Visiting Intralogistic Robotics
The lifecycle of a start-up is similar to the journey of baby seaturtles. Once the baby seaturtles hatch from their eggs and begin to climb out of their nest, they have to make their way to the ocean in order to survive. For those who make it to the water, the opportunity awaits to enter the ocean. Start-ups face similar challenges: once a start-up has developed its Minimum Viable Product (MVP), it takes many small steps to get to market. This is also the case with Intralogistic Robotics
About the start-up
Intralogistic Robotics joined grow platform in 2014 and was one of our first start-ups who participated in our former Innovation Program. Providing them with both a physical and inspirational space, they flourished, grew strong and hatched new business: developing an intelligent laser localization software for the reliable positioning and orientation of a wide range of vehicle types in a variety of changing environments. This is made possible by a high-performance algorithm that automatically detects and maps the natural environment using a laser sensor on the vehicle. With their software, Intralogistic Robotics contributes for instance to shape the Factory of the Future. Four years later, in 2018, the start-up moved to Bosch Rexroth. Together with Deepfield Robotics, another former grow start-up, they are strengthening Bosch Rexroth's expertise in the field of industrial and service robotics.
Securing a successful transfer
Currently, the Intralogistic Robotics team is in the middle of the transfer to the parent company - the last development step up to market maturity. The transfer process presents a major challenge: not only expertise has to be transferred and exchanged. Likewise, the differences in structures and processes might lead to an increased complexity and have to be harmonized. But the team does not only bring new knowledge and a new technology into the company – they also inherit their start-up mindset which is benefitting to Bosch Rexroth: by fostering entrepreneurial dynamism, the company is encouraged to adopt alternative approaches that are innovative to the company’s organizational patterns. In this context, effective collaboration across departmental, hierarchical, and functional boundaries is key.
Besides securing a successful transfer, a process of steady innovation must be established. For the team, customer applications and developments in the Corporate Sector Research and Advanced Engineering plays an important role in their innovation process. That's where they get their inspiration from in order to develop their software constantly further.
Celebrating the small successes
The team’s success lies in a series of small wins: from the moment they have sketched their idea on a piece of paper until today, their journey has consisted of a series of decisions, actions, learnings and pivots. Just last December, Intralogistic Robotics applied for the “International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year” (IFOY) Award 2020 with their Laser Localization Software and got elected as one of the finalists. In the further course, they have participated in the IFOY Test Days in Hannover and had the chance to demonstrate their product to around 200 selected guests, including specialist media from all over the world and logistics decision-makers from industry, retail and the logistics service sector. The winners will be announced during Hannover Messe on April, 20th.
What’s next?
2020 remains exciting. Besides the chance of winning the IFOY Award, Intralogistic Robotics will be at LogiMAT and Automatica fair, showcasing their software on public view. Internally, the team is right in the middle of the customer development phase. So like the baby sea turtle is maturing day by day, Intralogistic Robotics is hoisting their sails to continue their adventure on the high seas.
