About our Institute

The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML is considered the top address for integrated logistics research and works in all fields of internal and external logistics. In line with the Fraunhofer idea, solutions are developed for direct use by companies, but pre-competitive research lasting two to five years, and in some cases longer, is also carried out. The institute, founded in 1981, currently employs around 450 research associates, as well as administrative staff and workshop employees, supported by numerous student and research assistants.

Interdisciplinary teams put together according to project and customer requirements create cross-industry and customer-specific solutions in the field of material flow technology, business process modeling, and in the areas of transport systems and resource logistics, among others. Other current research priorities include the sections of artificial intelligence and smart robotics, smart finance, the resilience of supply chains and the sustainable transformation of logistics. For interdisciplinary projects, the institute can draw on a total of 32,000 employees in 76 facilities throughout the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The central office of the Fraunhofer Transport Alliance, in which 23 Fraunhofer institutes and entities combine their transportation-related expertise, is also located in Dortmund.

In addition, Fraunhofer IML is a major contributor to the “Digital Hub Logistics”, which offers start-up initiatives space to develop digital products and business models. The institute is also the initiator of the non-profit Open Logistics Foundation, which promotes open-source applications in logistics, and part of the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, which is permanently funded as part of the German government's AI strategy. The three directors of the institute, who also hold chairs at the TU Dortmund University, are involved in a wide range of research collaborations, including in the field of basic research. In addition to Dortmund, further locations include Frankfurt, Hamburg, Prien and Shanghai.