Toyota reveals winner of Logistic Design Competition

Toyota Material Handling Europe and Toyota Europe Design Development have presented the winners of this year’s Toyota Logistic Design Competition. The response was huge: over 1,500 registrations and 203 final submissions.

A panel of design experts chose 10 finalists in a first round, with a second jury of industry experts picking the final winners. Toyota Logistic Design Competition 2022, Category Gold Award Winner is Jacob Abraham from University of Houston, USA, with ´Oro´.

Oro delivery module is a design solution that optimises final mile delivery vehicles in dense urban environments. Inspired by Toyota, the product has clear DNA from both the Toyota logistics and mobility side. Delivery modules can travel through areas inaccessible to most delivery vehicles, especially obstructed pathways.

“Oro with its ‘walkie’ function makes it extremely manoeuvrable in narrow spaces. One of the many great ideas coming out of our dialogue with young designers. After eight years the competition has submissions from 123 countries, showcasing revolutionary ideas around urban micrologistics,” comments Magnus Oliveira Andersson, Head of Design at Toyota Material Handling Europe.

“We enjoyed working with Laurent and his team and all of us will be back with a new edition next year, challenging the students to come up with logistic and mobility solutions for Paris 2024, “ concludes Andersson.

Laurent Bouzige, Chief Designer Strategy and new Mobility at Toyota Europe Design Development, agrees: “We are delighted to have been able to participate in this competition for the first time, collaborating with Toyota Material Handling Europe. It wasn’t an easy task to select the finalists as the quality of the works was remarkable, breathtakingly creative, and fresh! Many aspects of mobility service were well-thought through, the proposals were mature, relevant, and inspiring. All the stakeholders’ works, and the participants too, are all highly appreciated. We are already looking forward to the next edition.”

The Silver Award went to Zsófia Mátravölgyi from Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, Hungary, with ´Oasis´.  Oasis is a pick-up and drop-off point system focused on the downtown. Its aim is to make last-mile delivery easier with minimal impact on social spaces and to help reduce the congestion of urban traffic with an alternative hybrid delivery method.

Nicholas Orie, from California State University, USA, with ‘Mitsubachi’ received the Bronze Award. The Toyota Mitsubachi solution is a modular, autonomous drone fleet, integrated in warehouses and urban micro hubs, designed to streamline the process of handling, and organising goods.

All finalists are awarded with cash prizes and will have the opportunity to apply for a six-month paid internship at the Toyota Material Handling Design Center, either in Sweden or Italy, and at Toyota Europe Design Centre, ED², in France.

At this edition, ED² identified the high-potential idea of E-Cargo Bike, designed by Marius Cramer, from Umeå Institute of Design, Sweden.  Former president of ED², Ian Cartabiano, now Vice President Advanced Design at Calty Design Research in USA, together with the executive juror, decided to give a special award to this project.  Currently, Marius is doing his 6-month internship at ED2 thanks to this special mention.

The award ceremony was held during Logiconomi 2022, a unique two-day event bringing together 600 logistics professionals and industry leaders to address the many challenges logistics is facing today, presenting solutions and providing inspiration.

CLICK HERE to see the winning design work.