The well-known pump and fittings manufacturer KSB is relying on the pick-by-vision solution from Picavi at its new European central warehouse. The Picavi smart glasses are enabling the company to speed up its picking operations for the approx. 14,000 items in stock. This is the result of a three-month test phase at the KSB business site in Grünstadt. The Picavi solution is now being used in regular operations and is connected to the warehouse management system.
Grünstadt/Herzogenrath – The core element of the Picavi solution is the link between the smart glasses and special software that is coupled to KSB’s “viadat” warehouse management system. The employees obtain all the data about the current order on their glasses, depending on their particular situation, and it is available within their line of vision. The handheld devices used in the past are no longer necessary. The employees have all the relevant data available at any time. In addition to the job details, the distribution of items in the warehouse is shown (how many items are located in which area of the warehouse) and they obtain information about urgent orders. As a result, incoming emergency shipments become a direct part of the normal activities in the warehouse without the warehouse manager having to adopt any other measures. The employees have both hands free. All the major activities are managed via the Picavi smart glasses – from incoming stocks to picking and transport and even combining orders.
“The smart glasses are like a navigation system for the warehouse. Our software processes the data from the warehouse management system in graphical terms and makes it available in a comprehensible manner via the glasses. This is particularly suitable for products consisting of a number of small parts, as is often the case in spare parts logistics. The automatic vertical lifts, which are frequently encountered at spare parts warehouses and contain 1,000 different items, can also be integrated within the application. Time-consuming searches are a thing of the past with our smart glasses. In the end, they accelerate all the procedures,” says Carsten Funke, Director of Sales at Picavi, who has also been responsible for introducing the KSB project.
Wolfgang Mock, the manager of the KSB spare parts warehouse, can only confirm this. “Thanks to the introduction of the glasses at our warehouse in Grünstadt, we’ve experienced a significant increase in efficiency in our picking work. Our employees have readily welcomed the new technology too. As a result, we’ll soon be ordering further glasses in addition to the seven pairs that are already in use.”
Picavi and the “viadat” producer, viastore Software GmbH, have been linked by a cooperation arrangement since 2017. The integration of the smart glasses in spare parts logistics at KSB is the first project covered by this partnership. Carsten Funke underlines the fact that the open system software solution from Picavi provides the opportunity for connecting the smart glasses to any existing warehouse management system. “When integrating the Picavi solution into the individual company, we always involve the employees right from the development stage. That’s the only way of creating a solution that resolves the practical problems and is accepted in everyday operations.“
