MEET OUR CODE_N CONTEST FINALISTS 2018: NAiSE GmbH from Germany

Our CODE_n CONTEST Finalist NAiSE has the solution for humans, goods and mobile robots to achieve simultaneous collaboration. The Darmstadt-based startup has created a global localization system for your warehouse shop floor. The comprehensive hardware and software solution offering maximum flexibility combined with full transparency is called autonomous intralogistics. Read more in our interview with CEO and co-founder Jens Heinrich.

Jessica: What is NAiSE all about?

Jens: NAiSE was founded with the vision of equipping the warehouse of the future with maximum transparency and flexibility. This is provided by a holistic solution for the global navigation and collective coordination of all aspects of intralogistics. From humans to goods and mobile robots – NAiSE enables simultaneous collaboration on the same floor. One of our core competencies is the unrestricted and autonomous navigation of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) as well as the harmonization of the flow of goods using swarm intelligence. We offer a comprehensive hardware and software solution for physical warehouse processes. This system enables us to make our vision of autonomous intralogistics a reality.

Jessica: How did you come up with the idea?

Jens: The world has a global localization system for outdoor purposes called GPS, but it is not available inside buildings. A holistic indoor navigation system opens up many new applications, not only for people but also for vehicles and robots. In the context of Industry 4.0, we found this to be in high demand in both factories and warehouses.

Our team first came together on the Stuttgart Startup Weekend and won the prize for best innovation. This laid the foundation for NAiSE – from there we kept on developing the product and the business model.

Jessica: What are you trying to solve?

Jens: Nowadays intralogistics faces two different challenges – non-transparency and inflexibility. In some cases processes are still performed manually, which leads to redundancy – due to a lack of transparency when it comes to the location of goods, for instance. In Germany alone, forklifts drive more than 1.17 billion kilometers each year without carrying a load.

In other cases, automated industrial layouts are linked to inflexible lines ­– which makes changing these structures costly and time-consuming. Such systems are not prepared for the demands of highly flexible production processes aimed at decreasing cycle times.

The solution is what we call autonomous intralogistics – maximum flexibility for the flow of goods in any warehouse or factory, combined with full transparency. This is what we deliver with our system for the navigation of AGVs, vehicles, and people on the shop floor.

Jessica: How does your company differentiate itself from other competitors on the market?

Jens: What makes our solution unique is the link between autonomous driving and swarm intelligence, its scalability for all participants (people, vehicles, robots, drones, and assets), and the inclusion of all intralogistics processes within one cohesive system – one holistic standard for localization, navigation, analytics, and communication.

Nowadays, autonomous driving for robots and AGVs is achieved using lines or lasers. Not only is this method very expensive, but it is also limited to two-dimensional movement and only applicable to robots. Our system doesn’t merely offer a cheaper alternative – it can also be used to equip robots as well as humans, forklifts, and goods. This lets us connect all participants with each other and allows people and robots to work simultaneously on the same floor. Furthermore, our customers only need one system for all their intralogistics processes. This reduces their administrative overheads in IT and allows them to leverage synergies more quickly.

Jessica: Thank you for the interview, Jens!

Meet NAiSE at the new.New Festival 2018  this fall, in Stuttgart!