C HAPTER 9
5. Conclusion and Future Directions
Fig.ure6:IKEA Place AR Tool (Medium, 2019)
Fig.ure7:Coca Cola’s AR Tool (Medium, 2019)
4.3 IKEA Case
IKEA Place is one of the first major commercial AR applications developed with Apple’s ARKit. This tool allows users to visualize how a virtual IKEA item would look in any space (Figure 6). Thousands of IKEA items can be placed in living rooms, bedrooms, and offices by using a customer mobile device’s camera. This system allows a customer to visualize how an item would look like in a place without measuring the room space or purchasing and assembling the item. So, customers save time and money before their purchase decision. At the same time, this system helps IKEA to cut down on returns and increase customer satisfaction by allowing users to test and preview a major purchase via AR technology (Medium 2019).
Fig. 6: IKEA Place AR Tool (Medium 2019).
4.4 Coca Cola Case
The Coca Cola Company uses AR technology (designed by AR developer Augment) to solve a typical problem for the company’s business to business (B2B) sales department. AR system visualizes how beverage coolers would look and fit in retail stores without any need to physically placing them (Figure 7). Indeed, the store managers can see how a cooler would look like on an aisle instead of just checking various types of coolers on catalogs or websites. Coca Cola’s AR
Fig. 7: Coca Cola’s AR Tool (Medium 2019).
system allows potential B2B customers to browse different shapes, sizes, and designs of coolers, hence it assists them to make better product decisions (Medium 2019).
144 Logistics 4.0: Digital Transformation of Supply Chain Management
advanced robotics, cloud technology, additive manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, VR, and AR constitute the framework of Industry 4.0.
Smart factory is an important outcome of the Industry 4.0 concept and it works by employing the main drivers of Industry 4.0, such as CPS, IoT, AI, cloud computing, big data, and advanced autonomous robotics systems. The components of a smart factory are visible, connected and autonomous, thus these systems are able to run without much human intervention, make decentralized decisions, and learn, adapt, and respond in real-time. Smart factories present highly flexible and adaptive manufacturing solutions and they are considered as the future of manufacturing systems.
AR is the integration of computer-generated data into the real-world environment. AR devices capture the images from the real world and merge these graphics with the computer-generated information. Hence, AR applications enhance a person’s perception and awareness of the surroundings by superimposing useful information on the screen of a device.
AR has a wide range of applications in supply chains, especially in warehousing and transportation operations. AR devices allow users to interact with real-time information related to their immediate environment. For instance, a worker holding an AR device can navigate, locate, and perform barcode reading and item data synchronization in a large warehouse.
Considering the share of the warehousing cost in total logistics cost, AR technology and its extensive use in warehouses can help businesses to minimize their cost dramatically. In addition, AR applications can optimize the efficiency of transportation operations by providing smart solutions for delivery and loading tasks. AR devices can assist loading/
unloading workers and truck drivers by calculating precise truck routing, ensuring safety guidelines, and identifying unseen risks and problems of inbound and outbound parcel delivery.
AR has great potential to make supply chain operations more efficient, responsive, and cost-conscious. As the AR technology develops, it will bestow new and effective ways of presenting information, hence supply chains will become more robust and sustainable.
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