At idealworks we are accelerating the adoption of autonomous logistics. Leveraging the latest technology, and a steadfast software first approach — we are building the most intelligent, flexible, and collaborative logistics services. From hardware to software, everything we do is validated in real production environments, and is centered on supporting our customers to improve safety, efficiency and reliability across their facilities.
A renowned automotive expert with vast international experience, Michael brings both strategic and operational leadership excellence. In more than 17 years spent in consulting and automotive, at Rolls-Royce Motorcars and the BMW Group, he has successfully transformed organizations.
Karin brings over 20 years of international experience in the financial sector, in leading roles as CFO of BMW Austria Bank, Accounting & Controlling Manager at BMW Financial Services Canada, and in sales at BMW Bank Germany.
Markus brings a hands-on approach to operational leadership and project management, with over 15 years of experience at BMW —specialising in transformation, process optimisation, and logistics innovation.
An IT manager and IoT expert at the BMW Group with over 10 years of experience in automotive engineering. Since 2016, Jimmy has led the AI and Digitization lab at BMW Group Logistics — leveraging innovative solutions in IoT and solving real-world problems in manufacturing and distribution.
In 2015, through leveraging BMW's deep domain expertise in logistics, an in-house product was developed to support goods handling and intra-logistics throughout BMW factories. Aptly named the STR, the 'smart transport robot', was built from the ground up to move containers through the factories, and bring material to the production line. Utilizing recycled batteries from BMW's electric vehicle program, the STR evolved as a low cost solution for BMW's AMR needs.
In 2018 BMW formed a new team to accelerate the development and refine the functionality of the STRs. Gathering cross discipline experts from though-out the Group, a new focus began on leveraging embedded computing, enhancing AI intelligence, and forming new partnerships to supercharge the development of the most able, most intelligent, and most reliable AMR in automotive.
Based in Munich - a global team was formed, from Australia, France, Germany, Lebanon and USA, building relationships with world leading research universities and industry partners. Building on the foundation of work from 1000's of hours of indoor navigation, millions of deliveries, and years of real world testing in productive BMW plants - we focused on redeveloping the core systems powering the STR, and building a product that would meet the needs of not only the BMW group, but other automotive and industrial applications worldwide.
In 2020 we took the next step in bringing our product to market - adding to the BMW Group's close knit ecosystem of subsidiaries, and incorporating our team into a stand alone business. This has allowed us to continue focused development of all aspects of our product, and expand our use-cases into new and exciting markets. What began in 2015 as a small research team inside the BMW logistics department has now grown into idealworks - a company with a focused mission on making AMR's the norm in everyday intralogistics, and driving innovation with customer experience at the forefront of everything we do.