Three Gumption companies show their logistics knowhow in brand-new experience centre Log!ville

Hydrogen-powered lorries, warehouse drones and stock-management robots. These are just a few of the new technologies you can learn more about at the brand-new Log!ville centre at the Science Park in Niel, the ‘Silicon Valley by the fishing lakes’.

There is a wide range of innovations to explore: from futuristic, embryonic ideas to inventions that can already be found in most modern warehouses today. Log!ville brings together start-ups, scale-ups, large companies and knowledge institutes in a physical space covering 2,500 square metres. More than thirty partners from a variety of sectors have joined forces here.

In the digital experience hall, you can discover remarkable innovations virtually such as the network of pipes which will be used from 2024 to move goods from northwest London to the city. In a live demonstration hall, you can test applications. With Geosparc, Maggy and Rank 1, three Gumption companies are represented with a stand.

‘We have developed a proof-of-concept around smart geo-tracking using a multipurpose infrastructure,’ says Katrien Reyniers of Rank 1. ‘Take a forklift, for instance. With our technology, you can detect where it is in a warehouse. You can map its movements in the warehouse. The technology even allows you to prevent collisions by identifying accident zones based on the collected data.’

Upon arrival in the demonstration hall, you are given a Maggy, a wearable device that was developed within Gumption in 2021. ‘When you hand in the device on leaving, we show you a real-time dashboard on the iPad of your and the other visitors’ movements around the hall. This is a practical demonstration of how our technology works. We show that technologies like these can also be cost-efficient. Without beacons, but through smart use of the Wi-Fi network.’

With a training room and meeting rooms, the organisation wants to bring players in the field together at the table to think about the future of the industry. Katrien Reyniers: ‘At Gumption, our work centres around artificial intelligence, automation, digitisation and sustainable development. Those are topics Log!ville focuses on too.’

The plans for Log!ville originated in 2017. The first stone of the ‘logistics showpiece of Europe’ was laid in 2019 and the centre has recently opened its doors to the public. The Log!ville initiative was developed under the auspices of the Flanders Knowledge Centre for Logistics, VIL with support from the European Regional Development Fund and POM Antwerp. The building was officially opened by Vice-Minister-President of the Government of Flanders Hilde Crevits.

Pictures: Cathy Van Dael (header) & Sonja De Wolf (middle picture).