The rise of the Safelog company seems to have been something of an automatic mechanism, a sure-fire success – and automation is something they understand in the Swabian company market. Founded in 1996 – at that time still under the name NewTech – the company has grown continuously, from a relatively small company to a globally operating company that now employs 150 people and has a turnover of millions. This success has not gone unnoticed by the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, which Safelog honored this year as one of the fastest growing medium-sized companies with the “Bavaria’s Best 50” award.
Managing directors Michael Reicheicher (left) and Mathias Behounek with owner Michael Wolter (center)
(Photo: Christian Endt)
But what makes Safelog so successful? The company has committed itself to the Tayloristic principle of increasing efficiency and optimizing work processes, especially in logistics. One of its mainstays is the patented “Pick-by-Light” system, which accounts for around 15 percent of sales, as Michael Wolter, owner of Safelog, reports. During order picking – putting together an order in the warehouse – this system uses light bulbs and sensors to indicate from which compartment something has to be taken, whether the employees have reached the shelf correctly and how it all belongs together. This outsourcing of intelligence from human to machine significantly reduces the error rate during order picking.
Sherzad Khnari is an employee at Safelog.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
When it comes to logistics tasks, the calculation seems to be: the fewer people, the more efficiency and the fewer errors. It is therefore logical that the majority of Safelog sales are now made through AGVs – the “Automated Guided Vehicles”. These metal cargo horses drag or pull, depending on their size (small, medium, large) between 500 and 3000 kilograms, at a speed of up to one meter per second – and fully automatically. “Automatic transport systems are nothing new,” says Wolter. “But we were able to improve the technology significantly.” In the hardware sector, Safelog benefited from the initial difficulties of some competitors, as the company was able to specifically avoid certain errors and problems. For example, the computer chips that are processed in the AGVs cost a fraction of what is used in alternative devices, reducing the overall cost. The real heart of the robots, however, is the software. The AGVs constantly communicate directly with each other, which is why Safelog speaks of “swarm intelligence” here. The devices “know” where their respective colleagues are and determine, for example, who has right of way. The advantage over conventional central control centers is that it is relatively easy to coordinate even a large number of AGVs. Wolter and Mathias Behounek, one of the company’s managing directors, proudly report how 500 AGVs are used simultaneously in a Mercedes plant. How will the human-machine relationship be shaped in the factory of the future? Wolter and Behounek do not see the danger of large-scale job loss through automation. Even now, the problem is much more the shortage of skilled workers than the loss of jobs, they emphasize. Behounek adds: “The jobs that are made redundant by the AGVs, for example driving forklifts, are also usually not the most fulfilling, most interesting.” Fewer forklifts mean less potential danger and more space for workers. “This is not only more efficient, but also nicer,” says Wolter.
The Bavarian lion as a symbol for the award “Bavaria’s Best 50”, which this year went to the Markt Schwaben company Safelog.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
The robots are constantly being further developed. “These are completely different devices than they were five years ago, and in five years they will be different devices again,” says Wolter. However, one cannot speak of artificial intelligence. “The word is on our red list,” says Behounek with a smile. There are also “aerial drones” on it. When asked whether Safelog would like to develop such, Wolter’s comment is: “We’ll stay on the ground.” Behounek also emphasizes that first of all you do what you can. Swarm-intelligent AGVs yes, aerial drones no. Safelog tries to strike a balance between modernity and down-to-earthness. For example, “foreign money” is not used; a conscious decision was made against developing into a bloated start-up with exaggerated valuation and short-term profit interests. “We have to keep looking that this is profitable, that we can make a living from it,” says Wolter. Only then will continuous – and in this sense sustainable – growth and long-term planning be possible.
The company has also positioned itself sustainably and modern on other fronts. Four out of ten top positions in the company – with the exception of the management, the third in the group, Michael Reicheicher, is a man – are occupied by women. That is “neat”, thinks Wolter, especially in an industry in which there are far fewer female than male graduates. A solar system is installed on the roof that charges the company’s own electric cars. Supply chains are deliberately kept short. Many of the suppliers, for example for the metal scaffolding, come from the area.
Wolter and Behounek do not see a contradiction between their own desire for sustainability and the fact that the main customers for the AGVs come from the automotive industry. “We are primarily responsible for our company. We are also part of the change that the automotive industry is currently making towards electromobility. The factories that are equipped with the AGVs are the greenest,” emphasizes Wolter, since the automated guided vehicles are smaller and are more resource-efficient and also use less electricity than other systems. So can the balancing act between growth and sustainability, increased efficiency and occupational safety, old and new succeed? Who knows. The Schwaben-based company is at least trying. But even with a self-runner, the question must be asked where the journey is actually going.