DHL shows how smart glasses can help improve warehouse operations

Augmented reality (AR) is increasingly finding its way into the enterprise. For instance, DHL Supply Chain completed its AR pilots earlier this year in a bid to improve efficiency and productivity in its warehouses, Keya Chaturvedi, Trend Research Manager at DHL, told delegates at the recent Tech Summit 2017 in Singapore.

Since the wearable provided visual displays of order picking instructions along with information on where the items are located and where they need to be placed on a cart, pickers no longer needed to rely on paper instructions. This enabled higher accuracy rates, and productivity to improve by an average of 15 percent, said Chaturvedi.

In addition, the pickers were pleased with how the smart glasses has made the now hands-free picking process more comfortable and efficient , she added.

Driven by the positive outcome, DHL has expanded the use of smart glasses to more warehouses around the world.

Chaturvedi also anticipates that smart glasses will be of greater use in other areas of her business such as being used to scan and identify delivery vans. With smart glasses, it will be easier to record critical information, such as cargo temperature and security threats on the road which may affect delivery conditions, she explained.