Inno12 – Innovation in practice

On Monday 18 March, Billund Erhverv formed the framework for a course where a team of logistics economist students from UCL Business Academy and Professional College in Vejle had to work with logistical issues from two local companies for 12 hours - the course is therefore also called Inno12.

In addition to the logistical part, both issues also had a sustainability perspective.

One of the two local companies was the transport and forwarding company HT Transport, which wanted input on a solution regarding the transition to electric trucks on a fixed route. What will the changeover mean for employees, service, finances and environmental impact? This was the overall problem that the students helped HT Transport find possible answers to.

Clothing manufacturer and retailer Zizzi came up with a completely different problem. Here it was about how to reduce the number of return packages with a focus on reducing return logistics for online sales of swimwear. The return packages today constitute a major resource drain in the company, and this applies both in relation to finances, labor and from a sustainability perspective.

Prior to the Inno12 course on 18 March, the students had been introduced to the companies' problems and have worked with their solution models in class. They started the day by presenting their preliminary results to the companies, who provided feedback, constructive criticism and gave input on how they could imagine the students could work further with their solutions during the day.

Chairman of the board of HT Transport Jørgen Poulsen calls the collaboration with UCL a pure win-win: "In relation to electric trucks, we don't have a lot of knowledge - but we know it's coming. Right now, it would be a very large expense to acquire an electric truck and the infrastructure is also a big challenge, so it is really good to get completely fresh eyes on the issues – eyes that might be able to see some things that the rest of us don't seen. So it gives us as a company a lot, just as it is good for the students to work with real things.” He continues: "And then it may be that there are some of the students who want to come back to our company when they either need an internship or are looking for work after graduation."

"For us, it's about being involved while you have some young fresh minds who want to be inspired and have some concrete examples, but for us it's also about getting out and finding these nuggets of gold that come from outside, and which you might not see for yourself, because you might get a little bit eaten up over time.” says Martin Strøm Jespersen, Logistics & Warehouse Manager at Zizzi.

Martin likes that the setup is very concrete and not so high-flying: "Also, the fact that you work with something in practice and you can use it almost immediately, the moment you start working on it - I think that's super interesting .”

Clothing manufacturer and retailer Zizzi came up with a completely different problem. Here it was about how to reduce the number of return packages with a focus on reducing return logistics for online sales of swimwear. The return packages today constitute a major resource drain in the company, and this applies both in relation to finances, labor and from a sustainability perspective.

Prior to the Inno12 course on 18 March, the students had been introduced to the companies' problems and have worked with their solution models in class. They started the day by presenting their preliminary results to the companies, who provided feedback, constructive criticism and gave input on how they could imagine the students could work further with their solutions during the day.

Amar, who is one of the participating students, gets a lot out of a course like Inno12: "It's great that we are working on real problems - something taken from real life. After all, at school we mostly work with theory, so it is incredibly educational to work so closely with a company that has a real problem that needs to be solved.”

Study coordinator Lene Buhl agrees with Amar: "In the study, it's very much about theory, fictitious tasks and small cases - what it's about at an event like Inno12 is that you link theory and practice, i.e. these are concrete issues, where the students then get the opportunity to use the theoretical toolbox they have learned in the course, and then find out how it can be used in the real world.” She adds: "And of course it's more fun to do tasks that are concrete and where you can ask the companies directly, rather than sitting with theoretical tasks where you don't have the opportunity to ask about anything."

Like Jørgen Poulsen from HT Transport, Lene Buhl also thinks about the slightly more long-term perspectives in collaborating with the companies. "During a day like today, some relationships may be created that can lead to student jobs or internships - the companies can get to know the students in a slightly different way than by receiving an application."

The students ended the day by presenting their solution proposals to the two companies, who could take home concrete examples, inspiration and new ideas.

Both HT Transport and Zizzi were impressed by what the students were able to calculate in a very short time, and especially the quality of the thinking behind it, and the immediate usability of the solution models garnered great praise, and both companies took home ideas that they could continue working with.

With the collaboration, Billund Erhverv wants both to inspire companies and students for new solutions and to create a more practical approach to innovation collaborations.

"The logistics industry faces major competitive challenges and opportunities in the coming years, and with these collaborations we want to help push the solutions.

In addition to the desire for innovative solutions to specific problems, it is also our goal to create a good relationship between the students and our local companies, with a view to possible future collaborations." says director of Billund Erhverv Marie Skov Lillelund.