Case Study: 38% Efficiency Boost! How A Pair of Glasses Became The Key To The Warehouse Efficiency Revolution?

A smartglass tailored for "warehouse workers" is disrupting the entire logistics industry.

Based on data measured across various warehouses nationwide for fast-moving consumer goods, 3C products, cosmetics, and daily necessities, the QD01 smartglass has increased the average hourly picking volume by 38% and reduced single-item picking time by 18%.

In the recent 618 e-commerce shopping festival, the logistics industry experienced another peak of orders, which not only led to record-breaking order growth but also posed significant challenges to the warehouse sector with its "tidal" nature of demand. Amid these frequent tests, the warehouse industry still faces many unsolved problems. Some tech companies have started taking action to break through the traditional bottlenecks.

01

"Labor-Intensive and Highly Mobile Warehousing Enteringa Critical Transformation Period"

Over the past two years, intelligent and digital transformations have been profoundly reshaping every link of the logistics industry, but the automation of warehousing, a critical part of the product flow, has encountered bottlenecks.

The reasons are multifaceted. First, the warehousing industry is a labor-intensive sector with a tidal nature. During off-peak periods, the demand for labor is low, but during peak times, order volumes surge, dramatically increasing the demand for pickers, salespeople, forklift drivers, statisticians, loaders, and unloaders. It is challenging to quickly recruit a large number of workers. Additionally, besides the core staff, there are many part-time workers with high mobility, leading to frequent entry and exit, which increases the management costs and complexity for enterprises.

Meanwhile, warehousing companies require a high level of coordination across different departments and positions. If the management is irrational, or the division of labor is not clear, issues like warehouse shortages, delayed inbound and outbound logistics, and messy accounting may occur, impacting the overall order and business volume.

In recent years, multiple government agencies have introduced policies encouraging the intelligent and automated development of the warehousing sector to drive cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the logistics industry. In 2022, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the "Medium and Long-term Development Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in the Transportation Sector (2021-2035)", clearly stating the need to promote the intelligent construction of the warehousing industry.

02

"Rookies" Become "Skilled Workers" in Seconds

Smart Glasses Become the Key to Solving the Problem

It is worth mentioning that in the exploration of intelligent warehousing, we have already seen a "black technology" device with excellent test results.

From the industry average perspective, the current common methods in the warehousing industry are to recruit people two months in advance and train them one month in advance. The training method is one-on-one, with the master guiding the apprentice, and the training cycle usually requires more than 15 days. This means that the time cost of training a new person to get started is as high as two and a half months, but many new employees even only work for one month, and the investment and output are severely disproportionate.

On the other hand, the work equipment is also relatively traditional. The current main picking equipment is PDA, which requires occupying one hand to operate. It is not convenient enough for picking, moving, and sorting goods, and the PDA can only scan one code at a time, lacking voice control and smart functions, which greatly limits the work efficiency of warehouse personnel.

According to the introduction, the QD01 smart glasses can quickly transform warehouse workers from novices to skilled workers.

As shown in the figure, a leading supply chain company is testing a brand-new glasses-shaped picking device. It not only innovatively realizes functions such as freeing both hands, instant scanning, and voice interaction, but also breaks through the traditional operating methods in various links such as receiving, picking, and packaging, achieving a full-chain technological efficiency revolution.

This pair of glasses subverts the previous one-on-one training model, greatly reducing training costs, and allowing new employees to achieve accurate picking without professional training, effectively dealing with the peak season. This smart glasses also supports real-time indoor positioning and navigation, so even "newbies" who come to the warehouse for the first time can quickly familiarize themselves with the environment and find the goods to complete the task.

Compared with the traditional warehousing personnel training cycle, the start-up cycle using smart glasses is shortened by about 80%, while the average hourly picking volume is increased by 38%, and the single-item picking time is shortened by 18%. According to Singularity, by improving individual efficiency and reducing the demand for manpower during peak periods and batches, the equipment is expected to recoup the cost within half a year after deployment.

03

Equip warehouse staff with "add-ons"

How can smart glasses improve efficiency?

However, how can a small smart glass become a key device for improving efficiency in the warehousing industry?

It is reported that this smart glass supports full-color AR display with dual eyes, with a transmittance rate of over 95%, displaying high-definition content without blocking the line of sight. It is an integrated device with independent computing power. The biggest difference from traditional warehouse operations is that when workers wear this QD01 smart glasses, it's like they have a pair of smart eyes and a big brain.

The glasses can voice-broadcast the products and quantities that need to be picked from the nearby storage locations, and can also view all storage location information at any time, helping pickers optimize their route. Through smart route maps and voice prompts, they can quickly locate the items.

In the picking process, workers wearing the QD01 smart glasses do not need to use a barcode gun to find the code. Once they find the goods, the glasses automatically complete the scanning - just look and scan, simple and efficient. Without the need to place the PDA anywhere, they can use both hands to pick large or multiple items. With the voice interaction function, workers do not need to put down the goods to operate the device - a single voice command can complete the task, freeing their hands and significantly improving efficiency. All information is displayed through AR on the glasses, without obstructing the field of view. Pickers can walk and check the information without looking down, improving efficiency while also being able to effectively observe the passing vehicles to ensure personal safety.

When picking multiple items, this QD01 smart glasses can calculate the number of boxes and pieces required, ensuring an efficient and accurate picking process and reducing the occurrence of miscounting.

During receiving, unlike the PDA that can only scan one code at a time, the QD01 smart glasses can identify multiple codes simultaneously. As long as the barcodes are facing outward during loading, the glasses only need to scan each pallet four times to complete the full inventory check of all the goods on that pallet, and can quickly upload the product appearance to the system for use in subsequent processes.

The glasses support real-time indoor positioning and navigation, and can display product images. Pickers not only can accurately locate goods by referencing the pictures, but can also shorten the time to memorize product and storage locations when transferring or supporting other areas, reducing training costs. When facing peak manpower demands, enterprises can freely deploy personnel without worrying about long training periods and low efficiency.

In addition, as an independent intelligent device, the QD01 smart glasses not only are compatible with various warehouse management systems, but can also be integrated with a variety of smart warehouse equipment through protocols like Bluetooth and WiFi. It can interact with AMR vehicles to provide functions like picking reminders, product information push, AMR smart following, and single-person multi-order mixed picking, reducing personnel's non-productive movement and improving the efficiency of AMR vehicles. It can also serve as an information display screen for automated equipment, providing real-time monitoring of the operation progress.

It is understood that the founder of Qidian Linqin is the first chief scientist and the first chief architect of Huawei mobile phones, and is also one of the core creators of the Huawei P and Mate flagship models. The team members come from leading technology companies like Huawei and DJI, and have pioneering successful experiences in hardware, software, and algorithms.

04  Conclusion

With the continuous development of the e-commerce industry, the growth trends of fresh food, cold chain, and pharmaceuticals are obvious. Under the general trend of industrial digitalization, the demand for cost reduction and efficiency improvement in China's warehousing industry is becoming increasingly urgent.

The functional characteristics of smart glasses can be deeply integrated with the warehouse scenario, such as the QD01 smart glasses introduced in the article. They can not only improve the labor efficiency ratio, but also become the terminal hub for intelligent warehouse transformation, serving as a key equipment driving the revolution of warehouse logistics efficiency, and helping the Chinese warehousing industry accelerate its transition to the era of intelligence.