platbricks® Innovation Hub
Trends, technologies and developments at a glance
Innovation as a Success Factor in the Digital Supply Chain
The future of logistics is digital, connected, and innovative. With platbricks® from Arvato Systems, we are actively shaping change and setting new standards for supply chain management and logistics processes. Our cloud-based platform is designed to identify innovations at an early stage, integrate them flexibly, and make them usable for companies of all sizes.
How Do We Create Innovations With platbricks®?
Technological lead: We continuously monitor the most critical trends and implement them specifically in our platform, from Generative AI and Warehouse Robotics to IoT, automation, and sustainable solutions.
Modular & scalable: platbricks® grows with your requirements and can be expanded to include innovation topics at any time.
Practical & future-proof: Our solutions have been thoroughly tested in real-world projects and are continually being refined for maximum efficiency and competitiveness.
Open for new ideas: This innovation page is updated regularly and demonstrates how platbricks quickly adopts current and future technologies, making them usable for your supply chain.
With platbricks®, you always have your finger on the pulse. Discover all relevant innovation topics at a glance here.
Generative AI - Rethinking Your Logistics
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) opens up new possibilities for digital warehouse logistics. Instead of operating complex systems manually, employees can interact directly with data and processes using natural language. This creates new forms of collaboration between humans and technology.
From Data to Decisions - In Real Time
With platbricks®, Generative AI makes interacting with warehouse management systems as easy as a conversation. Instead of navigating through screens, reports, or complex menus, employees ask their questions directly in natural language - via chat.
The system provides answers in real-time, suggests options for action upon request, and adapts flexibly to every request. This not only speeds up standard tasks, such as stock queries, but also supports more complex decisions - for example, when analyzing the causes of faults or optimizing replenishment and capacity.
The added value for your company
Your processes will be:
Faster: Decision-making processes are significantly shortened because data no longer has to be laboriously searched for.
Easier: Intuitive operation lowers the entry hurdle for new employees.
More reliable: Fewer errors occur due to automated, consistent responses from the WMS.
Flexible: Every request, every time period, and every perspective on the data can be accessed immediately.
Application Examples With platbricks® Generative AI
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Chat with Your Data
Pose users via chat quite straightforward questions such as "What is the current stock level?" or "Give me the most important key figures for incoming goods". The AI returns the desired data - including visualizations - immediately. In addition, favorites can be saved and reused.
Learn more -
Build Your Own Dashboard
Insights from the chat can be transferred directly to individual dashboards - via drag & drop, mobile optimized, with visual representations that exactly match the task at hand.
Learn more
Advantages
Efficiency Through Warehouse Robotics
In today's dynamic and highly competitive logistics landscape, automation plays a crucial role. Warehouse robotics has established itself as a key technology, with robots taking over tasks such as transportation, order picking, and other routine processes.
With platbricks® Warehouse Robotics, autonomous mobile robots (AMR) take over order management, connect them to the WMS, and form the interface to your ERP system. Together with our partners, we supply you with the proper hardware and software from a single source.
What Are AMRs?
AMRs are untethered, autonomous mobile robots used in various industries, including warehousing, e-commerce, manufacturing, and healthcare. They can transport goods, replenish shelves, carry out stocktaking and order picking, and perform complex tasks using sensors and artificial intelligence.
In contrast to classic automated guided vehicles (AGVs), AMRs move freely through the warehouse and adapt their routes dynamically. Obstacles, changing warehouse layouts, or peaks in demand are no problem; the robots react in real-time and ensure smooth processes.
platbricks® Warehouse Robotics
The solution for this is platbricks® with a system for implementation along the entire process chain: Our Warehouse Robotics solution in platbricks® seamlessly integrates all standard AMR systems and associated applications through a high level of interface competence - including for all standard SAP ERP systems. It can also handle and control the assignment of tasks, coordination, and synchronization of AMR, as well as real-time warehouse management.
In four steps to automation
Binding and fast ROI calculation
Recording of the processes
Initial "Concept of Operations"
Refinement of requirements and completion
Advantages
Partnership with Locus Robotics
Together with Locus Robotics, we combine robotics and logistics IT into an integrated automation approach for warehouse processes. While Locus Robotics provides the robotics technology, platbricks®, as a cloud-based logistics platform, handles process control and integration with the Warehouse Management System, and integration into higher-level ERP structures. This creates a seamless connection from operational execution in the warehouse all the way to the IT system landscape.
In this joint solution, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are integrated directly into existing processes. platbricks® handles order control and communication with the robotics platform, while Locus Robotics provides the hardware and central control components. Technical integration is achieved via standardized interfaces, allowing for both existing logistics systems and future expansions to be accommodated.
The partnership aims to implement automation gradually and in line with needs. The combination of modular software architecture and scalable robotics allows capacities to be adjusted flexibly without having to make fundamental changes to the infrastructure. At the same time, it creates a stable foundation for the further development of processes and systems throughout the entire supply chain.
LCX NEXUS: AI-Powered Load Carrier Management
15.6 billion pallet exchange transactions per year in Europe alone, high process costs, manual coordination, and thousands of unnecessary balancing trips. LCX NEXUS addresses one of the biggest sources of inefficiency in logistics: open load carrier exchange. The goal is to reduce physical balancing processes through intelligent, digital clearing mechanisms—thereby significantly lowering costs, complexity, and CO₂ emissions. Triangular relationships between market participants in particular offer enormous potential for optimization—yet have hardly been systematically utilized to date.
The LCX NEXUS Platform combines:
- Digitization of Operational Processes
- AI-powered analysis of transportation and account data
- Virtual Clearing to Reduce Physical Transportation
- A platform economy for connecting all stakeholders
The platform creates an integrated ecosystem that enables transparency, efficiency, and sustainability throughout the entire supply chain. LCX NEXUS serves as a prime example of how AI is operationally integrated into core supply chain processes, how platform models transform traditional logistics structures, and how sustainability is directly linked to economic benefits. The project represents a new digital standard in load carrier management—scalable, data-sovereign, and economically effective.
What role does Arvato Systems play?
Our experts are responsible for developing the role-based front-end platform—the central digital interface between all stakeholders. The front end encompasses the solution’s entire user experience and makes complex AI and clearing logic operationally usable.
In Arvato Systems, we have a technology partner on equal footing who not only develops software but also actively helps shape our vision of a new digital infrastructure for load carrier logistics.
Core Functions of the Front End
Central access point for all user groups
- Industry & Trade
- Logistics service provider
- Platform Partner
- LCX NEXUS Administrators
Transparency & Monitoring
- Live Dashboards for Transportation and Clearing Processes
- Monitoring Debts and Credits
- Real-time status overviews
Digital Clearing Support
- Display AI-Generated Clearing Proposals
- Booking and Confirmation Features
- Transparent Account Transactions
AI-powered interaction
- "Chat with Your Data" for dialogue-based analysis
- Automated Visualization of KPIs
- Reporting on Cost and CO₂ Savings
Operational Integration
- Uploading Transport Data
- Delivery Schedule
- Mobile Support for Ramp-Up Processes
Advantages
Your Contact for Innovation Topics for the Digital Supply Chain