Start-ups – Clever Ideas for Logistics and Plastic Replacement

For the four founders, the name says it all. When current Managing Director and logistician Dr. Philipp Hüning, the two computer scientists Jan Möller and Patrik Elfert and industrial engineer Michael Koscharnyj named their start-up Logistikbude, the former employees of the Frauenhofer Institute for Materials Research and Logistics (IML) in Dortmund deliberately wanted to evoke associations with the stalls typical of the Ruhr region. “Stalls are the most uncomplicated place to buy something in our region. You go in, say what you need and you’re out again within a minute,” explains Hüning. Customers should be able to manage their returnable containers just as easily and relaxed with the company’s software. The spectrum ranges from pallets and pallet cages to tank containers – everything that is needed to transport goods safely between companies. Previously, these load carriers caused a lot of work and occasionally also trouble, for example when pallets were lost, or unnecessarily long transit times accumulated.

With standardized software that can be used in any company, Logistikbude provides a remedy. Users can operate it either via browser, an app or in their own systems via interface integration. The tool completes tasks that were previously time-consuming and error-prone. It records and manages all of a company’s reusable items. Each individual item is given a serial number and can be tracked using barcodes, RFID tags, or IoT trackers. The aim is to achieve complete transparency of all processes relating to reusable items.

Gone are the days when the forklift driver had to write down the information on a pallet slip and then later laboriously transfer it to an Excel spreadsheet and a document management system. All processes should be automated. The figures show just how complex and time-consuming this is. “We have five billion items of reusable packaging in Europe, which on average circulate between more than ten companies. Each of these reusable packaging units generates ten bookings, that’s 50 billion bookings in total,” calculates Hüning. This can no longer be managed with simple data processing; the use of artificial intelligence is also required for this.

Three years ago, the quartet set up their own project – with success. Today, its customers include large industrial companies such as seat manufacturer Recaro and logistics service providers such as DB Schenker, Emons and Sennder. The credo of Logistikbude: reusable as easy as disposable. “Playfulness is not a bonus for us, it’s fundamental,” says Hünig, emphasizing how important user-friendliness is to the software company.

Coatings Re-Imagined

The motto of the Versmold-based start-up Wax Solution is “Natural raw materials instead of plastic.” The company produces alternatives to plastic paper coatings. Such barrier coatings are used for protection, such as for baking powder sachets, or to ensure that food does not grease out. Acrylics and polyolefins are often used for the coatings of primary packaging. Not so with Wax Solutions: the company relies on ecological solutions based on natural raw materials. These include beeswax, wax from the carnauba palm, and tree resins.

For the time being, the start-up is concentrating on coating food packaging such as wrapping paper for the fresh food counter, as well as baking powder sachets, and wrappers for chocolate bars. One important aspect: “The coated papers can still be recycled. Our aim is for the paper fibers to remain in the cycle for as long as possible,” says Business Development Manager Dennis Kleine-Tebbe.

Wax Solutions has been around since May 2023 and is a spin-off of Alfred Willich Produktions GmbH, which produces dipping masses for salamis. “The company started a project with a paper manufacturer and a supplier of natural waxes a few years ago,” says Kleine-Tebbe, describing the beginnings. The project first became a product and now a company. The manager is positive about the prospects: “The market is currently growing. The topic of barrier paper has only emerged in recent years.”