The Frontier of Supply Chain Operations Lies in Augmented Reality (AR)!

In the once-simplistic world of distribution centers (DCs), green bar reports and forklifts ruled the day. However, times have changed, and automation has become a cornerstone of the modern DC. One such game-changer is Augmented Reality (AR), which is transforming and disrupting the supply chain industry by enhancing efficiency, accuracy, training, and visibility across logistics and warehousing operations.

In perishable DCs, the complexities are manifold, making each facility seem like five mini-DCs in one building shell. The fork lift fleet is divided into two groups: manned vehicles and auto-guided vehicles. To optimize productivity, every cycle run is dynamically calculated in real time, and the system is updated in the background without operator intervention, thanks to AR solutions.

AR guides workers through picking and packing tasks, providing real-time visual directions to item locations, improving picking accuracy and reducing fulfillment time. Warehouse staff are guided along the most efficient routes within large or complex facilities, boosting speed and reducing errors in navigation. AR can replace traditional handheld scanners by visually identifying and scanning inventory, streamlining the inventory tracking process.

New employees undergo immersive, hands-free AR-based training that simulates real warehouse tasks, allowing faster, safer onboarding without disrupting live operations. AR helps visualize how goods will fit into containers and trucks, optimizing space utilization and minimizing loading errors. Logistics teams can adapt routes dynamically, visualize cargo status in real time, and respond more quickly to disruptions in the supply chain.

AR also brings increased safety and maintenance efficiency, assisting with equipment maintenance and repair by guiding technicians through complex tasks, reducing errors and downtime. The global AR market in logistics and warehousing is growing rapidly, with a compound annual growth rate expected at 14.3% between 2025 and 2031.

In the perishable DC, product demand has shifted more toward different yogurt varieties and coffee creamers. The AR ability to capture peripheral errors was tied with the inventory system, and specific elements were attributed into value-added and non-value-added categories. AR is expected to bring wildly disruptive changes to the supply chain.

The future of the supply chain is expected to be reshaped by intelligent glasses powered by AR. Fork lifts still have a notable presence in perishable DCs, but reporting is reactive versus proactive. Automatic storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), goods-to-person shuttle systems, and other innovations are present in perishable DCs.

In the ambient DC, the business goal was to move cases in and out as efficiently as possible. The author started their industrial engineering career in a hot, ambient distribution center (DC). Fifteen years later, the author found themselves back in the distribution space, this time in a perishable distribution center network. Analytics and simulation are used to pressure test material handling solutions in perishable DCs.

Moving cases through the breakpack channel, set up for fulfilling lower demand products, was found to be the costliest due to its manual handling. However, the author's team built algorithms to create calculations to redesign direct labor out of the system and built a backend process to remove non-value-added time associated with set-up and wayfinding using AR.

It was discovered that moving cases through the breakpack channel was more costly than moving cases, and moving cases was more costly than moving pallets. Lubricants used in forklifts operating in -20 degrees are different than those used in 55-degree chambers.

Business challenges in perishable DCs include capacity challenges, job force availability, system flexibility, system scalability, commitments to reduce replenishment cycle time, increase asset utilization, reduce inventory levels at each retail unit, and increase assortment.

In conclusion, AR, coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI), is set to create a step change improvement in the supply chain, bringing clarity, control, and hands-on interactivity to every step of the logistics ecosystem. This integration of AR disrupts traditional supply chain practices by replacing manual, error-prone tasks with interactive, intelligent digital overlays that enhance decision-making and operational precision throughout the logistics ecosystem.

The implementation of AR solutions in perishable distribution centers (DCs) optimizes productivity by dynamically calculating cycle runs and guiding workers through tasks, which is a significant advancement in the distribution-and-cloud-computing sector.
AR technology is expected to disrupt the traditional supply chain practices, as it replaces manual, error-prone tasks with interactive, intelligent digital overlays that enhance accuracy and efficiency, especially in the automation of warehousing operations.