Innovation on the move: First driverless truck in Singapore

On October 24, the first autonomous truck started operation at ExxonMobil's Integrated Petrochemical Complex in Singapore.

Katoen Natie has started operating its first driverless truck at ExxonMobil’s world-scale integrated manufacturing site in Singapore, transporting products between the company’s packaging and intermediate storage facilities. The pilot truck will operate on a 24/7 basis moving some 250,000 tons of product annually. After a six-month test run, the project will be gradually expanded to 12 trucks, moving some 3 million tons of product annually.

Innovative and tailor made solutions

Mr. Koen Cardon, CEO of Katoen Natie Singapore, said, “We combine engineering, technology and logistics operations to offer innovative and tailor made solutions to customers in a variety of sectors. This project is a perfect example of the innovation we bring to the forefront to create value for our customers as well as creating the opportunities to upgrade the skills of our workforce.”

“We are excited to support Katoen Natie in making this innovative breakthrough in chemical logistics, and helping the world envision how the future of transport will look like,” said Damian Chan, Executive Director, Energy & Chemicals, Singapore Economic Development Board. “The transformation of our industry cannot happen without a well-trained and future-ready workforce, and Katoen Natie’s commitment to retrain and upskill their workers exemplifies Singapore’s continuous efforts to ensure our talent is ready to take on jobs of the future.”

Automation to improve productivity

Mr. Robert W. Johnston, ExxonMobil’s Singapore Chemical Plant manufacturing director said, “Driverless trucks are an example of how the industry continues to adopt automation to improve worker productivity. We are glad to be supporting Katoen Natie in its efforts to safely operationalise new and innovative solutions at our manufacturing site.”
Mr. Cardon added, “We operate 165 logistics terminals in a network of 36 countries. We selected Singapore as the location for this project given that it has both the vision and the right business environment to undertake such projects. Our partnership with the Economic Development Board has been of key importance for the realization of this project. In addition, many other parties including a team of MBA students from the Singapore Management University (SMU) and the IE Business School have been pivotal for this project.”
SMU’s Associate Professor of Operations Management (Practice), Professor Lieven Demeester, who guided students in his previous role as Associate Dean of MBA Programmes commented, “We are proud of our MBA students. They helped Katoen Natie identify the technology partners, initiate a productive collaboration between them, and assure the financial viability of the project.”

Katoen Natie also worked with Dutch industrial VDL Groep as partner for this project, who carried out the truck conversion and automation at its local VDL Automated Vehicles technology centre here in Singapore. Mr. Theo Toussaint, Executive Vice President of VDL Groep, said, “We’re delighted to partner with Katoen Natie in this driverless truck project. The ambition of VDL is to become the leader in electric and automated heavy-duty vehicle applications and we see this project as another big step towards our goal.”

Not an endgame

Since establishment in Singapore 20 years ago, Katoen Natie has developed many new solutions in Singapore that includes safety inspections by drone, transport management through a specially developed mobile phone app and a range of new technologies in packaging and shipping operations. Mr. Cardon said, “The pilot driverless truck project is not an endgame but a milestone in a wide range of innovative solutions that we are introducing for our customers worldwide. Our Singapore operations have become a centre of excellence for Katoen Natie which will enable us to create value for our customers across the world.”

Watch the full video of the first autonomous truck operating in Jurong Island Singapore

Other news articles

19.07.23

Embracing a Greener Future: Introducing Belgium's First Produced Electric Truck

We are thrilled to share a momentous stride on our journey towards a more sustainable future. Today, we take great pride in announcing the launch of our very first electric truck at Katoen Natie - a groundbreaking achievement made possible by our valued partnership with Volvo Group Volvo Trucks Belgium. As a key step in our unwavering commitment to sustainability, the electrification of our esteemed truck fleet marks a transformative chapter in our organization's environmental efforts. With sustainability at the core of our values, this significant milestone sets the stage for a greener and more efficient logistics landscape. This moment wouldn't have been possible without the invaluable collaboration and support from Volvo Group Volvo Trucks Belgium, a partnership that epitomizes the potential impact of decarbonizing the transport industry on the entire logistics value chain. We are honored to have acquired this groundbreaking electric truck, powered by Volvo, which will play a vital role in servicing our esteemed customer, Atlas Copco. Through this strategic collaboration, we reaffirm our shared dedication to driving sustainable transportation practices. Join us in celebrating this achievement as we embark on a journey towards a cleaner, more sustainable future. At Katoen Natie, we believe that our people truly make the difference, and together, we can pave the way for a brighter and more environmentally responsible tomorrow. 🚚💚 #Sustainability #Innovation #ElectricTruck #GreenerFuture #Collaboration #Logistics #Transportation #KatoenNatie #SustainableTransport #EnvironmentalEfforts
Read more
05.06.23

Crossport Acquisition

Katoen Natie is pleased to announce the acquisition of Crossport, a logistics service provider that offers warehousing and logistics services in Wachtebeke, near Ghent in Belgium. Following the recent take-over of Transport L'Ecluse, this is a second acquisition that strengthens our market position in the port of Ghent. On the right and left bank of the Ghent - Terneuzen canal, Katoen Natie owns and operates various logistics platforms with a total storage capacity of 375.000 m². By acquiring Crossport, we further expand our footprint in Ghent and we can even serve customers who import/export their cargo via the neighboring ports of Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Terneuzen. Crossport has been founded in 2016 and offers value-added logistics services such as stuffing of containers and cross-docking of general cargo. The company employs 15 people and has a total storage capacity of 120,000 m² of which 51,000 m² are covered. In recent years, the management of Crossport has invested significantly to improve its warehouses and service level. Katoen Natie will follow this path forward and will secure the future growth of Crossport. We are convinced that the combination of Katoen Natie and Crossport will enable us to serve our customers in the port of Ghent even better than before.
Read more
21.11.22

We keep automating.

The world is changing rapidly: consumers have higher service demands, product availability remains key, labor costs are continuously increasing and available warehouse space is under pressure. Therefore, we keep automating our processes. Katoen Natie Consumer Goods & Industry has recently invested in the Autostore system to convert a conventional solution into an automated solution. The investment in the Autostore system of more than 30.000 totes and 20 robots is done on the logistics platform in Antwerp, the Katoen Natie flagship logistics platform with a capacity of 1.200.000 sqm covered warehouse space. This investment is realized in with the partner Element Logic. More investments in Autostore systems are planned on different European locations. Service providers needs to be able to react to these changes and need to scale up/down capacities in a very flexible way. Autostore helps with this as it allows to order pick a large quantity of products in a very short time frame on a very condensed area. Katoen Natie Consumer Goods and Industry provides logistics services all around the world. Having large multi-customer logistics platforms, owned state-of-the-art WMS solutions, a large pool of skilled and enthusiastic people and focus on innovation, Katoen Natie Consumer Goods & Industry offers highly flexible and tailormade logistic solutions to its customers.
Read more
12.10.22

Our Spirit Campaign

Since 2017 we organize a yearly cultural index. A survey to measure the satisfaction of our employees. During this first survey we organized, it became clear that with the immense growth of our company and Business Unit, sharing our set of values, goals and practices that we can find in our company bible, became more important then ever. Each year we try to set some new goals on how to keep our employee engagement high, and provide also for them extra added value via culture based actions. Since 2020 we decided to create a dedicated workgroup around ‘Katoen Natie culture’ related topics. A group of people from all layers of our business unit, overall sites, with a heart for Katoen Natie: “The Cultural ambassadors”. A multicultural, divers group of people that share best practices and brainstorm on how they can keep the Katoen Natie Spirit alive. Based on the six cornerstones of our ‘company bible’, we focus on communicating, internally and externally about our culture, engaging our employees, and focus on wellbeing. Some examples of those actions you may have already seen on linkedin, with our ‘Spirit campaign’. A campaign to highlight the most important values of our company bible, explained storywise to and by our employees.
Read more