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iFlow Platform finalist of the European Prize for Excellence in Logistics Back

Friday, 6/30/2017   
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The iFlow logistics management platform – developed by Bosch Car Multimedia, in Braga, and the University of Minho – was among the six finalists of the European Logistics Excellence Award, granted by the European Logistics Association (ELA). The ceremony took place on the 1st June 2017, in Brussels, Belgium.
The iFlow platform was initially requested by Bosch in order to aggregate information related to logistics. As with other companies, suppliers deliver raw material needed to produce items to the company. However, the search for information was dispersed and very time-consuming, precisely because of the lack of an aggregating platform, which often led the company to carry out a series of time-consuming procedures.

“The added value of this tool is to give a unique interface so that it is possible to search for logistics information. For Bosch in particular, we are talking about a transport of containers with raw materials necessary for production. The information was dispersed and was received in very different forms”, João Miguel Fernandes, senior researcher at the ALGORITMI research centre of the EEUM, one of the project coordinators and UMinho’s representative, highlighted.

Industries are increasingly looking for solutions that automate their processes. João Miguel Fernandes has no doubts that the iFlow platform is aligned with the principles of Industry 4.0: “The Industry 4.0 concept aims to connect industries. This concept works when we have processes that are automated between organisations or industries. In this case, the logistics processes are all being automated and the machines are exchanging information with each other. Therefore, that information is used at higher decision levels”. Developed in partnership with the UMinho as part of the Human Machine Interface Excellence (HMI) project – which ended in July 2015 –, iFlow helps identify raw material coming into the factory. Following this project, the university is already developing a system that locates the raw material/product inside the factory. From here, it will be possible to track these elements in real time between Bosch, suppliers and carriers, allowing a greater efficiency and speed in the exchange of information.

“Awards are always interesting because they are the recognition of our work, but the main goal of this project was to create a system that was useful in an industrial context and that is already being used. We are very satisfied with the final result from this point of view”, João Miguel Fernandes reinforced. iFlow platform counted with the collaboration of several researchers from the ALGORITMI research centre of the EEUM.

In October 2016, iFlow had already been awarded at the national edition of the Logistics Excellence Award (PEL), delivered by APLOG in partnership with the Modern Logistics magazine.

+ info: http://www.elalog.eu/years-finalists-ela-awards-are ; http://www.bosch.pt/pt/pt/startpage_10/country-landingpage.php
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