How can one change and improve the delivery chain of milk in such a way that only a little milk is lost due to cooling problems? This is only one of the numerous questions that the international research project NAVEL – Logistics Innovation Center Ngaoundéré is addressing. The international project, which is receiving funding of 300,000 euros from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has the aim of connecting many players in the logistics industry around the University of Ngaoundéré in inland Cameroon and making the implementation of innovation possible for them.
Expanding Reliable and Transparent Delivery Chains
The example with the milk logistics has not been made up but is actually real. “On the one hand, this is a technical problem as the temperature of the milk should be efficiently observed throughout the entire change and be changed to suit the local conditions. On the other hand, it is a logistical and organizational task to bring together delivery chains that are currently rather relaxed and unofficial and to then operate them reliably,” explains Anna Förster from the University of Bremen. The computer scientist and her colleague and project leader Hans-Dietrich Haasis from the Faculty of Business Studies & Economics represent the University of Bremen in the project. “When answering the questions and finding an acceptable solutions, considerable challenges – some of which concern the transport infrastructure, internet-based communication, and culture-based organization principles – must be considered,” according to Haasis.
Development and Testing of Possibilities in FabLab
Scientists from the fields of logistics and business studies at the University of Ngaoundéré are working together with economic representatives and mainly young entrepreneurs on the NAVEL project. Those involved are to come together in a logistics laboratory belonging to the University of Ngaoundéré in order to discuss technical and organizational innovations and develop specific ideas. “The models for this are so-called FabLabs – workshops where private persons and business people have access to modern fabrication processes for individual pieces and where they can test different options,” says Anna Förster. The laboratory is not only to function as a creative space for the development of new ideas but above all offer technical support for the creation of hardware and software prototypes and for showing their usability.
Alongside Haasis and Förster, Professor Victor Tsapi (University of Ngaoundéré) and the Institut für qualifizierende Innovationsforschung und -beratung GmbH (IQIB/Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler), which is accompanying the project with a “Train-the-Trainer” concept, are involved in the project. The project makes it possible for the University of Bremen to create two part-time jobs for scientific assistants for a duration of two years.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Hans-Dietrich Haasis
Chair of Maritime Business and Logistics
Faculty of Business Studies & Economics
University of Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218-66760
Email: haasisprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Prof. Dr. Anna Förster
Sustainable Communication Networks
Faculty of Physics / Electrical Engineering
University of Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 62383
Email: anna.foersterprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
