A very cool innovation concept with the potential to increase productivity & efficiency within the warehouse, supply chain and more!
SAP recently teamed up with Vuzix, a leading supplier of video eyewear products to produce a concept demonstration to illustrate the art of the possible for augmented reality in a warehouse environment. The concept was launched at SAP's SAPPHIRE NOW conference in Orlando this week.
In order to be truly effective warehouse operatives need to be provided with the right information, at the right time and right place. Traditionally this means using a wireless handheld scanning device (or in some cases still pen and paper...) which provides the operative with a list of activities that need to be performed e.g. pick this box from aisle 10, rack location A-1, then deliver to staging area.
The mere act of holding and operating a wireless device can often lead to lost time in the warehouse; you have to keep picking it up, putting it down or back into it's holster, picking it back up looking at it, pressing buttons etc. etc. But what if you could eliminate this physical burden? From a productivity and efficiency perspective every second counts! There are already various alternative technologies such as voice & audio picking out there today - whereby voice commands are both given provided to and received from the operative, but I truly believe that the concept developed here by SAP and Vuzix really take this to the next level.
ghoutam.banerjee from our Value Engineering was instrumental in developing this concept, (Sponsored by paul.boris, Global Vice President, Enterprise Operations Management from SAP) and I was immediately blown away by this innovative use of Augmented Reality!! The operative is provided with a "heads-up" display & audio delivering the relevant information they need via the Smart glasses, allowing them to be truly handsfree and get on with the job in hand, combine this with real-time in-context information and alerts and it provides game changing capability! I look forward to seeing how this develops and what our customers think. Make sure you take a look at the video to see the concept in action! Watch this space!!
The concept video from SAP and Vuzix - really brings the idea to life!
"Enterprise information is visible right before the worker’s eyes while allowing the worker to stay focused on their work and environment. With data coming in real-time from machine-to-machine sensors and SAP systems, workers can respond quickly with unmatched situation awareness such as knowing what and where to pick inventory, receiving alerts and instruction to handle maintenance and getting safety messages to avoid accidents from a blind spot. These are just a few use cases where warehouse management, assembly, field installation, testing, machine tooling and repair operations represent a dazzling opportunity for the implementation of AR tools."
Click here to view the Vuzix Press Release & Click here to learn more about SAP for Transportation & Logistics on SAP.com
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