The Open Logistics Foundation aims to promote digitalization in logistics and supply chain management on the basis of open source and to standardize logistics processes through de facto standards.

"The digitalization of logistics can only be advanced together. That is why open source is an important success factor for the entire logistics industry and at the same time a driver for standardized processes in digital value chains. We see the establishment of the Open Logistics Foundation as the first step towards a platform economy based on European legal standards and values. It is both a start and an appeal to logistics to think technology and processes together and actively participate in the open source community," said the founders in a joint statement. Now it is a matter of anchoring open source in logistics and creating the internal structures for working with the corresponding hardware and software.

The foundation is aimed at all logistics-related companies and their IT developers. It is open to new members from all areas of logistics, from industry, trade and services to freight carriers and political organizations via its Open Logistics support association, which was also founded in Berlin. Numerous companies have already announced their participation in the association, including AEB, BLG Logistics Group, GS1 Germany, Lobster Logistics Cloud and Bochum-based Setlog Holding, as well as associations such as the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research.

The core of the foundation's work is the operation of the Open Logistics Repository, a technical platform on which software and hardware, interfaces, reference implementations and components are available open source under a permissive license. In order to promote broad acceptance within logistics, all tools and components will be free of charge and can be used without restriction for commercial applications. Companies can use them to expand their own platforms, for example, or to set up new products and business models more quickly. The open-source approach guarantees an open standard for the digitalization of logistics processes and at the same time offers a high degree of flexibility for individual adaptations.

The foundation's main tasks also include selecting collaborative projects whose developments are to be included in the repository. It monitors the quality of the open source software and guarantees neutrality in its development. It also offers training for companies on how to use the platform.

The development phase of the platform will take place in 2022. Open source projects have already been named at the foundation, including the first open source e-freight consignment note (eCMR) and implementations for the e-pallet bill or the VDA 5050 AGV interface. Further developments from the community are to be added in the future.
The committees were also appointed at the foundation's launch. Jochen Thewes (Chairman), CEO of DB Schenker, Dr. Stephan Peters (Deputy Chairman), Member of the Management Board of Rhenus, and Stefan Hohm (Deputy Chairman), CDO of Dachser, were elected to the Board. The Board of Trustees consists of Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael ten Hompel (Chairman), Managing Director of Fraunhofer IML, Markus Bangen, CEO of Duisport, and Jakub Piotrowski CIO/CDO of BLG Logistics Group.

The initiative for the Open Logistics Foundation came from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML as part of its Silicon Economy research project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) with 25 million euros. More than 150 researchers are working on an open source software and hardware infrastructure that will enable companies to automate their business activities and securely offer and use services and data across different platforms. The software and hardware, which will be developed over the course of the project until 2023, will form the basis for the Open Logistics Foundation's repository alongside developments from the community.