SmartFlex
Development of an Augmented Reality and Wearables Technology to Support the Smart and Flexible Warehouse Management of the Future
Completed Project - Time Period: 2018-2021
Partners: ORLOG - Optimum - ICCS - OTE
Abstract
Supply Chain Management of contemporary global enterprise networks has become lately a core pillar of development, economic growth and production added value at a national, European and global level. This has further become evident from the results of the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process, which point out the importance of Supply Chain Management for not only policy makers but for all the stakeholders of the economic environment. As a result, academia, industry and national and European authorities have intensified their efforts in research and innovation in the Supply Chain Management and Logistics area. In essence these efforts follow the successful example of the digital revolution and the road-map of Industry 4.0 and Factories of the Future (FoF) initiatives as these have introduced in FP7 and are now continued within the context of HORIZON 2020. The proposed research falls directly within this context by focusing in one of the most
important and cost-consuming areas of Supply Chain Management, which is material handling and logistics within modern warehouses and distribution centers. Specifically the proposed project aims to create an integrated work ecosystem within large distribution centers with the support of an innovative solution utilizing the functionalities of Augmented Reality technologies in the form of a wearable product fully integrated with existing Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). The objective, cost and productivity aside, is to enhance workers environment by making his/hers daily work faster, easier, cleaner, more effective and ultimately more smart and flexible. In doing so, SMARTFLEX focuses its research efforts in the support of the order picking process, which industry and academia testimonials document it as the processes with the bigger potential of added value improvements being very expensive, prone to costly errors and of high labor intensity. The SMARTFLEX solution aims to upgrade the work experience within the warehouse, decrease the learning curve time for new employees and enhance the flexibility and smartness of the logistics process within the warehouse and for the benefit of the whole supply chain network. The proposed research will provide warehouse managers with an innovative software and wearable product solution based on Augmented Reality technology. Furthermore, SMARTFLEX product will be seamlessly integrated with existing warehouse management systems in a WMS close to agnostic fashion in order to effectively support the order picking process for contemporary distribution centers and enhance the solution’s scalability in different industrial environments.
PI: Prof. Stavros Ponis
important and cost-consuming areas of Supply Chain Management, which is material handling and logistics within modern warehouses and distribution centers. Specifically the proposed project aims to create an integrated work ecosystem within large distribution centers with the support of an innovative solution utilizing the functionalities of Augmented Reality technologies in the form of a wearable product fully integrated with existing Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). The objective, cost and productivity aside, is to enhance workers environment by making his/hers daily work faster, easier, cleaner, more effective and ultimately more smart and flexible. In doing so, SMARTFLEX focuses its research efforts in the support of the order picking process, which industry and academia testimonials document it as the processes with the bigger potential of added value improvements being very expensive, prone to costly errors and of high labor intensity. The SMARTFLEX solution aims to upgrade the work experience within the warehouse, decrease the learning curve time for new employees and enhance the flexibility and smartness of the logistics process within the warehouse and for the benefit of the whole supply chain network. The proposed research will provide warehouse managers with an innovative software and wearable product solution based on Augmented Reality technology. Furthermore, SMARTFLEX product will be seamlessly integrated with existing warehouse management systems in a WMS close to agnostic fashion in order to effectively support the order picking process for contemporary distribution centers and enhance the solution’s scalability in different industrial environments.
PI: Prof. Stavros Ponis
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