How Honeywell and Stereolabs are Simplifying Supply Chains

Honeywell is collaborating with Stereolabs to develop a new mobile solution which can accurately measure the size and weight of items in distribution centres. 

The innovative project is aimed at increasing delivery speed and lower shipping costs.

The collaboration will involve the seamless blending of technologies in a bid to enable intelligent warehouse operations.

A logistics solution

Honeywell is a manufacturing company, with operations across aerospace, building automation, industrial automation and energy and sustainability solutions.

The company manufactures technologies to address safety, security and energy, with a global team of approximately 110,000 employees. 

Honeywell helps organisations around the world solve complex logistics challenges, providing solutions and innovations through its range of business segments. 

Now, it is partnering with Stereolabs, a software development company with a focus on 3D computer vision and AI perception. Stereolabs' products enable real-time depth sensing, motion tracking and 3D mapping, which helps the smooth-running of robotics, automation and smart infrastructure around the world.

The partnership will combine Stereolabs' stereoscopic cameras with Honeywell's SwiftDecoder software. Stereolabs cameras use a vision-based AI perception system which measures the size, volume and weight of products.

This will pair with Honeywell software which captures barcode data alongside other written data.

Using one mobile solution, logistics operators will now be able to plan truck loading much more accurately, with a deeper understanding of how many trucks are needed to transport the goods.

David Barker, President of Honeywell Productivity Solutions and Services, says: “Products stored in a warehouse and transported on a truck contain a wealth of data, from weight and size to the item’s name, expiration date and warning label on the box.

“Finding a way to capture this data in one place and use it effectively to streamline processes presents a challenge for many operations.

"By combining the strengths of Honeywell and Stereolabs, we can help the supply chain operate more efficiently and address major pain points.”

Opportunities for growth

Currently, many warehouses and logistics providers operate manually, using tape measures and scales to measure dimensions and weight of products. 

Alternative solutions include fixed systems or scan tunnels which measures the packages on the conveyor belt. This takes more time and can produce inaccuracies, whereas the new technology is faster, automatically uploading the information. 

The mobile solution is significantly more efficient, creating better daily operations across distribution centres.

Combining the Stereolabs ZED stereoscopic camera and calculator with the SwiftDecoder software will capture total weight and dimension information. Once the data is automatically uploaded to the central database, the business can view the dimensions of the transported goods in real time.

As a result, the business can organise the most efficient and cost-effective transportation, as well as any other logistics factors which are considered. 

“Integrating Honeywell’s SwiftDecoder software together with our ZED cameras and advanced perception stack was a smooth and efficient process,” says Olivier Braun, Chief Product Officer at Stereolabs.

“We are now able to deliver a rich, all-in-one data capture solution—combining product dimensions, barcode data, optical character recognition (OCR) information and high-quality imagery—that is seamlessly ready for integration into any warehouse management system.”

The collaboration will significantly increase efficiency throughout warehouses, as manual measuring can take longer and lead to errors. 

With this new mobile solution, packages can be weighed and measured whilst the employees focus on other parts of the logistics process, such as booking the necessary transport. 

It's a simple yet innovative solution to a needlessly long-winded process, saving time and money in the long-term.