Augmented Reality applications for Warehouse Logistics

Abstract

The costs for material flow and logistics generate a major part of the prime costs for a product. Thereby warehouse and distribution logistics take an outstanding position in inner- and outer operational supply chain. Under the circumstances that on average 2/3rd of the operational costs for logistics are accounted for warehouse management tasks, it is clear evidently that these costs have a decisive influence on the competitive position of a company. As part of a cooperative project of the “Logistics & Assembly Systems” of Siemens AG, one of the leading companies in logistics and production automation, and the department for Computer Integrated Manufacturing of the University of Paderborn, the worlds first Augmented Reality based picking system was developed in the labs at Heinz Nixdorf Institute Paderborn. The prototype that emanated from the development process has been approved in extensive tests under laboratory conditions. The evaluation of the test results verified the potential to improve the work flow and picking efficiency with an Augmented Reality based picking system.