Internship/Graduation: Improve productivity by means of Artificial Intelligence

Product development is under growing pressure to deliver faster, cheaper, and with higher quality, all while meeting stringent safety, cybersecurity, and sustainability expectations. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has matured into a practical, trustworthy co-worker that can amplify engineering productivity across the entire product lifecycle: from clarifying requirements and exploring design alternatives to accelerating code, test, verification, documentation, and knowledge discovery. This internship invites you to investigate and recommend how AI can measurably increase the productivity of our product development organization. You will map today’s value stream, identify high-impact AI use cases, evaluate available tools, and where feasible, prototype a solution to demonstrate tangible benefits (such as time saved, quality improved, or rework reduced).

Your outcome will be a prioritized set of recommendations and an adoption roadmap that balances impact, feasibility, and responsibility.

Department description

The department is responsible for research and development of advanced material handling systems used in automated warehouses and distribution centers. We operate in a multidisciplinary environment, combining mechanical, electrical, and software engineering to design, integrate, and validate mechatronic solutions that meet the highest standards of performance, safety, and reliability. Working in Agile teams, we focus on continuous improvement, innovation, and collaboration across the product lifecycle, from concept and design to testing and deployment. Our mission is to deliver efficient, scalable, and sustainable solutions that enable our customers to handle goods smarter and faster in a rapidly evolving logistics landscape.

Tasks/responsibilities

The objective of this internship is to explore, evaluate, and recommend practical ways to leverage Artificial Intelligence to boost productivity in our product development organization. The student will analyze current workflows, identify bottlenecks, and propose AI-driven solutions that align with our engineering processes, tool chains, and compliance requirements.

Guiding Research Questions:

• Where are the most significant productivity bottlenecks in our product development lifecycle, and which of these can AI realistically address?
• What AI tools, platforms, or features are most suitable for our environment, and how do they integrate with existing systems?
• What are the measurable benefits and potential risks of adopting AI in these areas, and what roadmap (including quick wins and long-term steps) should we follow for responsible implementation?

Your profile

• Affinity with Artificial Intelligence
• Mandatory enrolment to a Dutch Education System & resident of The Netherlands.

For more information, contact us by e-mail: internship@vanderlande.com.