Two days packed with ideas, innovations, and inspiring encounters: the GEBHARDT Intralogistics Summit 2025 at the PreZero Arena brought together around 350 experts from the intralogistics world. With keynotes, workshops, and breakout sessions, everything revolved around the future of logistics — from automation and digitalization to sustainability.The presentations and discussions made it clear that the industry is facing major challenges and even greater opportunities.
On October 14 and 15, 2025, the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim turned into the heart of intralogistics. Around 350 participants from industry, research, and technology came together not only to network but also to experience first-hand where logistics is heading.
Keynotes: Profound Visions of the Future
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kai Furmans (KIT) opened the event with a visionary keynote speech on ‘Robotics in logistics – what problems can we solve with it?’. He impressively demonstrated how intelligent automation is already laying the foundation for resilient, flexible supply chains today.
On day two, Johann Soder (SEW-EURODRIVE) provided another highlight with ‘Intralogistics reimagined – efficiency that inspires’. He gave insights into holistic energy efficiency and production strategies that combine technology and sustainability.
Success Stories: Inspiring Practical Examples
The first success story focused on the successful collaboration between logistics provider LOXXESS and GEBHARDT. An impressive large-scale project at the Bor and Hamburg sites was presented, in which GEBHARDT implemented a state-of-the-art intralogistics solution. A total of over 165,000 storage container spaces were installed on an area equivalent to more than nine football pitches, an impressive example of efficient, scalable logistics solutions in practice.
The second story focused on production logistics at Kaeser Kompressoren, developed together with GEBHARDT. Christian Thoma (Kaeser Kompressoren) and Jan Schlichting (GEBHARDT) showed how smart networking between mobile robotics, control systems, and seamless integration creates transparency, efficiency, and future-proof production processes.
Workshops: Knowledge to Take Away
In a total of seven practice-oriented workshops, participants were able to immerse themselves directly in the topics: From ‘Digital factory planning with 3D & BIM’ (Tobias Vetter, GEBHARDT) to ‘What does the ideal customer platform look like?’ (Philipp Sigmann, GEBHARDT) to ‘Pull principles in the smart factory’ (Jan Schlichting & Kai Großkinsky, GEBAHRDT).
The workshop "Design the Future together: GEBHARDT Software Solutions 2035" (Stephan Vennemann, GEBHARDT), in which future scenarios for intelligent software solutions were developed together.
Breakout sessions: Knowledge Straight from the Experts
With 26 breakout sessions, the summit offered plenty of opportunities to explore specific topics in depth.
Some of the top picks:
- ‘From Motion to Intelligence’ (MotionMiners): How AI is redefining manual processes.
- ‘Smart, Sustainable, Scalable’ (Gridstore): Sustainable automation as a model for the future.
- ‘Generative AI in logistics projects’ (Kraft Intralogistik Solutions): Practical examples of the effective use of digital sparring partners
- ‘Why do 99% of companies plan their production with Excel?’ (ASPROVA)
GEBHARDT itself also presented innovative approaches, such as ‘The revolution in pallet storage’ with the Omnipallet®, ‘Efficient sorting technology’ with LIPPERT by GEBHARDT, and ‘Warehouse execution of the future’ by Stephan Vennemann.
Panel Discussions: From Theory to Real Talk
On day one, representatives from science and industry, including Kai Furmans (KIT), Marcel Breusch (LOXXESS), Max Meister (Ludwig Meister) and Rafael Berner (GEBHARDT), discussed the question ‘From warehouse to value creation – where is intralogistics heading?’ under the chairmanship of Volker Bibelhausen.
On the second day, the focus was on cybersecurity, with experts from research and industry. Moderated by Günter Ullrich (FTS expert), Mario Epp (GEBHARDT), Jens Müller (CMSE), Franz Dold (SICK) and Constantin Scholz (imec) discussed functional safety in the smart factory.
The GEBHARDT Intralogistics Summit 2025 wasn’t just another industry event. It made intralogistics come alive. What made it special was the perfect mix of passion, hands-on insights, and personal exchange: the keynotes looked ahead, the workshops shaped the future, and the breakout sessions debated it.
Everyone who attended left with not just valuable knowledge but also fresh ideas for their own business.
