Hödlmayr optimises internal vehicle logistics processes

Hödlmayr International AG continues to make progress with its digitalisation strategy. This includes the end-to-end digitalisation of internal logistics processes for around 500,000 vehicles annually. For the areas of yard and workshop management, the Austrian vehicle logistics expert relies on the SYNCROTESS solution from the Aachen-based software company INFORM. The project will initially start at Hödlmayr’s four Austrian locations and will then be expanded to all other locations in Europe.

Starting with the company headquarters in Schwertberg, east of Linz, the cooperation of the vehicle logistics expert Hödlmayr with the internationally active software company INFORM from Aachen begins. There and at three other Austrian locations in Vienna, Wiener Neustadt and Graz, the new systems based on operations research and artificial intelligence will replace the previous in-house developments of the Austrian family-owned company. It is planned to connect all European locations with the new software over a period of four years.

Digital decision support in the yard and in the workshop

Hödlmayr specialises in the entire supply chain of vehicle logistics, from the takeover of vehicles from the factory or port of entry to delivery to the fleet owner, vehicle dealer or end customer by means of home delivery. With around 600 vehicle transporters and 20 block train systems, the company operates one of the largest transport fleets in Europe.

In 12 vehicle logistics centres, the company stores, maintains, checks, services and modifies new and used cars, commercial vehicles and agricultural machinery. The 1,590 employees handle over 1.7 million vehicles annually.

In the long term, the parking space and workshop processes of all logistics centres are to be planned, controlled and optimised with the help of a uniform, but regionally configurable IT solution. “It was important to us that we create a uniform, flexible IT solution for all compounds of the Hödlmayr Group. The standard solution from INFORM supports us in this. This allows us to react independently, flexibly and as quickly as possible to new process and customer requirements,” says Robert Horvath, CFO and Board Member of Hödlmayr International AG.

“Mathematical optimisation algorithms and artificial intelligence processes will recalculate by the second which tasks need to be carried out with which resources, where and in which order, so that the respective location operates optimally,” says Hartmut Haubrich, Director Vehicle Logistics at INFORM.

“In Hödlmayr’s case, the algorithms will in future take over, for example, the allocation of vehicle movements to employees, the selection of parking spaces and the sequence of orders to be processed in the workshops. This automatic scheduling will take place in a central control station on the basis of the rules defined for each location.

“In addition, media disruptions are avoided, as data from all relevant sources converge in the solution. This enables Hödlmayr to manage by exception, i.e., the dispatchers only intervene in special cases, but for their part have holistic transparency of the condition and status of each vehicle and order,” adds Haubrich.