airport system automation, they looked for a partner to help them navigate these unprecedented market shifts.
We partnered with Vanderlande to design and launch a luggage handling solution based on smart self-driving vehicles. This solution wouldn’t just redefine airport logistics – it had the potential to revolutionize an entire industry.
To keep up with the travel demand, airport handling needed to be reinvented. Within 6 months, we did deep market research and conceptualized a new business model. We turned a product-based business into a service driven one, increasing Vanderlande’s capabilities and strengthening their bonds with their clients – we created FLEET.
FLEET is a system of self-driving vehicles based on automation and digital information. AI and data banks played a fundamental role as the brain of FLEET’s system.
Machine learning optimizes all baggage handling operations. At the same time, it offers a completely new core feature for the aviation industry. While transporting luggage, the system records key passenger insights based on luggage information. How many passengers are traveling, where they’re headed next, and how much they carry. All this data can be used by airlines and airports to adapt to swift and unexpected travel demands.
FLEET offers more than efficiency and ground-breaking operational benefits. Because of the data it gathers, it allows airports to customize the number of automated vehicles in use. Instead of over-investing in spacious conveyor belts and risky travel forecasts, handling costs drop to the bare minimum – they can now be adapted to updated travel volume and passenger information. Efficiency sky-rockets, while fewer resources are used for the manufacturing of large conveying structures that are often not used to full capacity.
Such a customizable and sustainable solution goes beyond the limits of airport logistics – the concept of transport that records crucial data can be adapted to be a part of supply chain systems in multiple industries across the world.
After piloting FLEET in the Rotterdam airport, a world of possibilities opened up: many other airports began partnering with Vanderlande. This radical shift in airport handling showed us a preview of the future of logistics in more than one industry.
Awarded the Red Dot design award, FLEET transformed a Vanderlande internal venture into a core business team and became a pioneering service – paving the way for supply chain optimization and the future of smart logistics.
