At the end of 2025, BEUMER Group entered into a strategic innovation partnership with Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML.
The core of the collaboration is a three-year joint ‘Enterprise Lab’ for the development of mobile robots. Through this cooperation, intralogistics specialist BEUMER aims to significantly advance its development projects in the field of mobile robotics and secure a technological lead in automated logistics solutions.
In the ‘Enterprise Lab’, scientists from Fraunhofer IML are working side by side with experts from BEUMER Group to develop a scalable platform for mobile robotics (MR).
Collaboration
The collaboration is taking place at the Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund – in the direct neighbourhood of the BEUMER site there. In addition to the expertise of the scientists involved, Fraunhofer IML is making its research infrastructure, including test areas, available for this purpose.
With five full-time positions, Fraunhofer IML will work on the joint research project with BEUMER over the next three years as part of the lab. Together with BEUMER developers, the researchers are forming a powerful team to build a robust platform for mobile robots.
Mobile Robotics
“Mobile robotics perfectly complements our product and system portfolio in our core areas of ‘Conveying and Sorting’ and offers clear technological and economic advantages: flexibly scalable, space-efficient, fail-safe and powerful. These are exactly the points that make MR a real lever for transformation in the sortation and logistics environment,” explained Volker Jungbluth, Chief Technology Officer, BEUMER Group.
“This partnership is broadly based in the field of mobile robotics. We are ambitious to provide the basis for leap innovations in mobile robotics in this cooperation,” emphasized Prof. Alice Kirchheim, Institute Director, Fraunhofer IML.
The new platform will serve as the technological basis for various applications. The platform will rely on standardised onboard controllers, sensor technology, localisation and fleet management in order to leverage synergies and reduce development costs.
