676 thousand euros for logistics projects

The Mobility and Logistics Cluster is awarded 7% of the funds of the Innovative Business Clusters support programme.

Six partner companies will participate in highly innovative projects based on Artificial Intelligence, DLT and Digital Twins technologies.

The Mobility and Logistics Cluster of the Basque Country has obtained 676,000 euros from the programme of support for Innovative Business Clusters, promoted by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, to develop three highly innovative logistics projects based on Artificial Intelligence technologies, DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and Digital Twins. The Cluster is leading two of the three subsidised proposals, in which it has involved a total of six associated companies. The funds brought to the Basque Country by the Basque Cluster represent 7% of the programme’s budget, which exceeded 9.5 million euros. The call received more than 300 applications, of which only 48 received support.

The Basque Mobility and Logistics Cluster is a particularly active group committed to innovation. In 2023, the cluster was participating in a total of 30 innovation projects, with around thirty partner companies involved. Likewise, its members allocate 3.3% of their turnover to investment in R&D&I, which underlines the highly innovative nature of the sector they represent.

With regard to the projects approved in the AEI call, their development will involve a total investment of more than 900,000 euros. The Cluster leads the AI-Mobot and Plenco DLT projects, the latter in its second phase, and participates in the Plagedilog project, led by CITET. The aim of the AEI programme is both to promote innovation and cooperation, so the Cluster will work on these projects with its partners Batura, Bizkaigar, Igarle, Smartlog, We are Clickers and Wimbitek, and also collaborates with the counterpart AEIs CEL (Spanish Logistics Centre) and CITET (Innovation Centre for Logistics and Transport).

The projects supported by the AEI programme will have the following objectives:

Plenco DLT project

Plenco DLT proposes the development of an innovative system that applies DLT technology for the establishment and enforcement of customisable smart contracts in each value chain. Smart contracts are programmes that are automatically executed in a decentralised manner as signatories comply with their clauses. The first phase of this project devised a new type of contract that nimbly embodies sectoral regulations and their changes, among other innovations. Phase two aims to create a laboratory technology demonstrator to assess compliance with road transport payment deadlines and improve readability and language to facilitate understanding by signatories. The system aims to complement a neutral platform where the different milestones along the entire supply chain can be recorded in an indisputable way.

AI-Mobot Project

AI-Mobot will develop an integrated hardware and software system based on artificial intelligence to automate and optimise intralogistics processes within machine tool production plants. The project expects to optimise workflows; reduce downtime; reduce occupational risks associated with the handling or movement of loads; increase visibility over production assets; and facilitate the integration of advanced artificial intelligence technologies to improve decision-making.

Plagedilog STG project

In its phase 3, the Plagedilog STG project proposes the development of a digital twin that is a virtual replica of a logistics warehouse. At present, there are no intralogistics digital twins, so this development will make it possible to carry out operational simulations in the face of changes in the main parameters of logistics management, helping to improve inefficiencies and eventualities in these processes. It can also be oriented towards training and occupational risk prevention modules.