Keynote von Andreas Schmitz (CEO, Schmitz Cargobull) | IAA TRANSPORTATION 2022

I'm going to start with boosting efficiency through digital innovation. As a trailer manufacturer from a traditional industry—founded as a blacksmith in 1892—we became the leading trailer manufacturer in Europe with a turnover of 2.2 billion euros, producing 61,000 vehicles per year. Around 100,000 of our trailers are equipped with telematics and are now smart vehicles. Every second strawberry you buy in a store is transported in a Schmitz Cargobull refrigerated trailer because we build the best. It's the most cost-effective and CO2-saving way to get food into supermarkets and homes. Today, it's not just the strawberry; the data in the trailers allows us to make additional value available to our customers. We have a real IoT device in the trailer, intelligent truck-trailer matching, transparent capacity usage, and process optimization along the value chain. But only one in ten supply chains is fully digital; many companies don't know how to integrate the data. Customers are afraid of being exposed. So we created the Data Management Center—an open system where our customers control who they share data with, even allowing data from competing products. This builds trust and enables efficient sharing. We are running tests worldwide: Australia, America, New Zealand. The data is made available to transport management systems and supply chain integrators, always controlled by the trailer owner. Let me give three concrete examples available today. First, an onboard weighing system for tippers—accurate enough that drivers see in the truck if they can load more or are overloaded. We share that data to provide an electronic weighing sheet, saving trips to a scale and enabling direct billing. Second, a digital immobilizer that allows short-distance moves with a PIN code, enabling flexible transport operations so drivers can sleep at home. Third, over-the-air updates for our cooling unit—the only manufacturer doing this. We recently sent customers different modes: performance, eco, normal. The driver can select the mode based on cargo sensitivity, and we can further optimize the cooling unit based on actual usage data, eventually reaching the segment of one. So even the 'box on wheels' has become intelligent. It's not just about collecting data; we must change processes with it, making customers more efficient and preserving resources digitally. Please come to our stand in Hall 27 to see more.

It's in Hall 27, and you're not going to miss us there. Hall 27. We'll see you there. Thank you so much.