Page 24 - Port of Hamburg Magazine 1.2020

■ DIGITAL DECADE
How a Hamburg forwarder makes logistics more sustainable with artificial intelligence
More and more freight is being transported worldwide – whether by sea, rail or road. Especially in times of ever more urgent action on the climate, for all those involved that poses this question: How can the rising volume of shipments be successfully handled and the environment be spared at the same time? One Hamburg start-up has discovered a way of making logistics greener and more efficient – and is gaining ample recognition.
Hamburg is one of Germany’s top logistics centres. The Metropolitan Region primarily has the Port of Hamburg to thank for its position as a powerful mo- tor of economic development and an international foreign trade hub.
Yet the Hanseatic City is also seen as a pioneer on digitalization and future-oriented logistics solutions. The city has often produced successful start-ups in this area. Take Carrypicker. This online forwarder is pursuing a unique and highly promising approach with the potential to cause sustained change in the sector. The company has developed an artificial in- telligence that plans shipments not just more effi- ciently, but also in a more environment-friendly way.
“Mathematically, almost one in three trucks is op- erating empty,” explains Andreas Karanas, Carry- picker’s founder and CEO. “The average load fac- tor is no more than 70 percent.” The IT expert does a calculation: “If the load factor were raised by just ten percent, then annually the entire CO2 emission of a big city like Frankfurt-am-Main would be saved. And that’s just what we are plan- ning at Carrypicker.”
The nub of his business idea is that contrary to oth- er approaches for reducing damaging emissions within logistics – varying from electric trucks to more sustainable freight warehouses – the Ham- burgian has found a way of immediately improving
the transport industry’s ecological balance. How? Simply with improved planning of truck transport.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND POWER- FUL COMPUTERS
The entrepreneur is aided here by artificial in- telligence that he himself programmed. Un- like traditional forwarders, where the whole planning process is still usually done manual- ly, Carrypicker relies on powerful computers. “We tinkered with our AI engine for eighteen months. On the basis of over 300 million freight data, this invariably discovers the most efficient combinations of part-truck loads,” reveals Karanas. “Thanks to it, we are now in a position to utilize trucks distinctly better – this benefits shippers and truckers, but above all, our environment.”
Last year, Carrypicker came to the attention of German transport minister Andreas Scheuer and his BMVI – German Ministry of
Transport and Digital Infrastructure. Under the Mo- dernity Fund subsidy guideline, they backed Carryp- icker with more than 2.4 million euros. There are great hopes that in the long term, Carrypicker can improve truck transport’s CO2 balance and achieve a new level of climate efficiency. ■
ANDREAS KARANAS (CENTRE) AND HIS TEAM AIM TO IMPROVE TRUCK LOAD FACTORS WITH THE AID OF AI
24 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | March 2020
GREEN LOGISTICS MADE IN HAMBURG
At least 72 percent of freight shipments within Ger- many are handled by truck. According to the Federal Environment Office, they produce over 40 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. One oth- er certainty: In the coming years, the volume trans- ported will rise further.
© Carrypicker