Industrial engineering students dare to take a look into the future during a hackathon

In a one-day hackathon, ten students from the Schweinfurt-Würzburg University of Applied Sciences (FHWS) analysed data from the logistics company Schäflein. Their challenge: to recognise correlations with external factors and use them to make recommendations for future logistics practice.

Background: The logistics company in Röthlein near Schweinfurt is a hub for shipping products throughout Germany and Europe.

Product categories that are subject to fluctuating demand, such as bicycles, pose particular challenges for logistics providers: Storage capacity and staff deployment must be planned accordingly.

Fluctuations in deliveries and future demand can be concretised using historical data. Students from the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management tackled this task as part of the “Hackathon”, a software and hardware development event. After a tour of two logistics halls, which provided an insight into operational practice, the students evaluated product-related data in three groups. They analysed correlations with external influences such as weather, sporting events or trade fairs and developed their ideas. “Lively and intensive teaching formats such as the hackathon are a great opportunity for students to develop multi-layered, practice-relevant skills along entrepreneurial challenges,” said Professor Dr Bernd Ankenbrand from FHWS, commenting on the event.

The competition concluded with a presentation of the results to fellow students, six FHWS professors and three members of the Schäflein AG board. “It was great to see the spirit and commitment with which the students approached the tasks. They have developed promising initial approaches that will help us to make strategic decisions increasingly based on data,” says Daniel Müller, Data Warehouse Manager at Schäflein. “We want to build on this in further joint projects,” Ankenbrand and Müller agreed.