Developing, testing and sustainably implementing freight logistics innovations in Vienna.

thinkport VIENNA first started in 2017 as an open mobility lab for urban freight logistics to address the challenges of logistics in the Vienna area. Its goal was to become a catalyst and multiplier for new technologies, services and processes, to develop, test and implement innovative logistics solutions, and to establish sustainable laboratory structures and develop associated services.

Today thinkport VIENNA is well known and recognized in Vienna and beyond. More than 400 events have been held at the lab's premises in the Port of Vienna, involving over 2,500 people on site and reaching a total of 9,000 people with the lab's content via a wide variety of channels. The team is currently involved in major logistics projects of the City of Vienna and is in direct exchange with decision-makers of the city as well as with central actors in science, business and society.

Developing, bundling, testing and implementing ideas, concepts and projects in practice

"thinkport VIENNA itself started as an experiment for all participants - Port of Vienna and BOKU Vienna - business and science united in the mission to advance sustainable logistics in Vienna. Today we know that the experiment has turned into a successful cooperation and together we are more than just the sum of the parts. Thinkport VIENNA has been successfully established and we are continuing on this path," emphasizes Manfred Gronalt, Institute of Production Management and Logistics, BOKU Vienna.

"The Port of Vienna is the logistics competence in the city and wants to continue to act as an innovation driver in order to develop, evaluate and put into practice innovative, complex concepts, processes and technologies in a structured and coordinated manner together with partners from research, business and the city administration," say Doris Pulker-Rohrhofer and Fritz Lehr, technical and commercial management of the Port of Vienna.

Perhaps the most forward-looking project of thinkport VIENNA in recent years is the "Hubert" delivery service. This offers a sustainable and efficient supply of goods to business and commercial operators in the city of Vienna through bundled delivery over the last mile. Within the framework of the first Agile Team of the City of Vienna, the idea of such a delivery service was raised from a research and planning phase lasting for years to the stage of implementation. Parcels from different shippers, producers and suppliers are transported from an operator-neutral hub to their destinations using environmentally friendly vehicles. The project was successfully integrated at the Port of Vienna and started operations in March 2019. HUBERT is a lighthouse project in the Logistics 2030+ Action Plan and in the "Vienna - Out of the Box" project.

However, other innovative projects are also worth mentioning. For example, a mobile departure check app for truck drivers was developed together with SIS Informatik, which enables paperless processing. The app allows individual checklists to be worked through on the move, and all inspection records can be accessed in the cloud and made available to customers as required. Another successful project was the first Open Innovation Challenge for inland ports, which the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) launched in 2020 together with thinkport VIENNA and the Port of Vienna. This challenge collected ideas on the topic of inland ports as enablers of green logistics and sustainability. As the winning project, the Port of Lyon demonstrated the cross-sectoral future role of inland ports with its already implemented "Multi Green Energy Quay". The offer of renewable energy, hydrogen as well as biofuels can be used by customers and municipal transport providers in Lyon. Many other success stories can be found at www.thinkportvienna.at.

Networking between the City of Vienna and the Business Agency

Subsequently, a regular exchange with representatives of the City of Vienna on current and relevant topics of urban mobility and logistics is to be established. "We act as a bridge builder between science, business, the city and civil society. The aim is to accompany findings from scientific work on their way into practice and, conversely, to carry tasks from practice neutrally into science. In this way, we reduce frictional losses and create socially acceptable and sustainable innovations," says Martin Posset, thinkport VIENNA, Institute for Production Management and Logistics, BOKU Vienna. The networking will take place together with Vienna's second mobility lab aspern.mobil to make the best use of synergies between freight and passenger mobility. The two laboratories will be involved both at the administrative level and in the activities of the Vienna Business Agency, and vice versa will take up their needs. In this way, a joint platform will be created in order to identify developments and implement activities in a holistic, flexible and rapid manner.

Port of Vienna as a business location

Connected to a perfect road, rail and water infrastructure, the Port of Vienna is the largest logistics center in Eastern Austria. As a subsidiary of Wien Holding, the Port of Vienna is a company owned by the City of Vienna. With an area of three million square meters, it functions as a trimodal logistics hub with its three ports, Freudenau, Albern and the Lobau oil port. With around 100 companies and up to 5,000 jobs at the site, the Port of Vienna is an important logistics hub. With its location on the three Ten-T corridors, it is one of the most important hinterland hubs in Europe, especially for the major North Sea ports and the Adriatic ports. Information about the company can be found at

www.hafenwien.com 

thinkport VIENNA, Phase II - 2021 to 2025 continuation

In 2021, within the framework of the call for proposals "Mobility of the Future 4.2.1 Mobility Laboratories as a Building Block of Mission-Oriented RTI Policy of the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK)", it was possible to secure funding and thus the continuation of the mobility laboratory for another five years. In the second phase, the proven consortium is again composed of Hafen Wien GmbH, Heavy Pedals GmbH and the Institute of Production Management and Logistics at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna.

In the further course, it is now a matter of expanding the range of services, developing further innovation projects, broadening the network and community, establishing a sustainable structure for the continuation of the laboratory and consolidating it in the long term as an essential institution in and around Vienna. Relevant institutions and departments of the City of Vienna, such as the Planning Directorate, MA18 Urban Planning and Urban Development, the Business Agency, Wien Holding and Wiener Stadtwerke, will be increasingly involved in order to anchor the Lab and its activities more firmly in the city and to pursue goals and activities together.

Contact

Univ.Prof. Dr. Manfred Gronalt
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien
Institut für Produktionswirtschaft und Logistik
Email: manfred.gronalt(at)boku.ac.at
Telefon: +43 1 47654-73411

Mag. Martin Posset
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien
Institut für Produktionswirtschaft und Logistik
Email: martin.posset(at)boku.ac.at
Telefon: +43 1 47654-73200