The Logistics Hall of Fame will induct nine new members it says have had a lasting impact on manufacturing, transportation, warehousing technology and logistics management.

The first multiple induction in 10 years will be held at an official ceremony at Hofburg Palace in Vienna on December 4.

Johannes Hödlmayr and Jürgen Weber will be inducted as new members, Günter Knapp, Oskar Schunck and Kiichiro Toyoda will receive the honour posthumously and Kurt Baumann, Heinz Hasselmann, Reinhard Mohn and Hans Reuter will be honoured as pioneers of the automated high-bay warehouse.

The international jury has also elected to honour the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for the CMR Convention, which was developed under its auspices.

Anita Würmser, managing chair of the Logistics Hall of Fame jury, says: “Logistics history is written in many different ways: through entrepreneurial courage, technological breakthroughs, pioneering academic work or reliable international rules”.

“What they all have in common is that they were created by people whose pioneering achievements have had an impact far beyond their own time and companies – and continue to shape logistics today,” Würmser adds. “Our new members represent achievements that have changed not only individual companies, but entire industries.”

The Logistics Hall of Fame received 30 nominations from nine countries this year. Eleven of these were shortlisted with the international jury of 70 experts from business, academia, politics and the media from 13 nations, casting the final votes.

“Admission to the Hall of Fame is determined neither by the size of a company nor by an individual’s level of public recognition, but by demonstrable benefits to logistics extending beyond the boundaries of their own company,” the Hall of Fame states.

Kurt Baumann, Heinz Hasselmann, Reinhard Mohn and Hans Reuter are this year being honoured as pioneers of the automated high-bay warehouse by laying the foundation for modern automated warehousing technology with the Bertelsmann book silo in the early 1960s.

Built in Gütersloh the 20m-high “book silo” marks the beginning of a new era in warehousing logistics and was the starting point for the world-wide development of modern high-bay warehouses. 

Floor space was replaced by vertical space, warehouse processes were automated, and material flows could be managed more systematically.

Johannes Hödlmayr was the founding father of ECG – Association of European Vehicle Logistics – with the Austrian entrepreneur laying the foundation for the group in 1997.

Austrian inventor and entrepreneur Günter Knapp was a pioneer of automated pharmaceutical logistics, developing the A-Frame picking machine, which created the foundation for fast, accurate and automated picking of medication packages, revolutionising pharmaceutical logistics.

Oskar Schunck was a pioneer of transportation insurance who identified and shaped the principle that “insurance replaces liability.” His approach was unique for its time and created such clear benefits for all sectors involved in transportation that industry associations, shippers and the freight forwarding community adopted the insurance model. Schunck’s particular significance for logistics lies in his key role in developing the General German Freight Forwarders’ Terms and Conditions (ADSp), which were initiated at roughly the same time, in combination with“automated” transportation liability insurance.

Toyota Motor Company founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, was a pioneer of the just-in-time principle - produce what is needed, exactly when it is needed, and only in the quantity required. It became a key foundation of the Toyota Production System and transformed manufacturing and logistics around the world. Many elements of the Toyota Production System later became known under the term “Lean Production.”

Jürgen Weber was a pioneer of logistics controlling, a leading pioneers in logistics performance measurement and a globally recognised expert in logistics and supply chain controlling. He “constructed” the frameworks on which industrial logistics is measured, evaluated and managed around the world today and played a key role in establishing logistics as a strategic value-adding function within companies.

The Logistics Hall of Fame also presents the Logistics Leader of the Year Award to current pacesetters in logistics, as well as recognising innovative logistics projects by humanitarian organisations with the Lynn C. Fritz Medal for Excellence in Humanitarian Logistics.