1 Application of AR and VR for supply chain: a macro perspective approach

Abstract

Post COVID-19, the attention of global manufacturers has suddenly shifted towards supply chain networks to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. This has necessitated redesigning and incorporating novel viewpoints into service and production processes. Manufacturing has undergone a new industrial shift with the introduction of Industry 4.0, which uses cutting-edge technologies to enhance all aspects of operations and the supply chain. Virtual reality (VR) permits customers to interrelate with and immerse themselves in a computer-generated situation, recreate the actual world, or create an unreal world. Augmented reality (AR) technology is any method that instantly inserts virtual objects, information, or elements into the real world. There are many ways that AR and VR can be used in the supply chain. AR applications could help companies increase the productivity and performance as regards their operations, such as planning of the facility, transportation, order management, maintenance activity, and last but not least, last-mile delivery. On the contrary, the application of VR could help organizations manage freight operations, layout planning of production units, warehousing, management of workforce, and managing deliveries of the last mile. The goal of this paper is to investigate the existing literature, available data, and concepts to provide future research directions to help academicians and managers systematically understand the various applications and growth of AR and VR, in managing the supply chain.

1 Introduction

The world has faced unfortunate encounters in global operations and supply chains since 2019, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the quick worldwide shift toward greater productivity and effectiveness across the supply chain network, processes for manufacturing and for providing services have had to be redesigned and approached in novel ways [1]. Manufacturing processes and cutting-edge technology, such as cyber-physical systems and widespread internet use, are included in Industry 4.0 [2]. To maintain a constant competitive advantage [3] and attain the maximum heights of achievement in terms of quality, delivery, cost, and flexibility, businesses must develop core capabilities [4]. Implementing I4.0 improves connectivity and interaction between people, machines, and systems [5, 6], strengthening the relationship between production and supply chains. To manage the pandemic, many preventative measures were implemented to deal with the crisis, including travel restrictions, physical seclusion, and social lockdowns [7]. However, the maturity of the supply chain and its integration with I4.0 technologies will determine how effective these preventative measures are. AR and VR are two important I4.0 technologies that can help supply chains develop and mature in the post-COVID-19 era.

An intermediary in which digital content is overlaid over the actual world and is interactive in real-time, as well as both spatially and temporally within the actual world, is AR [8].

Any system that instantaneously includes virtual objects, elements, or data into the actual world is mentioned to as AR [9].

Using virtual reality (VR) technology, users can interact with and immerse themselves in a computer-generated situation, a recreation of the actual, or an unreal world [10].

In order for users to feel the virtual world is realistic, VR aims to simulate them [11].

The way for AR was paved in 1966 with the invention of the first head-mounted display by Sutherland [12]. However, it took decades to investigate the practical applications of AR in business, thoroughly. By combining the actual world and virtual surroundings, AR technologies “improve a customer’s experience of an interface with the actual world” [13]. All activities that have the primary objective of enhancing human senses and abilities by overlapping virtual elements over a physical environment are included in AR. AR is speedily gaining traction and is considered a cutting-edge technology within the I4.0 manufacturing archetype [14, 15]; as a result of this, I4.0 is quickly adopting AR technology [14, 15, 16]. AR expertise offers comprehensive backing to industries in managing the complete product life cycle and conceptual planning, production, and maintenance activities.

AR systems, for instance, have been applied in the product design phase, in order to provide quicker and increased efficient design operation [17]. R&D groups can quickly influence, examine, and measure active models using sophisticated AR visualization. Using this competency, industries can streamline complex engineering project jobs and reduce the time and cost of constructing physical models. Furthermore, combining virtual and actual items in the same surroundings allows developers to give consumers a mechanism for creating, visualizing, and contextualizing objects [17]. Several studies have been done on applying AR technologies in manufacturing and service delivery. Participants range from manufacturers of machine tools and power plants to suppliers to the aerospace and automotive industries [18]. In this case, AR technologies, more specifically AR glasses, enable workers to envision the placement of individual components on the production line and exhibit production data in their area of vision, making the line prone to fewer disasters and offering enhanced excellence mechanism [19].

The information and capabilities of operators can also be greatly enhanced by using AR devices, because they can see the jobs being completed in their occupied environment. There are many fields in industry where AR and VR are being functional and implemented; prominent among them are pharmaceuticals and hospitals, R&D, military operations, gaming industry, and science & technology. These days, due to the advancements in AR and VR technologies, they have been prominently used in managing the operations in logistics, production, and supply chains [20]. VR applications, for example, could assist companies with various tasks, including planning factory layouts, last-mile deliveries, warehousing, human resource management [21], etc. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 supply chain experienced numerous disruptions due to travel restrictions. This article seeks to promote the existing awareness of AR and VR in the supply chain, while presenting a novel angle for future research.

This paper has been broadly structured and planned, with six sections. The first section delivers a summary of the introduction; the literature analysis and evaluation on AR and VR are introduced in the second section. The research method is captured in the third section. The fourth section contains the results and discussions that were reported. Finally, section five presents the discussions and conclusions based on the findings, and section six addresses and presents potential guidelines for upcoming research.

2 Literature review

2.1 Augmented reality

In recent decades, the development of cutting-edge tools, like AR, has frequently been viewed as an active step for boosting the effectiveness of many supply chain functions [22]. Numerous industries, including manufacturing, military operations, education, and health care, have used AR [23]. Although AR has a history dating back to 1960, it has only recently come to be regarded as a research field unto itself [24]. AR has made providing an interactive and immersive surrounding for the users possible, by producing computer-generated content in the real world [25]. Digital or computer-generated content is being superimposed over the customer outlook of the actual world to augment reality to work [24, 26]. A real-time operating system, blending virtual and real elements,...