Ideas for TRAILS in logistics warehouses
Record warehouse movement with location and video to rethink picking and operations
In Japan, the overtime cap for truck drivers that took effect in April 2024 has made shorter loading waits and faster picking more important than ever. Yet how workers move inside a warehouse is rarely recorded, so it's hard to know where to improve. A record of routes alone doesn't explain why something took time. For operators with many sites, installing beacons or similar equipment at every site is also a heavy burden.
Common challenges in warehouses:
- Equipment at every site: Beacons and other positioning equipment take time and money to install and tune, which makes rolling them out to every site difficult.
- Movement, and the reasons behind it, aren't visible: Who moved where during picking and transport isn't recorded. Nor is where people are searching or waiting, so there is little evidence to base improvements on.
- Know-how that is hard to pass on: Efficient routes and preparation depend on individual experience, which makes them hard to teach to new staff.
- Managing high-value goods: When you store high-value goods for customers, you want a reliable record of who handled which item and when, and a way to trace what happened when stock doesn't match.
Ideas for TRAILS × the Astra spatial AI camera
TRAILS needs no installed equipment. Pair it with Astra, a wearable spatial AI camera, and you can record each worker's location and first-person video at the same time. Every site can be recorded the same way, and you keep not just where people went but also what they saw there. Here are some ways it could be used.
Use workers' routes to find long walks and crowded aisles. The video from those moments shows what was really happening, such as searching for items, hard-to-read labels or blocked aisles. This could be used to rethink the shelf layout, picking order and labeling.
From the movement and video of workers around the shipping docks, find moments when sorting or loading preparation falls behind. It can be a starting point for finding why trucks wait and rethinking how work is scheduled.
Record how experienced workers move and work, with location and first-person video. Because the record shows which shelves they visit in what order and what they check along the way, it could be used to create training materials based on real work.
In storage areas for high-value goods, record who handled which item, when and where, with location and video. It helps trace what happened when stock doesn't match. Having a record also discourages misconduct, and gives workers evidence that they did their work correctly.
* The Astra spatial AI camera is currently in development. This page shows possible uses, and the actual product specifications may differ.