TUP annual review of 2022

Another year has passed. 365 days in which many things have moved, both as a result of economic developments and the tense global situation. General overviews of topics, events and issues of the past year can be found online in abundance – for example from Google Trends or Destatis. However, when it comes to developments in the TUP universe, we don’t miss the opportunity to guide you through the year 2022 ourselves.

To straighten out the nomenclature up front: At the beginning of the year still known as DR. THOMAS + PARTNER GmbH & Co. KG, the time had come on March 16 when the company was renamed TUP GmbH & Co. KG. Understandably, name changes carry a certain risk. However, since the three letters had already been filled with values and life over the course of decades at this point in time and had already been established as a shorter name variant anyway, this did not become an issue. And so, as “T-U-P”, we continue to be a successful player in the intralogistics industry, as the rest of the year that has just ended was able to demonstrate.

On February 24, we “woke up in a different world,” as Foreign Minister Baerbock put it. The Ukraine war set many things in motion – also at TUP. The company is aware of its social responsibility and participates frequently or in numerous undertakings for a good cause. This was also the case in this instance. In addition to various donations, TUP’s management also initiated and organized a major food delivery. The economic development throughout the year was… let’s call it opaque. At TUP, we are of course glad that as a team we were able to successfully face all these adversities, manage large projects well, as well as provide assistance on top of that.

In last year’s review still eagerly announced, this year we can once again look back on a LogiMAT – very satisfied, one may add. Beyond our traditionally noticeable presence with a booth, we were called upon by no less than two moderators to present our expertise in the context of expert forums. CIO Eduard Wagner and CMO Mathias Thomas demonstrated the profound knowledge behind TUP on the large LogiMAT stage. The booth concept created an ideal environment for getting together and having good conversations, which was also confirmed to us by a visit from LogiMAT-TV. In the interview resulting from this visit, CEO Simon Thomas explains the focus topics for the trade fair year 2022.

By no means were these the only opportunities worth mentioning in the context of moving images. For example, as part of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics’ Economy 4.0 initiative, the TUP Citylogistics [R]ealtime [U]rban [L]ogistics [S]ystem project was picked up and highlighted on film in the “Digital Business Models@BW” series. Public television also found itself on campus as a guest of TUP during the year. As a result, the WDR consumer magazine “Markt” broadcast a feature on Smarter Paketlieferung*, building on the interdisciplinary application of intralogistics technologies, during primetime 8:15 p.m.

*Feature on Smarter Parcel Delivery from minute 17:50; TUP & RULS from minute 24:00

Presentations at LogiMAT have already been mentioned. As usual, the year at TUP was also characterized by various activities with the aim of passing on and multiplying knowledge. For example, TUP communicated “Opportunities of artificial intelligence for small and medium-sized enterprises” for the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics in the Economy 4.0 initiative, which has also already been mentioned. Our expertise also gave us the pleasure of assisting the national Austrian daily newspaper “Die Presse” with assessments of the impact of societal challenges on intralogistics with our knowledge. In addition to various events in the academic environment, such as the continuation of a logistics IT lecture at KIT, Logistik KNOWHOW (LKH) was also further filled with life. The knowledge platform operated by TUP around the knowledge areas of intralogistics, supply chain and e-commerce is a lively contact point for all those who need detailed information of a corresponding nature – from students to practitioners. From TUP for everyone, with a revised look in 2022. Internally, many of our FORUM events took place: From topics such as increasing the efficiency of intralogistic packing processes, clustering-based warehouse space allocation, use of drones as service units in the warehouse, AGV routing (automated guided vehicles), practical application of artificial intelligence (AI) to the latest developments in software architecture, much was highlighted and shared between our experts.

Honor to whom honor is due! But since anniversaries that fell during the critical Corona period could not be properly commemorated, a catch-up began locally on campus. Over many weeks, anniversaries were celebrated every Thursday. The 10 a.m. coffee break, one of the two collective breaks when everyone gathers in the in-house cafeteria, was used for this purpose. Thus, breakfast and personal honoring by the management was held for a whole 19 jubilarians, whose time account at TUP added up to an impressive 360 years. Certificates, vouchers and, depending on the individual number, even special leave were added. Current anniversaries were of course not forgotten: as in the large group, there was also a 30th and a 35th anniversary among them.

With now more than 40 years of company history, some of the company’s veterans have retired in recent years. But on the other hand, as in 2022 again, many new faces have become part of the TUP family. In this respect, it is also a clear signal that we want to continue to grow. However, Corona has shaken up our culture in recent years. Now that there are signs of normalization, at least in this respect, our goal for 2023 is to fill the campus with life again: Be it working together, celebrating together, holding events or even just our TUP coffee breaks.

This desire also culminates in the emergence of the second construction phase of our company site. The decision in favor of a further building in the special passive house construction method with ice storage heating may surprise some people at this time, but if you know TUP it is the logical step. Space for 80 new employees as well as further offers for the workforce will thus be created. Construction began in 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2023. While construction occurred at a time when materials were not always readily available, the project was able to proceed without major problems. We are looking forward to moving into the new building and, above all, getting to know the new colleagues who will find space there!

An exciting time lies ahead, in which many things will change and society and the economy will have to adapt to new situations again and again. That is why we at TUP are actively preparing ourselves to be in the best possible position for all eventualities. The spectrum ranges from internal modernization or digitalization measures and change management to targeted R&D measures and the very practical expansion of optimization options for our customers.

In addition to modern dialog systems, efficient development environments, well thought-out processes and stable systems, this also includes developments in the field of artificial intelligence. In this sense, the year 2022 is particularly characterized by the freshly sealed strategic partnership with AIM – Agile IT Management GmbH. The AI specialists for industrial applications of AIM are now part of the TUP family of experts as cooperation partners. Thus, TUP and AIM not only combine mature and proven toolboxes for machine learning and warehouse management, but also profound domain knowledge of the respective areas. This is a promising synergy, the results of which will be reported in more detail in the course of the new year.

Looking back together on the past period, we are certain that we will continue to be successful as a team. We would like to thank our long-standing and new customers for the good cooperation in challenging times and look forward together with confidence.

A happy and healthy 2023 – to you and your loved ones!

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Photo by Lindsay Henwood on Unsplash