DEPOT
Research project: Digital development, production, logistics and transportation (DEPOT)
Research area: Digital development supply chain, load carrier constructions
In cooperation with: Airbus, Liebherr Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH, SAP SE, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Diehl Aviation, Favendo, DAKO
Start of the project: 01/2018
End of the project: 06/2021
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Depot project is a collaborative project of the aviation research program. The research consortium consists of Airbus, SAP, Fraunhofer and two institutes of the Technischen Universität Hamburg, among others.
The aim of the project is to digitalize and optimize supply chain processes with a strong focus on tracking and tracing products and developing improved load carriers. In addition to looking at the company’s internal network, customers and suppliers are also to be integrated in a standardized manner.
The Institute of Technical Logistics is focusing on the load carriers used for material supply at Airbus. These are currently designed for specific processes and products and therefore have to be provided in large numbers and in a wide variety. The lattice trolleys used for container transport in particular have limitations in terms of flexibility and a low degree of volume utilization. This results in high space requirements in production and storage areas as well as increased process costs.
The modular load carrier concept developed at the Institute of Technical Logistics is based on various load and function modules. These can be linked together via a mechanism positioned on the side. This achieves a high degree of scalability and individuality. As a result, logistics space can be significantly reduced and logistics processes optimized. The load carriers are also equipped with the necessary sensors for localization and condition monitoring by the Institute of Aircraft Production Technology. Several prototypes of the load carrier modules are produced at the Institute of Technical Logistics and regularly tested by the project partners.
Another work package of the DEPOT project involves the visualization of the load carriers in a virtual environment. For this purpose, various use cases such as picking, loading and moving with an AGV are mapped in VR. The aim is to provide a test environment for functionality and ergonomics in an environment that is as close to reality as possible.