Data that Moves
Interview with Sebastian Stute, Managing Director of SmartMakers GmbH
For effective management of logistics and production processes, data are needed that ideally should be collected as close to the product as possible: for example, on individual components or at least on the carriers in which they are transported. For this purpose, the company SmartMakers provides a smart solution with even greater potential for further development in the future.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Stute, with its readily deployable IoT tracking and remote monitoring solutions, SmartMakers aims to accelerate and simplify the business processes of its clients – how exactly do you achieve this?
Sebastian Stute: As a track-and-trace specialist, we provide our clients with real-time data on assets for which reliable information is often not available: for example, load carriers, boxes, and crates, but also components that go directly into the final product: Our clients include manufacturers of fire engines or concrete pumps, who attach our tracking solutions directly to their chassis. This allows logistical cycles in their own operations to be better understood across multiple production sites and in conjunction with suppliers, as well as assembly and manufacturing processes to be more finely controlled.
Wirtschaftsforum: What specific information do you provide your customers with?
Sebastian Stute: The data we provide includes not only the location of the respective component or load carrier but also important information about dwell and throughput times, or condition monitoring during transport – for example, whether an X-ray machine on its way from Jena to China is being transported in the upright position as intended throughout its journey. During production processes, real-time alert notifications ensure that sufficient components and transport containers are always available.
Wirtschaftsforum: Having data is one thing - using it meaningfully is quite another challenge.
Sebastian Stute: To address this, we have now developed our own application platform on which the relevant production and logistics processes can be specifically controlled and coordinated - of course, with appropriate interfaces to relevant transport management systems, making seamless management of the entire operational processes possible. Looking ahead, we see numerous further opportunities through AI to further reduce complexity in this context. Many of our customers, for example, wish for simple question-answer interaction in natural language. We are already working on this - and today, we can significantly simplify numerous operational processes, such as booking of goods receipts or managing transport crates, with our existing solutions so that our customers can deploy their employees for truly value-adding processes. Although tracking technology is now widely used, many customers are not yet aware that our offering provides a simple, targeted solution in the logistics context. We would like to sharpen this awareness in the near future.
Wirtschaftsforum: What goals are you aiming for in the coming years?
Sebastian Stute: The hardware peripherals such as our trackers and other electronic components are becoming cheaper, more powerful, and therefore more energy-efficient. This enables longer operating times and thus usability at lower costs, which will further lower the barriers to acquisition in the future. Today, we mainly operate in the high-mix-low-volume market, which is primarily characterized by the custom manufacturing of complex components - accordingly, most of our customers come from the areas of special machinery and vehicle construction, medical technology, aerospace, and defense. Looking ahead, however, we also see an interesting area of application for our technology for standard B and C parts.
Wirtschaftsforum: What other changes will AI bring about?
Sebastian Stute: The general AI push leads to an even greater hunger for data - and SmartMakers is the ideal data provider, as we can provide information directly from the respective assets. This combination of AI and real-time data will create a powerful tool for summarizing and processing even the most complex issues in a simple manner. Even today, with our software, it is easy to understand how individual shipments have moved - a bit of complexity still exists, as you still have to click on the respective elements and process the corresponding information. The great simplification will come when we can generate an automated report in the morning, described in natural language, about how many transports are on time, where delays might occur and what are likely the reasons. We are already working on this. We are convinced that the market will strongly develop towards automated, data-driven decisions in the next five to ten years - and technologies like ours will play a central role in this. With our long-standing market experience and a clear focus on real-time data, we are already laying the foundation for this change.
Wirtschaftsforum: How is SmartMakers positioned in the long term to benefit from market developments?
Sebastian Stute: SmartMakers is now part of the international Zenner Group - and thus embedded in a strong, long-term thinking corporate environment with a clear strategic orientation. This not only gives us financial stability but also access to a comprehensive technology and partner network that we can specifically use for our further development.