VR & AR: Future of optimized supply chain

To start off the discussion, one has to know what VR and AR stand for respectively. VR stands for Virtual Reality, most of you can connect the dots back to gaming, which is how most of it started but overtime with the developing technology VR is known to enhance a person’s experience by putting them in a place they’re not in, but virtually and letting them have the experience of it. VR creates a realistic three-dimensional image or environment that a human can perceive as real.

One can wonder how VR helps in optimizing the supply chain, the answer to that it VR doesn’t just help but it has started revolutionizing the way supply chains have been working. For better understanding let’s look at an easy example, there is tons of warehouses for a company, and managers for controlling and looking over the processes happening but sometimes there is a possibility for the manager to not be able to be there when it’s needed and this is where VR comes into play. In this scenario, VR will not only show the manager exactly what work is happening at the warehouse or any other kind of workplace as if he’s actually present there but will also give him an option to fix it without actually needing to be present there.

Abstract data can be turned into observable and interactive objects with the aid of virtual reality. They aid in the strategic decision-making of production managers and the need-based distribution of stock to various warehouses by logistics supervisors. Who doesn’t want to opt for a hassle free process? VR also comes into play during the deliveries, which as we know sometimes get misplaced or don’t arrive on time and the worst of all might get displaced. Using this technology during the delivery period or even the picking up of the packages from the warehouse, it can assist the delivery agent to do it efficiently by guiding them what routes to take to the delivery area, which package it is by the size and weight of the package. This technology not only makes the lives of the delivery agents peaceful but also the customers’.

A case study shared by Deloitte shows how VR has helped a large logistics organization train the relevant employees for working with a new piece of equipment. A VR app ensured that:

All employees took the training;

·??????They worked with a highly detailed interactive 3D model of the equipment;

·??????The management could trace the progress of each employee.

The VR training app not only offered better results compared to traditional instruction methods, but also helped the company cut travel and accommodation costs for employees working in different locations.

The next booming topic is AR which stands for Augmented Reality, this means that it projects digital information and content onto the real environment, making it appear as though you are alone in your own place, surrounded by it. By enabling you to interact with digital information the same way you interact with the outside world. Augmented reality (AR) creates new opportunities for your gadgets to be useful throughout your day. By merely directing your camera at something, you may search for it visually. By superimposing visually rich, engrossing content over your actual surroundings, it can provide answers exactly where you need them.

A natural follow-up question to this is how AR can help in the betterment or advancement of a supply chain. Starting off from the base, it can show how the packed product can look by augmenting it. AR helps in managing stocks, especially warehouses, production facilities and distribution companies by managing and counting stocks which leads to improvement in the accuracy, cost cutting and is even extremely time saving. These are just a few things that one can obtain through the use of AR in their supply chains.

Consider a scenario where barcode scanning is used to assist mobile order fulfilment via AR glasses or a headset. With a "pick-by-vision" strategy, a warehouse or stock-room employee can get a pick list, get to the right bin locations in the warehouse using the most effective route shown on the AR display, and scan each item on the list using the technology to confirm the picks before gathering all the items and getting them ready for dispatch. Doesn’t technology make our lives way easier with each day passing?

AR also drastically helps in decreasing the time consumed and reducing the capacity of errors drastically by lowering errors and speeding up order picking, augmented reality can help your company and employees. They may concentrate on other elements of their jobs and complete orders even faster with less time spent on training new pickers.

There is a risk of loss, theft, and product tampering when goods are in transit. Companies can track their goods from checkpoint to checkpoint till they reach their destination by placing AR tags on containers and packages. The use of the AR tag doesn’t have to be limited to the company but can extend to the customer as well, when a person orders something concerning to what it is made of, the scannable AR tags on the products can tell them the exact source of the composition

This is exactly how both of these, AR and VR respectively are captivating the market not only in supply chain management but in tons of other aspects in business. If the ball’s ?rolling with the same flow for the coming years, we can successfully say that the world will be absolutely different in a few decades from now.