Audi has won the Logistics Award for 2017 from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) in recognition of its FTS driverless vehicle transport system.

The autonomously operating system has been in production operation at the Ingolstadt site since the beginning of the year. The parking robot named Ray sorts up to 2,000 cars per day for loading onto railway freight cars. This application is the only one of its kind to date in the automotive industry.

"Driverless transport systems are one of the key technologies of the Smart Factory," said Prof. Dr. Hubert Waltl, Board Member for Production and Logistics at AUDI AG. "With their flexible navigation we are improving efficiency in vehicle transport as well. FTS Ray is now in production operation at the Ingolstadt plant. We will be transferring the concept to other processes and sites."

VDA President Matthias Wissmann emphasized: "Our industry thrives on innovative solutions like this. The digitalization and connection of production, and in fact of the entire value chain, is the biggest challenge for the industry. Concepts like that of the award-winner clearly demonstrate that the German automotive industry is on top here as well."

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