Order Picking Supported by Mobile Computing

In this dissertation I present the results of a newly developed mobile computing solution with reasonable investment costs that supports the picking process in a high density picking environment with multiple orders. The developed solution is presented on a head-mounted display (HMD). It has a graphical user interface that displays graphical representations of the shelves to pick from. Results show that in a high density picking environment, this solution is faster than paper-pick lists and pick-by-voice and virtually eliminates errors. Using color helps to identify the correct row and some evidence suggests that symbols and partial images as well as context feedback can further improve the error rate. Testing on an assembly line of an automobile manufacturer where normally pick-by-light was used showed some difficulty in user acceptance for HMDs. A tablet-PC mounted on the pick cart was well accepted in this study and may provide similar benefits and performance.