How Augmented Reality Can Help Streamline Your Warehouse

Augmented reality, or AR, is a very exciting (and very useful) emerging technology.??

AR technology overlays digital images on the real-world environment?and lets users look through a camera or an AR headset to see both real and digital worlds simultaneously.?

Augmented reality tech has lots of applications in warehouses and can potentially solve common warehouse management problems. Let’s take a look.

Common problems in warehouse logistics

Before getting into the benefits of creating an augmented reality warehouse, let's look at some common problems facing warehouse logistics that AR can help solve.?

Lack of efficiency?

As your business grows and your inventory expands, new aisles, shelves, and boxes are added throughout your warehouse. This expansion tends to happen organically rather than strategically.?

And this results in disorganised and inefficient inventory.?

Time wasted searching for products

When a warehouse is laid out inefficiently, it becomes very difficult for staff to find what they're looking for. Items don't have a designated spot and aren’t placed in a way that makes them easy to find. Without the necessary structure, employees can spend several minutes locating ordered items, adding significant time to each order.?

Poor inventory management

In many ways, successful inventory management is the backbone of a smooth warehouse operation. If the right amount of inventory is stocked, then the inventory can run at a reasonable pace.?

But today, warehouse managers often need more inventory oversight. Numbers are sometimes inaccurate, making it difficult to know when to reorder items. This then leads to overages or shortages at critical points in time.?

How an augmented reality warehouse can help streamline your operations

Now that we've looked at the challenges of warehouse logistics, it's time to explore the solutions that an augmented reality warehouse can offer.?

Below are some of the key ways that using AR in a warehouse setting can change the way you work for the better.?

Better warehouse planning

Management can use AR headsets and cameras to see what shelves, products, and materials will look like when placed in reality.?

Rather than taking a manual approach with AR, you can actually see the layout and get instant feedback on it.?

Improving your inventory management?

Currently, most floor workers get stock information by scanning product barcodes and checking the information with an app.?

With AR, workers can see inventory information as products move past them without the need to scan them. What’s more, they can get instant insights, like a trail mapping where products are, real-time stock level data, and more.?

Simplifying order picking

Onto order picking. One of the most important yet inefficient aspects of warehouse logistics.?

AR can help you overhaul the process by showing product data in real-time as workers move through a warehouse.?

All it takes is a quick look around, and workers will see where stock is located, how much stock is left, and what orders have come in. This substantially reduces the amount of time a worker spends picking each individual order.?

Making warehouse navigation easier

The final benefit of an augmented reality warehouse? Easier warehouse navigation.?

Currently, most warehouses give workers an aisle, shelf, and/or bin number to help them locate products. For new workers, this can be daunting and inefficient.?

With augmented reality, however, workers can see where items are located thanks to highlights from AR headsets. The headset could also display a pathway on the ground, showing the worker where to go, making it much easier and faster to traverse the warehouse floor.?

The augmented reality warehouse will soon be the new norm

Every few years, a new technology arises with the power to completely transform our workplace. The augmented reality warehouse is one of those technologies.?

AR can help increase efficiency, allow for better warehouse planning and provide real-time assistance to workers on the warehouse floor.?

Looking for more tools to assist in your inventory management? Reach out to the Workhorse team here on LinkedIn or on our website to find out how we can help.?