Karien Bergmans and Sander Huysmans (Essensium): “Smart positioning makes warehouses safer and more efficient”

4 minutes reading time

Essensium has recently become an Innovation Partner of LogiVille. The Leuven-based company will demonstrate its advanced indoor positioning systems. This technology increases the safety, precision of the location and operational efficiency of vehicles in logistics and industrial environments. Karien Bergmans, Sales Director Belgium & International, and Sander Huysmans, Head of Marketing, introduce us to the company and explain why it became a partner of LogiVille.

Could you briefly introduce Essensium?

Karien: Essensium was founded in 2005 as a spin-off from imec, specialising in vehicle positioning and real-time location systems (RTLS) for warehouses and production environments. Over the past twenty years, we’ve evolved tremendously.
Whereas we once relied on fixed anchors and sensors in the building, today the intelligence sits entirely on the vehicle itself. This applies not only to forklifts and reach trucks, but also to AMRs, AGVs and even cleaning machines.

We start with a 3D mapping of the warehouse or production hall. Using laser technology, we capture every detail of the building: from walls and ceilings to racks, machines and all other fixed elements. That model is then converted into a digital twin of the facility, allowing customers to track their vehicles in real time.

How does the positioning work?

Karien: Our Essensium Positioning System (EPS) uses vision technology. Each vehicle is equipped with a compact black box fitted with cameras that analyse 30 images per second. These images are continuously compared to the 3D model of the warehouse, allowing us to determine exactly where the vehicle is, which direction it’s heading and how fast it’s moving. And that with an accuracy of up to twenty centimeters

The first application is SafeTrack, a brand-independent safety assistance system that prevents collisions between warehouse trucks or between vehicles and pedestrians.
The system knows the position, direction and speed of each vehicle and enables them to communicate with one another. When a potentially dangerous situation arises, the driver receives an orange alert and the vehicle slows down to 50% of its maximum speed. If the alert turns red, the vehicle switches to crawl speed.

The data collected in the digital twin offers valuable insights. Customers can optimise traffic flows, define priority routes or set up speed zones in which vehicles automatically reduce their speed.

With RoboTrack, we extend the same technology to autonomous vehicles such as AMRs and AGVs, enabling them to communicate seamlessly with the rest of the fleet.
This prevents collisions between manned forklifts and robots and improves human–machine collaboration.

Recently, a fast-growing AMR manufacturer approached us after noticing an increase in collisions between forklifts and robots at customer sites. Our RTLS system provided the answer: vehicles can communicate directly with each other without tags or fixed infrastructure. Which is crucial for hybrid warehouses.

Can the EPS also locate goods, in addition to vehicles and people?

Karien: Yes, that’s our PalletTrack system. We connect the black box and cameras with height and load sensors, enabling us to track pallets precisely throughout the warehouse. When an inbound pallet is scanned, a virtual handshake is created between the pallet and the forklift. Based on the position, height and load sensor data, we know exactly where in the racks each pallet was placed or retrieved.

This accurate tracking prevents errors. For instance, a pallet being delivered to the wrong loading bay. The load sensors also reveal how many forklifts are driving loaded or empty, helping to optimise workflows and boost efficiency.

Finally, our technology enables scanless warehousing. Because every pick and drop can be validated automatically through our dashboard, there’s no need to scan the pallet at each movement. This results in a clear efficiency gain.

In logistics, many companies value efficiency over safety. Do you see the same trend?

Karien: Not really. For most of our customers, safety remains the top priority, although interest in PalletTrack has grown significantly recently. That said, safety also contributes to efficiency. SafeTrack, for instance, delivers a ROI of less than 24 months. Drivers operate more cautiously, reducing damage incidents by up to 70%.

Much depends on the sector in which the company operates. In the pharmaceutical industry, there is more interest in SafeTrack because it concerns the products are high-value and damage can be very costly. In sectors with lower-value goods, the efficiency gains are often the main driver.

Which markets and countries does Essensium serve?

Sander: Our main sectors are pharmaceuticals, logistics and industry. Especially the industrial environment can be a bit more challenging due to its complexity, but our extensive experience means managing a fleet of 100 vehicles or more is no problem.

In addition to Belgium, Essensium has a physical presence in the Netherlands, France and the UK, with installations across Europe. The US is next on our agenda. Many of our clients are multinationals and they expect us to support them wherever they operate.

Why did Essensium Innovation become a Partner of LogiVille?

Two years ago we participated in the Theme Tour on safety and ergonomics and it was a success. That positive match inspired us to take the next step. Essensium is an innovative technology company, which aligns perfectly with LogiVille’s vision. Now we can not only showcase SafeTrack, but also demonstrate our other cutting-edge solutions. We want to show that we are ‘future-proof’, as RobotTrack proves, for example.

We also want to highlight that, with our strong presence in multiple countries and our large in-house R&D team, we’re capable of handling major international projects. Networking is another key aspect. We’re brand-independent and already collaborate with all major forklift manufacturers in Belgium, but through LogiVille we can expand partnerships with suppliers of other products and services. That could even lead to co-creation opportunities, which is a nice side effect, even if that is not our primary goal.