Münster/Zurich, April 13th 2021 – BASF Coatings is digitizing its internal processing plant transportation at the Münster production site. The chemical company has selected the expertise and services of digitization specialist Nexxiot for this unique pilot project. The Swiss company supplies hardware and software which provides the exact location of on-site transport assets along with other critical parameters. The goal was to make BASF logistics processes more transparent and efficient by providing alerts as soon as finished goods are ready for collection. For this purpose, Nexxiot developed a customized solution for BASF from its wide portfolio of technology.
BASF’s global Coatings division, headquartered in Münster, Germany, has become one of the leading suppliers in the field of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings. The company has been operating for a period of 150 years. BASF Coatings creates forward-looking solutions and promotes innovations which include opening up new markets and developing new business models. Digitization is of critical importance in this process.
“The high safety and quality requirements of chemical logistics call for specific demands in terms of the technologies used – regardless of whether it’s a factory component, a material, or a digital sensor. This was an important point in our decision to carry out the pilot project with Nexxiot,” explains Victor Kaupe, Project Manager Site Logistics at BASF Coatings Europe. “Nexxiot’s hardware is certified with IECEx as well as the ATEX designations IIC and IIIC. This allowed us to use it on our site without any concerns and to test the digitalization of our in-plant transport,” Kaupe emphasized.
The test phase ran for six months, during which time the pilot solution was continuously adapted to precisely meet the needs of BASF Coatings. “The project with BASF at the Münster site was also something new for us. Until now, the fleets we digitize move across entire continents. Compared to that, we were dealing here with a rather small area that we are optimizing with our technology,” says Stefan Kalmund, CEO of Nexxiot.
The Swiss company specializes in digitizing large logistics fleets. These mainly include rail cars and containers that travel in global supply chains. Although the BASF plant in Münster, with an area of more than 400,000 square meters, is the world’s largest production site for coatings. To ensure that the tracking of BASF transport vehicles via the Globehopper sensors developed by Nexxiot operated without problems in this bounded area, the Swiss company optimized the GPS functions of the hardware. Geo-fences were then used to define pick-up areas together with BASF. If a transport object equipped with Globehoppers arrives in this zone, the Nexxiot platform sends a notification in real time. This practice prevents long downtimes, speeds up business processes and can be leveraged to improve product quality too.
“It is important to us that the hardware is an active transmitter so we would not have to set up a physical communication infrastructure throughout the plant,” says Kaupe, explaining the requirements further. While equipping the transport vehicles with Globehoppers was straightforward, Nexxiot had to adjust the algorithm for the test. “Our intelligent algorithm, which evaluates the data from the hardware, recognized the test drives of the BASF employees as atypical movements, since an asset does not behave like that in reality. We adapted it for the pilot project,” Kalmund explains.
Employees contribute to innovation
With the new Nexxiot solution, BASF Coatings is bringing transparency to its plant operations and improving in-plant transport significantly. “For us it is always about supporting employees in their daily work and involving them in the development of innovations. At the same time, we aim to make our processes future-proof. This is also the case in this project,” explains Kaupe. BASF Coatings follows an agile and process-oriented innovation path. Therefore, the topic of track & trace of plant traffic was brought up by employees. “During an employee idea pitch, our team members came up with the idea. Since then, we have pushed it forward and have been able to establish a successful solution in collaboration with Nexxiot,” says Kaupe.
About the BASF Coatings Division
The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. The portfolio is completed by the “Innovation Beyond Paint” program which aims at developing new markets and businesses. We create advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet our partners’ needs all over the world. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2020, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about €3.1 billion.
Solutions beyond your imagination – Coatings by BASF. For more information about the Coatings division of BASF and its products, visit www.basf-coatings.com
About Nexxiot
Nexxiot AG from Zurich, Switzerland, is a driver of the digital logistics of tomorrow. The company’s goal is to enable a five percent reduction in global CO2 cargo emissions by increasing cargo transport efficiency and eliminating waste caused by empty runs and inefficient routes. To achieve this, the company empowers its clients to leverage the power of their data with cutting-edge technology. Therefore, Nexxiot provides an integrated solution to track, find and protect cargo from over 160 countries around the globe and across 450 network roaming partners to ensure trust, security, and efficiency. Data from more than 2.5 billion travelled miles is stored in Nexxiot’s dedicated logistics cloud. Employees from over 19 countries contribute to the success of the company. In addition to its headquarters in Switzerland, Nexxiot operates in Germany, the USA and is pursuing a global growth strategy.
For more information, visit www.nexxiot.com
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A pilot project by BASF Coatings in cooperation with Nexxiot provides more transparency for in-plant transport. (Image source: BASF Coatings)
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