DC Velocity - August 2019

44 DC VELOCITY AUGUST 2019 www.dcvelocity.com applications

A look at how DCs are using equipment and services to rev up their operations

LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS SPECIAList Arvato Supply Chain Solutions is helping its customers get orders out the door even faster these days thanks to new pick-by-vision technology implemented in a joint project at its Gütersloh, Germany, logistics center. The project called for incorporating Picavi’s pick-by-vision technology into Arvato’s fulfillment operations for its longtime customer Germany-based Sennheiser, a manufacturer of high-fi-delity products such as headphones, microphones, and telephone accessories. Arvato is responsible for worldwide logistics for the Sennheiser Group’s products at the Arvato distribution center in Gütersloh, including picking, packing, and shipping services. The pick-by-vision system has yielded double-digit productivity improvements in the picking process while increasing order accuracy and streamlining workers’ tasks, company leaders say.

The end result? A collaborative process that the partners say will continue to enhance efficiency in their global fulfillment operations.

SMART GLASSES, RING SCANNERS, AND MORE

Arvato and Sennheiser started their pick-by-vision project
in late 2016 and saw immediate results, which led them
to upgrade and enhance the system as Picavi’s technology
evolved. Most recently, the project included the addition
of a new generation of smart glasses, software updates, and
graphically optimized user interfaces that make it even eas-
ier for Arvato’s pickers to access order information in real
time and scan bar codes via the glasses—all while keeping
their hands free for picking tasks. The most recent technol-
ogy upgrade also included supplemental “ring scanners,”
which workers wear on their finger and are connected to
the smart glasses via Bluetooth wireless technology. The
ring scanners allow workers to scan items that are far away,
difficult to access, or stored in poorly lit locations, the
company explains, helping Arvato’s pickers accelerate the
bar-code reading process.

“In practice, we identified that the order picking—in particular, the scanning process of articles—required the highest level of accuracy from our employees, which was sometimes difficult to maintain,” Ken Taylor, head of innovation for Arvato’s Hightech & Entertainment business unit, said in a statement.