Fiege Employees in Ibbenbüren Receive AI-Based Exoskeletons

At the Fiege Mega Center Ibbenbüren, smart and fully connected exoskeletons assist the employees of the logistics service provider with heavy lifting and long walking distances during loading and unloading and in order picking. This creates the ideal scenario where humans and machines interact seamlessly and intuitively.

(Greven/Augsburg) With 155,000 square meters of logistics space, nearly 800 employees, and 55 million items shipped per year, the Fiege Mega Center Ibbenbüren is one of the largest logistics centers in Europe. Many customers at the site are continuously growing, requiring larger spaces, and the paths during order picking are sometimes longer. To sustainably and effectively support employees in their work, the family-owned company Fiege has been using the AI-based exoskeleton Cray X from German Bionic since June 2022.

The small and lightweight power suit can be strapped on like a backpack and is a multitasker: The smart exoskeleton offers up to 30 kilograms of support per lifting operation at manual workplaces, provides active walking assistance, and is integrated into the digital workflow via the German Bionic IO platform. This creates the ideal scenario where humans and machines interact seamlessly and intuitively.

Innovative Technology from German Bionic

“In addition to our employees at our location, we already have pick robots, push-tray sorters, and sorting systems in use, but there are a number of recurring tasks that cannot be solved purely through automation,” explains Detlev Hornhues, branch manager at the Fiege location in Ibbenbüren. “And this is exactly where we want to leverage the innovative technology from German Bionic. We are convinced that with the intelligent Cray X, we can optimize the important manual work at our location and particularly support our employees in their daily tasks.”

How does it work? As soon as the Cray X is turned on, it connects via LTE or Wi-Fi to the German Bionic IO system platform and begins its preventive and supportive task, making physically demanding and repetitive tasks less strenuous and more ergonomic for employees. For this purpose, the AI-based Cray X provides the respective user with additional external energy during their activities – and learns every day.

Manual Workplaces Integrated into the Workflow

Most of the innovative features are possible because the active exoskeleton is fully connected through the German Bionic IO system platform. “Since we are continuously in contact with our customers through this networking, we can analyze work processes better than other providers and constantly improve the Cray X based on user feedback and our own investigations,” says Armin G. Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of German Bionic. “The cloud-based exoskeleton platform from German Bionic is unique in the industry. It provides us with the necessary data to advance machine learning, optimize it, and continue our research and development at a higher level.”

The system integrates manual workplaces into the digital workflow of the respective company, creating an interoperable data exchange between the various corporate systems. In addition to improved occupational safety, this has the advantage that Fiege can create its own evaluation criteria to identify bottlenecks early, optimize processes, and resolve disruptions in the workflow.

Warns of Ergonomic Risk Factors and Fatigue

The integrated AI-based ergonomic early warning system Smart Safety Companion also prevents fatigue, incorrect postures, and improper lifting techniques among employees, thereby preventing overload-related errors and injuries. The extensive reporting functions provide immediate overviews of the effectiveness of occupational safety measures. This allows for the identification of new potentials for occupational safety and corporate performance.

Interaction of Humans and Machines

At the logistics service provider Fiege, the topic of automation has been an ongoing process for many years. In close coordination with the LEAN management and engineering team, it is examined how processes can be made more efficient – for example, through the use of innovative technology. However, it is not about replacing humans, says Hornhues. “On the contrary: The goal is to relieve our employees from mundane and repetitive tasks as much as possible so that we can deploy them in value-adding processes that are both more enjoyable and where human skills are indispensable.”

In this spirit, the technology from German Bionic addresses areas where full automation or robotic systems reach their limits. “There will continue to be numerous work areas that will rely on the creative problem-solving skills of humans,” says Norma Steller, CPO at German Bionic. “The use of the AI-based Cray X is not about replacing humans with robotics, but about human augmentation and inclusion combined with measurable process optimization.”

Photo: © Fiege