NIL is one of 15 networks in Germany and one of three in Bavaria that have received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. “Our vision is to be available as a solution partner for all logistics issues,” says Uwe Pfeil, manager of the network based in Regensburg’s IT Speicher. The 40-year-old industrial engineer brings together logistics specialists from the fields of production automation, warehouse logistics, transport logistics, merchandise management, process simulation, video data processing and RFID. Their individual solutions and competencies are bundled into logistics systems – across company boundaries.

According to Stephan Stauber of simulation specialist SimPlan, NIL wants to approach potential customers. A so-called “Enterprise Service Bus” is being considered, with which the logistics process to be mapped is managed. The individual services are then provided by the network partners and continuously developed further. NIL aims to solve specific problems and develop new products. The project, which is initially scheduled to run for two years, is currently still being set up, but Pfeil expects to see concrete projects as early as possible in 2010.

Incidentally, it is no coincidence that NIL originated in the IT memory: “The work of the Regensburg Business Incubator and the IT Offensive Upper Palatinate has been so successful that it has now resulted in the first Bavarian IT network project to receive federal funding,” praised Bavaria’s Economics Minister Zeil in October when he handed over the funding notification.

Fig: Stephan Stauber, Uwe Pfeil (from left)