The history of logistics stretches far back: Even before the invention of the wheel, materials were transported, handled and stored. Even then, the effort involved in the flow of materials was enormous – initially without any degree of automation. The term intralogistics is still quite young, but the machinery in the background is ancient. We venture a look into the past and show you the beginnings of logistics and intralogistics: true milestones.

About the pyramids and Byzantines

There is no question that logistical challenges already existed thousands of years ago. The most important logistics at that time was undoubtedly the construction of the pyramids. The granite blocks not only weighed over 50 tons, they were also mostly mined from quarries that were up to 800 kilometers away. At that time, a specially constructed port was not uncommon for this type of logistics.

And it was not only the Romans who achieved worldwide fame for logistics as we understand it today, particularly in the military segment. The Byzantine emperor Leontius VI wrote around 900 AD: “The task of logistics is to pay the army, to arm and structure it appropriately, to equip it with artillery and military equipment, to provide for its needs in good time and in sufficient measure, and to prepare each act of the campaign accordingly, i.e. calculate space and time, correctly estimate the terrain in relation to army movements and the opponent’s resistance, and regulate and order the movement and distribution of one’s own armed forces in accordance with these functions, in a word, dispose of them.” Read below under ‘War Machine’ to what extent the military and modern warfare have played and continue to play a decisive role in logistics.

Logistics in Germany

In Germany, in addition to military reasons (see war machine), worldwide trade was already being promoted around 1200. The international business network “the Hanseatic League” described the cooperation for transport bundling and international maritime traffic. In order to make the crossing in the North Sea safer, for example, and to finally be able to represent economic interests abroad on a permanent basis, the city of Hamburg was founded in 1188 as the North Sea base of the Hanseatic League. The joint trade of the so-called Hanseatic cog already stretched from the Black Sea to Reval, today’s Tallinn, which is still known as a German-speaking trading area today. So you could also say that the Hanseatic League had an early idea of the European Union.

And logistics not only has a long tradition in Germany, it is also one of the largest economic sectors in the country after the automotive industry and trade. According to the Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL), logistics generated a turnover of around 225 billion euros in 2012 with 2.85 million employees. Thus, the logistics market in Germany grew by about three percent compared to 2011. For 2013, the BVL expects that the 2012 level was maintained.” It is somewhat amusing that the first freight carried by the German railways were two barrels of beer. They were delivered from Nuremberg to Fürth for just twelve kreutzers. In contrast, the directive for the Director-Commissioner Dr. Löhner was to ensure “that this small beginning of freight transport is carried out in the proper order so that it can perhaps be expanded into something larger at a later date”; which was then also implemented.

Postal, industrialization and the war machine

Another logistical challenge that still exists today is handled by the many letter carriers and parcel deliverers. What is expected of every delivery today has its origins around 1500. At that time, a unified and advanced postal service for all of Europe was created. Countries and principalities introduced the first postal service with a precisely defined delivery time. Unimaginable, but in the beginning, it could of course be delayed by a few days.

Taylorism and Ford

In 1800, not only did industrialization take place, but logistics also moved in a new direction. The invention of the steam engine and the discovery of oil enabled a new era in terms of economic efficiency. In 1878, it was specifically the issue of efficiency that led the young US engineer Frederick W. Taylor to take a closer look at manufacturing processes: how could processes be organized even more effectively and how could expensive skilled workers be dispensed with at the same time? The answer: many steps had to be performed as simply and quickly as possible. “In the past, the human being came first; in the future, the system must come first,” Taylor defended his principle.

And none other than Ford took it on in 1908. Assembly line work, just introduced, was revolutionized. The automaker was hell-bent on producing a car for the masses. So Ford limited himself to his Model T (Tin Lizzy), took into account the now world-famous Taylorism and from then on had the Model T rolling off the assembly line for six years. And because Ford limited himself to this model, he was able to rely on special machines for the individual work steps. The individual workpieces ran from one machine to the next, from one handle to the next, on conveyor belts. The trick was that the faster the individual worker worked, the more wages Ford paid him, and at the same time he was able to halve the price of the car between 1908 and 1914 – piecework was born.

But it wasn’t just that the railways were reinvented; they were also expanded with new technologies and thus acquired new areas of responsibility as a means of transport. Unfortunately, these possibilities were exploited for warfare. For example, Germany was able to send tons of material (weapons and equipment) to its troops during the First World War. So even after the time of the aforementioned Byzantine emperor, the military continued to play a major role in terms of logistical tasks. They were further refined during the Second World War. However, economic logistics, which began during both world wars with the transfer of military logistics concepts, also benefited from this.

Supply chain management and intralogistics

Ultimately, global logistics began in 1956. At that time, the American Malcom P. McLean changed the production conditions of almost all industries worldwide and thus people’s consumption habits. Even today, the sea container is still responsible for ensuring that shipyards receive large orders, new countries and regions boom, new markets emerge and products from all over the world can be bought and sold cheaply everywhere. The history of logistics took its course from there. The Kanban and Just-In-Time concept from Toyota, which focused on the procurement of materials; the QR and ECR technologies led to the efficient supply of goods system; and of course, the present: supply chain management – i.e. the consideration of the entire logistics chain from the supplier to the end consumer.

This interactive and complex system also includes the intralogistics we are familiar with, i.e. the logistical flow of materials and goods within a company’s premises. The term itself is quite young. It has only been an integral part of logistics since 2003. It therefore has a short history but a long tradition. DR. THOMAS + PARTNER (today TUP) played a major role in defining the term and was even leading at the VDI (Association of German Engineers). “Over the years, it has been recognized that logistics is much more complex and diversified than previously thought. The generic term was simply no longer sufficient,” says Frank Obschonka, sales manager and industrial engineer at TUP. The term intralogistics was introduced to provide a better differentiation. From then on, we were able to logistically represent and name all intralogistics processes of a company.”

In principle, the actual birth of intralogistics can be linked to the use of high-bay warehouses and goods distribution systems. Starting with block storage, which was not really space-saving but which already used cranes, and developing the actual driving performance, height emerged as the most effective component of intralogistics. In the 1980s, the newly developed information technology then enabled the necessary degree of automation. The latter has been continuously perfected by LVRs and other control software. According to Frank Obschonka, the most decisive developments are still taking place in IT today. “And back then, it was specifically the further developments in software controls and, of course, the introduction of PCs”.

Meanwhile, environmental considerations are also increasingly being incorporated into planning. As a result, intralogistics is also considered a sector with significant energy-saving potential. Energy efficiency is thus becoming another driving force in intralogistics under the heading of green logistics.

For more information, see ‘Whttps://www.tup.com/en/logistikknowhow/what-can-logistics-achieve/hat can logistics achieve‘ and ‘The end of the 6 Rs of logistics? – Part 1‘

Teaserbild: © Giammarco Boscaro
Infographic: © GlobalGate GmbH

Editor’s note: The company DR. THOMAS + PARTNER is officially called TUP GmbH & Co. KG since March 16, 2022.