BMW’s idealworks partners with Linde Material Handling

Cutting-edge improvements in technology, such as autonomous mobile robots, have been and continue to be the driving force behind automation.

Not least due to their flexible range of applications, AMRs have increasingly been taking over transport tasks in intralogistics. By collaborating with Linde Material Handling, idealworks – a business unit of auto giant BMW – is gaining an important international sales and service partner.

Linde Material Handling, a Kion Group company, is a globally active manufacturer of forklift trucks and warehouse technology equipment as well as a provider of services and solutions for intralogistics.

With a sales and service network in more than 100 countries, the company is represented in all major regions of the world. In the automation sector, Linde Material Handling is now expanding its offering to include two essential core products from idealworks, the autonomous mobile robot iw.hub and the central cloud platform AnyFleet.

As a provider of a holistic solution portfolio in the field of automation, idealworks is revolutionizing the internal logistics of companies in a wide range of industries and providing them with a sophisticated robotics ecosystem whereof customers of Linde Material Handling will also be benefiting in the future: The 8 km/h fast iw.hub independently picks up, transports, and delivers payloads of up to 1,000 kg.

The implementation of the AMR and the cloud platform AnyFleet, which enables the integration of third-party devices based on the VDA 5050 standard, does not require any structural adjustments to the existing facility – markers, magnets, or QR codes used by other systems are not needed.

Instead, the system navigates autonomously using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) navigation technology.

Stefan Prokosch, senior vice president brand management for Linde Material Handling, says: “The speed of our industry’s evolution has increased significantly.

“In the dynamic market environment, cooperation is therefore more important than ever. With our technology partnerships, we keep our finger on the pulse. We welcome the addition of idealworks’ solution to our portfolio and the concomitant merging of core competencies.”

“This expansion enables us to offer and implement integrated logistics solutions for our customers. Particularly in production supply, the most diverse material flow concepts can thus be mapped with innovative technology.”

Michael Schneider, idealworks’ CEO, says: “Through this collaboration, we are taking another important step in our partner integration.

“In addition to our own sales and distribution management, we rely on Linde Material Handling as trusted brand to make our product range accessible to an even broader client base and to move closer to our goal of being the solution provider for intralogistics.

“The company’s interest in our solution portfolio is another key quality feature that underscores our proven experience and innovation skills.”