Dachser, German research institute launch ‘enterprise lab’ partnership

German logistics provider Dachser has formed what it is calling a “a tight-knit research partnership” with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (Fraunhofer IML) to bring research and development projects to market as quickly as possible.

The collaborative effort, called the Dachser Enterprise Lab, will bring together Dachser employees and researchers from Fraunhofer IML on specific research and development projects that “flow into Dachser’s two business fields” – road logistics and air and sea logistics.

“The Dachser Enterprise Lab adds key competencies to our internal research and development capacity, and gives us flexible access to specialists,” said Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon.

Michael ten Hompel, managing director of Fraunhofer IML, explained that similar enterprise labs had successfully turned research results into new products or new business models. Now, Dachser hopes to harness that same dynamic across its logistics operations. “By embracing new and interdisciplinary forms of collaborative development that shorten the distance between us, we can achieve a high degree of exchange between research and industry,” Hompel said.

Fraunhofer IML’s research-to-market model allows the research institution to quickly put new technologies, trends or business strategies into practice, and determine its partners’ priorities through constant industry feedback. Hompel said that applying this strategy in the context of a globally connected logistics business such as Dachser would allow Fraunhofer IML to study the company’s networks and data structures and produce valuable insight.