DHL Supply Chain rolls out ‘smart glasses’ at more warehouses

May 22, 2019: DHL Supply Chain has established its Vision Picking solution in more warehouses around the globe after its successful augmented reality pilots.

A statement claimed that the international trials had shown an average improvement of productivity by 15 percent and higher accuracy rates, adding that the solution had also halved onboarding and training times.

Elaborating on what the 'smart glasses' can do, the statement said it can provide visual displays of order picking instructions along with information on where items are located and where they need to be placed on a cart. This leaves the pickers' hands free of paper instructions, allowing them to work more efficiently and comfortably.

DHL had implemented the pilot programme across the US, Mainland Europe and the UK throughout different industries such as technology, retail and consumer, which proved to be successful. Further proofs of concept running in Asia and Australia with other partners show similar promising benefits, claimed the company.

"As a result of the improved productivity and accuracy in our pilot sites in the US, we expect the Vision Picking solution to continue to be rolled out," says Sally Miller, CIO, DHL Supply Chain North America. "DHL Supply Chain is now also adding new functionality to this augmented reality solution that will further enhance the value to our customers." Other areas to implement the augmented and virtual reality programme include trainings, maintenance, dimension calculations and more.

DHL Supply Chain employees are enthusiastic about the new technology and pleased with benefits received due to hands-free picking.