Bremen, February 05th 2015 – From a standing start, DHL and Ricoh achieved a 25 percent efficiency increase with the Ubimax smart glass order picking solution “xPick”. The proven Pick-by-Vision application of Ubimax GmbH, European market leader for industrial wearable computing solutions, significantly speeded up the picking process and improved process ergonomics. By replacing pick lists and hand-held scanners, picking errors were avoided completely as well.
Together with Ricoh, DHL Supply Chain productively piloted the Ubimax Pick-by-Vision solution xPick in its Dutch logistics center in Bergen op Zoom. For three weeks, ten order pickers were equipped with xPick running on the smart glasses Google Glass and Vuzix M100. During this period, a total of 20,000 items for 9,000 orders have been picked. The absence of hand scanners and pick lists clearly had a positive impact on both, picking speed and error rate.
From a standing start, DHL and Ricoh achieved a 25 percent efficiency increase in order picking. Jan-Willem De Jong, Business Unit Director Technology at DHL Supply Chain, Benelux, explains the reasons for the success of the pilot project: „Vision picking enables hands free order picking and greatly increases productivity. The technology significantly supports our staff and brings exciting value to our customers.“
The advantages of the xPick solution were particularly evident for multi-orders consisting of several single orders being handled in parallel (multi order picking). Thanks to „hands-free“ order picking and the intuitive graphical user interface displayed in the field of view of the workers, the picking workflow was significantly accelerated and errors were completely avoided. Pick confirmations via voice-controlled barcode scanners utilizing the built-in camera of smart glasses contributed to both, performance increase as well as working ergonomics. The workers explicitly emphasized the high wearing comfort, the positive impact of hands free working and the simple usability of the xPick solution.
Ubimax’s managing director Jan Junker is very satisfied with the positive results of the project: „This high performance increase clearly shows the significant optimization potential which still exists in today’s warehouses despite state-of-the-art handheld scanners and which can be unlocked by implementing xPick with Smart Glasses.“ Based on the promising results, DHL is currently reviewing the further expansion of the xPick solution.
About Ubimax GmbH
Ubimax is a leading supplier of Wearable Computing solutions which are deployed by organizations, midsize companies as well as international enterprises spanning multiple industries. Its innovative solutions improve customers’ business process speed, quality, and flexibility beyond state-of-the-art by making use of Wearable Computing technology such as Google Glass or Vuzix M100.
Ubimax offers custom development services as well as standardized applications like “xPick” and “xMake” for order picking, manufacturing and quality assurance or “xCare” for health and elder care. As a full-service provider along the entire application value chain ranging from initial consulting to software implementation and subsequent maintenance and support, Ubimax acts as a one-stop-shop to its customers.
The Ubimax team consists of Wearable Computing pioneers with more than 10 years of experience. Its senior advisory board with leading subject matter experts (e.g. Prof. Thad E. Starner) helps to keep Ubimax clearly ahead of competition.
www.ubimax.de
About DHL – The logistics company for the world
DHL is the global market leader in the logistics and transportation industry and “The logistics company for the world”. DHL commits its expertise in international express, national and international parcel delivery, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation as well as contract and e-commerce related solutions along the entire supply chain. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and around 315,000 employees worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their shipping and supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by supporting environmental protection, disaster management and education.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL. The Group generated revenues of more than 55 billion euros in 2013.
www.dpdhl.com