Smart glasses speed up food warehouse operations

With perishable food products, speed is crucial in every part of the supply chain, but this is often hindered through slow and complicated warehouse operations. Wearable technology and intralogistics company Picavi has sped up this process using smart glasses in order picking, and Weerts Supply Chain has utilised their technology.

Belgian third-party logistics provider Weerts is using 15 pairs of glasses to pick orders for American food giant Mondelēz in its 22,000 m² warehouse near Liège.

For employees wearing the mobile WLAN-enabled smart glasses, an integrated display guides them through the work process by only displaying relevant information to them. They merely have to look at a barcode for it to be scanned and the process to be verified. The order status is then transmitted in real time to the warehouse management system.

For more complex scanning needs, such as difficult-to-reach areas like the foot of a pallet, Weerts is also using small ring scanners attached to the index finger. Both the smart glasses and ring scanner are connected via Bluetooth to ensure continuous communication.

Picavi’s order picking system provides users with visual guidance through the picking process, providing them with optimised routes for greater time savings. It also allows them to work hands-free. This helps maximise their productivity and minimise errors; compared to the previously used PDC handhelds, Weerts has achieved a time saving of 8–12% by using the smart glasses.

The pick by vision system was easily integrated in the work process at Weerts due to the simple connection to the existing warehouse management system JDA Red Prairie.

“The system’s scalability allowed us to deploy it flexibly and expand it to other processes,” explained Roger Kusters, director of the Weerts distribution centre.

Using the smart glasses allows a smooth material flow from goods receipt and picking, to dispatch and inventory. Further advantages of the smart glasses are that they are lightweight, always connected and are a convenient tool in intralogistics. The technology can be easily incorporated into existing IT systems, leading to employees at the Belgian warehouse to praise its clear user interface.

“Our warehouse employees like the way the information is presented in their upper field of vision. It’s practical and guides them to where they need to be,” Kusters stated.

For Weerts, the new system — used since the end of 2016 — has improved usability for employees and ensured that Mondelēz products such as Milka chocolate bars were delivered on time.