Jungheinrich takes a stake in Navflex and develops an autonomous solution for truck loading and unloading

Jungheinrich AG is taking a stake in Navflex Inc., a technology company specializing in Physical AI and the automation of truck loading and unloading. The investment strengthens the partnership between the two companies, with the goal of bringing an autonomous solution for one of the last non-automated core processes in intralogistics to market. Development is clearly focused on the requirements of the European and North American markets.

Navflex, a technology company established in Germany and the United States, focuses on automating truck loading and unloading – one of the most technically demanding use cases in intralogistics. Different trailer geometries, changing load carriers, and confined space conditions place high demands on technology, safety, and reliability. At the same time, demand for automation at the loading dock is particularly high, as labor-intensive processes meet a shortage of skilled workers and increasing pressure for efficiency.

“Loading and unloading trucks is a key bottleneck in the material flow for many of our customers,” says Dr. Tobias Harzer, Chief Automation Officer of Jungheinrich AG. “Together with Navflex, we are developing a solution that specifically addresses this process and reliably automates it. In addition to robustness, compactness, and maneuverability at the loading dock, we place particular emphasis on safety – especially in environments where humans and machines operate side by side.”

As part of the collaboration, Jungheinrich combines its expertise in developing industrial trucks and autonomous mobile robots, its broad industry know-how, as well as its systems integration and service capabilities with Navflex’s software and robotics expertise. The joint solution is based on an industrialized vehicle platform from Jungheinrich that is being consistently further developed for automated operation at the loading dock. The result is an autonomous mobile solution tailored to the requirements of variable dock environments, which can be integrated into existing logistics processes without additional infrastructure.

Navflex contributes specialized software for autonomous perception, navigation, safety, and process logic in the truck environment. “We deliberately chose to tackle a problem that was long considered hardly automatable,” says Chuck Stovall, CEO of Navflex. “To enter the European market, we need a partner that can deliver industrial execution, scaling, and global service. This is exactly where Navflex and Jungheinrich complement each other. In automation and AI, our partnership is truly 1 plus 1 equals 3.”

Both partners are working closely to integrate hardware and software into a robust end-to-end solution that meets the requirements of day-to-day operations. The joint solution is currently undergoing extensive field tests with major customers under real operating conditions.

By taking a stake in Navflex, Jungheinrich underscores its ambition to further advance end-to-end automated material flows and to unlock one of the remaining interfaces at the loading dock that has so far been difficult to automate.