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ePaper created 2014-09-23, 08:46:06 | version 1.33.00
10 Issue Two 2014 Title In addition, there are urban planning solutions such as the “districts with short distances”, in which everything – from medical practices through to restaurants and businesses for everyday requirements as well as sporting facilities and nurser- ies – can quickly be reached on foot. Also, more teleworking will be possible thanks to broadband connections: “Many servic- es from product design through to medical diagnosis using laboratory data or com- puter images will be able to be carried out just as effectively at home in the future as in the office,” says Eberl, whose book “Fu- ture 2050” (published by Beltz & Gelberg) provides a comprehensive forecast for life in tomorrow’s world. Even when rapid repairs are required, it is not always nec- essary to send components on their way: In future, 3-D printers will also be able to produce locally. Even today, this is possi- ble not just with plastics, but also with su- per-strong special steel used in the repair of gas turbines, such as in steam-powered power stations: Defective burners for par- ticular turbine types will simply be re- printed. Technological innovations The future will deliver many new tech- nologies, and existing ones will continue to develop unceasingly: “Thanks to computer intelligence, factories will become extreme- ly flexible, at the same time as being able to produce with high levels of automation,” thinks Dr. Ulrich Eberl. Furthermore – al- though this involves looking further into the future by about 20 or 30 years – micro- chips above all else will contribute to boost- ing their performance by a factor of many thousand compared to today. “What a 500 euro notebook can do today, a small chip worth 50 cents will do then,” says Eberl. “In future, as a result, there will be tiny sensor and communications elements in everything: in houses and cars which will drive autonomously and without accidents as driving robots, continuously updating their programmes to the latest status with software updates.” Growth in the transport volume and goods transport would make clever logistic solutions essential for our national econo- mies. “For example, we want the products that we need every day to be available not only quickly and cost effectively, we also often want to know how they have been produced and transported, and what envi- ronmental pollution they have caused on their way to us,” says the expert. Intelligent labels with electronic product memory and sensors that measure the transport routes and environmental influences could do a lot in this direction and, for example, they already document a continuous cold chain for foodstuffs or medicines today. “They generate, process and communicate a lot of data – about the products themselves or their transport history – and will thus cause massive changes in the logistics sector.” Services and new business models RFID, cloud computing, big data – these are in some cases only new words for innovations that are already chang- ing the logistics sector now. “Compa- nies will always be faced by the question of whether innovations such as theseDr. Ulrich Eberl »In future, transport and loading processes will have to be even safer and more transparent. However, maximum efficiency throughout the logistics chain could allow companies to make their everyday transport business more efficient. For example, it is important to minimise downtimes, improve vehicle capacity utilisation and, above all, avoid driving empty.« Ralf Merkelbach, Manager Fleet Support Services at BPW