Recently, Hans van Essen shared his vision with Het Financieele Dagblad (FD). The full interview was published on April 15 in the special AI supplement. Did you miss the physical newspaper? No worries, below you can read the entire article about the future of AI in the logistics sector.
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In logistics and the food chain, the focus is quickly shifting from isolated optimizations to coherence. Companies that have relied on email, Excel, and specialized software for years are increasingly getting stuck due to their own fragmentation. It is precisely in supply chains, where timing, accuracy, and margins converge, that it becomes clear how much time is lost to manual work and duplication of effort. The promise of artificial intelligence only gains weight when it is linked to an integrated business platform.
According to founder Hans van Essen of Kilurion, a technology company that helps organizations integrate and optimize their processes, the initial benefits of AI do not lie in futuristic applications, but in removing daily friction. This primarily involves predicting and processing information that is available in various forms more intelligently. Think of emails with orders, spreadsheets from carriers, and paper packing slips. This creates room for efficiency gains.
Van Essen: “Logistics is an important part of the supply chain and is therefore inextricably linked to accurately predicting what is happening in the market. How much inventory should I maintain to deliver on time without costs spiraling out of control? AI is going to play an important role in that.”
The profit is, according to him, concrete. Companies that register shipments daily with multiple carriers spend a lot of time coordinating loading meters, cooling, rates, and arrival times. This work is often done manually, while AI can read, structure, and directly process a large part of that information flow into an ERP system. Van Essen estimates that such processes can be reduced by as much as 90% in some cases.
Reliability
In addition to speed, reliability plays a crucial role. Especially in the food sector, the supply chain is not only about availability but also about accurate product information. Kilurion develops applications that check labels for allergens, claims, and mandatory mentions. Kilurion's LabelAudit-AI is an example of this.
In a market where private label and white label are growing, the risk of errors increases. An incorrect label is not just an administrative mistake, but a legal and potentially safety issue. “The information that flows through the supply chain must be accurate and reliable. If something is missing or incorrectly stated on a jar of peanut butter, the producer is legally responsible for that. This control is still often done manually. AI can perform this faster and more consistently.”
According to Van Essen, the AI discussion quickly loses value if companies do not choose a clear starting point. Many organizations still begin with non-committal experiments, often without a clear business case. Then, an employee or intern is tasked with doing 'something with AI,' without it being clear what problem is being solved. The result is often a trial that looks interesting but has no place in daily practice.
"I want to see an overview of sales orders, purchase orders, support tickets, and invoices with one click."
Finally one platform
The ERP issue is therefore coming into focus. For years, a best-of-breed landscape was considered ideal: one package for finance, another solution for CRM, and yet a third system for inventory management. In theory, this would provide the best functionality. However, in practice, it often led to costly integrations, duplicate entries, and fragmented information. Van Essen therefore sees added value in a single integrated platform that brings together financial administration, CRM, sales, support, inventory, and logistics.
For that approach, Kilurion provides Odoo, an advanced open-source ERP platform that enables companies to consolidate their processes within a single environment. Odoo has approximately 15 million users worldwide and is considered a fully European product, which aligns with the government's desire to become less dependent on American technology.
The standard functionality is broad, while customization can be added everywhere it truly makes a difference. This also changes the equation around customization: what was once costly and maintenance-intensive is now faster and more accessible thanks to AI and modern development work. “You don’t want to keep the same data in a hundred places. When I click on a customer, I want to see sales orders, purchase orders, support tickets, and invoices all in one overview. Then you can actually manage your business in real-time based on data. Only then does AI become strategically relevant on the shop floor, and very cost-saving.”
Complex calculation
A concrete example is a packaging manufacturer that sells custom boxes online. Behind an apparently simple webshop, a complex calculation of material usage, machine deployment, margins, and production time is taking place in the background. Where previously a quote had to be requested first, a sales price is now generated in real-time. This shortens the time-to-market and makes planning in the supply chain more accurate.
In the coming years, Van Essen expects that AI and ERP will continue to converge. Not only to analyze patterns from the past but especially to respond more quickly to disruptions, ranging from raw material fluctuations to geopolitical tensions. Organizations that have a single integrated information system can gain insights sooner into the impact on cost price, inventory, and delivery reliability.
