Machine vision and 3D How logistics and warehousing are catching up with manufacturing

Machine vision and 3D technology have long been utilized in the manufacturing industry, but logistics and warehousing are now catching up with advanced solutions. Zebra Technologies' Tran Thi Bao Tran, Vietnam country manager, explains that machine vision cameras deal with items of varying shapes, sizes, and materials, coming in less structured ways compared to manufacturing environments.

Over the past three to five years, improvements in neural processing, 3D sensing, and AI algorithms have made these technologies more accessible, enabling their use in logistics. There are four main categories where these tools are applied: vision-guided robotics, inspection, measurement, and identification.

In vision-guided robotics, machine vision software guides robotic arms to pick and sort items more accurately, reducing error rates and increasing throughput. For example, a major industrial food manufacturer has seen up to 75% cost savings and eliminated the need for manual inspection and picking by using this integrated solution.

Inspection focuses on product integrity, damage detection, and order completeness. Hyperspectral imaging can identify leakage in boxes, which might not be detectable with normal greyscale cameras. Measurement involves dimensioning items to ensure they fit into various packages, loading areas, and vehicles.

Identification uses various methodologies such as barcodes, data matrices, color, OCR, patterns, and shapes. A global 3PL provider has achieved over 50% time savings in inbound storage operations using fixed industrial scanners. These technologies have reduced scanning and validation time for around 700,000 packages, allowing staff to focus on exception handling.

3D scanning, which was once reserved for structured manufacturing sectors, is now making waves in logistics and warehousing. Traditional structured light 3D scanners are being replaced by newer parallel structured light technology, which allows for real-time, high-resolution 3D scanning of moving objects. This technology can be used for robotic guidance, damage detection, advanced bin and conveyor belt picking, and digital twinning.

As global industries continue to advance with machine vision, AI-driven inspection, and 3D sensing, Vietnam's logistics and warehousing sector is also undergoing rapid digitalization, particularly due to the growing e-commerce market.