With an eye on the future

The new business joint venture team: Carrybots is a merger with the flexlog start-up based in Karlsruhe.

“HERBIE” on the move

The Carrybots business joint venture, a merger with the flexlog start-up based in Karlsruhe, develops, produces and sells a highly flexible, space- and cost-saving driverless transport system (DTS) called “HERBIE”. Gerald Schubert reports on the early business successes: “Sales of our HERBIE are off to a very good start. Its comparatively low purchase price and simple plug & play commissioning make it extremely attractive for many small- and medium-sized companies.” A typical brief for HERBIE is the transport of small load carriers, for which lift trucks or trolleys are often still in use. Another advantage is an online configurator, which customers can use to request a preliminary quote for HERBIE within only a few minutes.

Marcel Meckes, Managing Director at Carrybots, explains the concept of the online configurator, which was developed as part of a master’s thesis at the Institute for Materials Handling and Logistics at KIT: “In our online configurator, the essential specifications of the system are recorded within a few minutes. Based on the input values, the configurator then generates a technical solution concept for HERBIE and directly derives an initial price estimate. With just a few details and clicks, companies can quickly and easily request a non-binding preliminary offer. This lowers entry barriers and enables transparency at an early stage.”

HERBIE is impressively demonstrating its versatility and overall simple and intuitive handling in current field trials with some of Carrybots’ customers. One of the first HERBIE prototypes is currently going into operation at the Schubert founding partner’s facilities. In the long term, DTS solutions are also planned with which larger and heavier products can be transported from A to B without a driver.

More information on carrybots

Gerd Bart is Managing Director of the Transaction Network start-up.

Digital customer platform revolutionises the industry

Equally promising is Schubert Business Development’s active involvement in the Transaction Network start-up (TN), a digital industry platform for the food, luxury food and cosmetics industries. “Digitally simple. Easy for you. Easy for your customers. Simply for hire.” This was the guiding principle under which TN’s Managing Director Gerd Bart launched the visionary project in 2021. TN aims to bring together mechanical engineering and product manufacturing companies on a digital platform for asset management, online shop, as well as service and maintenance processes.

Gerd Bart sums it up like this: “We network people, companies, machines, products and digital systems with each other. A comprehensive one-stop solution for digital after-sales processes in mechanical engineering. On our platform, machine manufacturers can manage their previously sold machines and assets, monitor the equipment and place after-sales offers. TN is cloud-based, modular and open for other systems as well as proprietary applications. The rental model also saves a lot of money and headaches, delivers benefits to both the machine supplier and the production line operator, whilst promoting collaboration.”

Gerald Schubert attests to the huge demand across all sectors: “Our customers from a wide range of sectors are asking for a standardised industry solution for their process optimisation. This is why we believe this is a great business idea and are happy to support it with our expertise.” The first promising TN test projects with selected Schubert customers are already in the planning stage.

More information about transaction network