Robots and drones
Further along, the visitors were passed by a small blue robot carrying grey boxes. “We’ve recently started using these,” said Bob van Turnhout, site manager at logistics company DHL, one of Wärtsilä’s partners, that operates a significant part of the warehouse activities. “The robots move the goods from A to B, freeing up time for us to do more rewarding tasks such as quality checking.”
“A day like this is a great opportunity to hear what our customers need,” Van Turnhout said, also mentioning his appreciation that Wärtsilä had involved its partners. “Now we can show them the complete chain.”
The group reached the other side of the warehouse, next to the loading bays from which around 35 trucks depart each day. Here, staff from transportation partner CEVA logistics told the visitors about the future of transport, which will involve innovations such as wind energy and platooning, with single-driver truck convoys.
In addition to the Gemba walks, the visitors could attend several presentations about Wärtsilä’s innovations during the day and join a boat trip on the river IJssel in the evening. There was plenty of time for their questions.
Yearly event
“An event like this is new to the global logistics business,” said Christian Rönnholm. “We like to be closer to our customers, so we can serve them better, and we’re also proud to show them what we can do.”
“It was time to open the doors of Wärtsilä Global Logistics Services to receive feedback directly from our customers,” said Joe Lunday, General Manager at Parts Coordination Management, who helped organising the day. “This event will not only help us modify and explore opportunities to improve today’s services but it will also aid in the development of future initiatives, ensuring our investments are supporting a path that our customers will value for years to come.”