German technology company TeamViewer and SAP have joined forces to digitalise warehouse operations using augmented reality.

TeamViewer’s Frontline augmented reality (AR) technology is enhancing SAP’s EWM extended warehouse management offering with AR-based workflows, creating more resilient and agile supply chains.

TeamViewer, a provider of remote connectivity and workplace digitalisation, has integrated its Frontline enterprise AR platform with the SAP application. This lets users enhance their logistics processes and empower their workforce with AR-based vision picking that helps increase productivity and create more efficient processes across entire warehouse and logistics operations.

“The effects from the recent disruptions in the global supply chain have been felt by almost everyone,” said Stefan Krauss, senior vice president at SAP. “Companies who have adapted the quickest have deployed agile warehouse management applications like SAP EWM, enabling them to rapidly adjust to external shocks and respond to demand, supply and workforce challenges quickly. Now, with the integration of TeamViewer’s AR-based vision picking, together we can help our customers build more resilient supply chains that are also cost-effective to run.”

The integration of Frontline and EWM enables businesses to connect warehouse and logistics workers directly in real time with the critical data and information they need to perform their tasks. The AR-based workflows provide step-by-step instructions to workers on smart glasses and wearable devices that enable them to work hands-free, improving pick rates by an average of 10 to 15 per cent and dropping error rates close to zero. At the same time, data insights are passed back into the EWM application right at the point of work to enable continual process validation and optimisation that can drive significant cost savings.

“Our partnership with SAP is based on a set of common goals: innovation and disruption through cutting-edge technologies that support companies in their digital transformation,” said Alfredo Patron, executive vice president at TeamViewer. “Our vision picking solution significantly improves warehouse inbound and outbound processes, resulting in faster pick rates, better accuracy and ultimately higher customer satisfaction. Moreover, it reduces the training and onboarding time of workers in a high employee churn environment.”

This integration is the latest step of a partnership between TeamViewer and SAP and adds to the enhanced value already realised with integrations into SAP’s Field Service Management and Service & Asset Manager, both parts of its digital supply chain portfolio.

TeamViewer is free of charge for private use and has more than 625,000 subscribers, enabling companies of all sizes and from all industries to digitise their business-critical processes through seamless connectivity. Since the company’s foundation in 2005, its software has been installed on more than 2.5 billion devices around the world. The company is headquartered in Goppingen, Germany, and employs around 1500 people globally.