Seeing everything so managers can act on anything: The IoT in DHL Supply Chain operations

DHL has created an IoT initiative for its supply chain warehouse operations. Javier Esplugas and Kevin Parent explain how DHL has gained unprecedented insightfrom the most comprehensive global view across all locations to a unique data feed from a single sensorto see, understand, and act on everything that occurs in its warehouses with immersive operational data visualization.

DHL has created an IoT initiative for its supply chain warehouse operations. Javier Esplugas and Kevin Parent explain how DHL has gained unprecedented insight—from the most comprehensive global view across all locations to a unique data feed from a single sensor—to see, understand, and act on everything that occurs in its warehouses with immersive operational data visualization. DHL has partnered with Conduce to provide a human interface to DHL’s IoT strategy. The Conduce platform enables leaders and teams to visualize and act on disparate data inputs across DHL’s European warehouse operations without any need to integrate the data originating from people, independent systems, sensors, and sources working across locations. By visualizing past and real-time operations, DHL has a comprehensive understanding of how their warehouses actually run and how they could run better. DHL Management and warehouse personnel alike now share a single, unified environment to see, share and collaborate across warehouse supply chain operations, unlock more accurate and timelier insights, and ultimately make better strategic, operational and tactical decisions. This platform has so far led to improved alignment of MHE (material handling equipment) to meet in-warehouse demand as operations shift day over day, identified how planners release WMS orders and tasking to reduce warehouse congestion and truck “turn time,” and identified risky driver behaviors through a review of MHE collisions to reduce warehouse incidents. These benefits have arisen from connecting just three disparate data sources into the Conduce platform. Even greater benefits are available as additional data sources are brought into the platform.