Why this forklift?

11:12 a.m. on the shop floor. Production is running, seven transport orders are waiting to be executed, and four forklifts are available. One of them is practically right around the corner. So the choice seems obvious: It gets the next job. Or does it?

What looks like a simple decision at first quickly becomes much more complex in intralogistics. The shortest route is not necessarily the best option. There may be a more urgent order waiting elsewhere. Another forklift may be better suited to the load. Or two transports could be combined efficiently, avoiding an empty run.

These kinds of decisions are made constantly during day-to-day operations. Priorities change, new orders come in, vehicles become available, or employees take a break. Anyone focusing only on the individual transport can quickly lose sight of the bigger picture.

This is where intelligent intralogistics management systems support dispatchers. They continuously assess the current situation and use multiple criteria to determine which resource should handle which order. The algorithms do the calculations but their decisions should not remain a mystery.

More Than Just the Shortest Route

The closest forklift may initially seem like the logical choice. After all, a shorter route usually means less travel time and lower costs. But distance alone is not enough to make a good transport decision.

An intralogistics management system considers multiple criteria simultaneously. These include the priority of the order, time constraints, vehicle availability and capacity, and whether a particular vehicle is suitable for the transport. Existing assignments and potential order combinations also play a role.

It may therefore make more sense to assign a forklift that is slightly farther away if it can pick up another order along the way or move directly on to a suitable follow-up job. Conversely, the seemingly ideal forklift may be the better choice for another, more urgent transport.

The key question is therefore not: Which forklift is closest? It is: Which assignment is most effective for the overall transport situation at that moment?

Intralogistics management System Instead of Isolated Decisions

This is precisely where an intelligent intralogistics management system shows its strength: Transport orders are not considered in isolation, but as part of the overall operation.

If the situation changes because an urgent order comes in or a vehicle becomes available, the optimal assignment may change as well. The goal is not to complete every individual transport as quickly as possible. What matters is keeping the overall material flow efficient and reliable.

The best decision for an individual transport is not always the best decision for the system as a whole.
 

Automate Routine Decisions, Maintain Control

For dispatchers, this primarily means less manual decision-making. Instead of constantly having to decide which forklift should handle which order next, the system can perform this complex assessment and assign transport orders to suitable resources.

At the same time, it should remain transparent which criteria influenced a decision and why, for example, a certain order was prioritized or a particular resource was selected.

This prevents automated dispatching from becoming a black box. The system handles the complex evaluation, while people retain an overview, can put decisions into context, and intervene when necessary.

The Algorithms Calculate - People Keep the Big Picture in View

Back to 11:12 a.m.: The forklift around the corner may indeed get the order. Or it may not.

And this principle is no longer limited to forklifts. In many plants today, forklifts, tugger trains, and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) share transport tasks. The more diverse the fleet becomes, the more important centralized dispatching is - one that considers all available resources together.

This is the key difference between simply assigning orders and intelligent transport control: It is not the individual route or vehicle that is optimized, but the interaction of all transports and resources.

And if the forklift around the corner does end up getting the job, dispatchers at least know why.
 

Image note: Visual created with AI assistance and editorially refined.