Logistics of the future: discover people and technology in harmony!

Logistics of the future: discover people and technology in harmony!

On May 20, 2025, Senator Kristina Vogt visited the University of Bremen to attend Professor Matthias Klumpp's inaugural lecture. Professor Klumpp has taken over the newly established professorship for retail and logistics management in the Department of Economics. The inaugural lecture has the telling title “Logistics by and for People”. In it, Klumpp emphasized the central role of people in logistics, despite advancing digitalization, robotics and artificial intelligence.

An outstanding example of his research is the “Retail Logistics & Innovation Lab”, which was launched in collaboration with the REWE Group and the universities of Göttingen and Darmstadt. The aim of this innovation project is to improve working conditions in trade logistics, an area that is increasingly in focus. In her speech, Senator Vogt emphasized the special importance of logistics for Bremen, especially with regard to the strategic ports in Bremen and Bremerhaven.

Strengthening logistics research

The appointment of Professor Klumpp to the professorship will sustainably strengthen logistics research at the University of Bremen. The connection to existing research networks, including the initiative of the Bremen Institute for Production and Logistics GmbH (BIBA), creates valuable synergies in the industry. BIBA, founded as one of the first affiliated institutes of the University of Bremen, is one of the most important research institutions in the country. It conducts application-oriented research in the areas of production and logistics.

BIBA's work is divided into two research areas: “Intelligent production and logistics systems” and “Information and communication technology applications in production”. These areas are under the leadership of experienced engineers such as Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Freitag and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus-Dieter Thoben is highly respected and focuses on national and international challenges in the industry. BIBA is also actively involved in the Bremen Research Cluster for Dynamics in Logistics and is part of the International Graduate School for Dynamics in Logistics.

Digital transformation in logistics

During the inaugural lecture, the topic of digital transformation in logistics was also addressed. This change is often not yet fully developed, especially in small and medium-sized companies. Christian Prasse, Head of Strategic Development at Fraunhofer IML, emphasized the crucial importance of digitalization. Increasing globalization has led to increased competition, forcing companies to develop more efficient processes to serve international markets and minimize transportation costs and delivery times.

Digital transformation enables seamless, real-time monitoring, resulting in more transparent processes. Companies can use historical data, real-time information and simple algorithms to predict future events and take proactive actions. The resulting transparency is crucial for competitiveness. Sustainability is also becoming increasingly important in process optimization – digitalization can help to minimize environmental impact and conserve resources.

In summary, it can be said that the University of Bremen is taking a significant step in the further development of education and research in the field of logistics and sustainability through the appointment of Professor Klumpp and the associated strengthening of logistics research. In conjunction with BIBA's findings and offerings and Fraunhofer IML's digitalization-oriented approaches, Bremen is well positioned to take on a pioneering role in the logistics industry.