LiGenium GmbH aims to make mechanical engineering and the logistics industry easier and more sustainable. The start-up from Chemnitz produces logistics applications made of wood-based materials, which are in no way inferior to comparable steel products.
To the contrary: Wood has numerous advantages!
Sustainable lightweight construction with many advantages
The company was founded in 2018 as a result of an EXIST research transfer. The four founders met at the Technical University of Chemnitz, where they laid the foundation for their shared dream. More than ten years of research into the usage of renewable materials in mechanical engineering from the base for the innovative and high-quality products.
LiGenium solves a major problem in the logistics industry: the excessive dead weight (tare) of load carriers! This increases transport costs and does not benefit the CO2 balance. This results primarily from the fact that load carriers are still made from materials such as plastic, metal or aluminium. It is important to reduce the dead weight using innovative renewable materials and not losing sight of the aspect of sustainability. By using wood as a lightweight construction material, an average of 50% weight is being saved and therefore costs, energy and CO2 too.
Large automobile manufacturers from Germany now value these applications and their technical, economic and ecological advantages over steel.
Sustainable applications
The products provide everything a future-oriented user expects. Thanks to their high EMC compatibility, they are well suited for Industry 4.0 applications. Wood ensures interference-free radio signal penetration and offers optimal conditions for monitoring the supply chain. The transport of electrically and thermally sensitive components is also possible – thanks to the natural dissipative and insulating properties of the renewable material – without additional, cost-intensive protective measures. It all enables protected and innovative transportation.
From an ergonomic point of view, there are further advantages: In the direct production environment, wood-based materials can be used to reduce noise emission. The light load carriers are easier to move and there is a lower risk of injury for the workers. Wooden products increase work safety!
Product development with and for the customer
In particular, the products are conveyor technology and conveyor aids: transport trolleys, containers and (special) load carriers. The development is adapted according to individual customer requirements. This is ensured by a modular system – the product can be varied depending on the individual purpose. The example of a wooden picking cart system shows this property particularly well: the basic module and the superstructure are connected to each other by a plug-in system and can easily, quickly and effortless be adapted to a different task at any time.
One of the latest developments is a flexible small load carrier that guarantees safe transport of sensitive components. A flexible inlay to a standard load carrier enables individual adaptation to the goods. The development is far from over – we aim to achieve 100% sustainable small load carriers. This idea received the award „eku-innovativ Zukunftspreis“ by the Saxon Ministry of the Environment.
The LiGenium products are competing with conventional products made of steel or plastic. Having at least the same load capacity, same durability and lots of technical advantages especially regarding digitization or automation the improvement in the CO2 balance is a major fact!
Successes and major orders despite the pandemic
The year 2020 was quite successful. Being 3rd place at the Saxon founder award and winning the WECONOMY start-up competition, LiGenium feels confirmed in its idea of bringing the natural material wood back into the industry and to establish a new standard in logistics.
Despite the pandemic, the company’s production is running at full speed. During the lockdown, the automotive industry found time to question and revise their own sustainability goals and production conditions which brought LiGenium further orders.
It is and will continue being the goal of companies to reduce costs as well as CO2 emissions. The increased production of electric cars is also contributing to the rising number of orders. With the ongoing digitization and automation of manufacturing companies we are experiencing a similar trend.
Apart from the growing automotive and logistics industry, the new products from Chemnitz are supposed to cause a revolution in other branches of the economy as well as internationally. In the spirit of: Wood you believe it!?