KION GROUP AG, the Supply Chain Solutions Company, is working with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) to optimize supply chains using NVIDIA’s advanced AI and simulation technologies.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the three companies showcased how clients can both define ideal set-ups for new warehouses and continuously enhance existing facilities with Mega, an NVIDIA Omniverse blueprint for large-scale industrial digital twins. This includes a digital twin powered by physical AI—AI models that embody principles and qualities of the physical world—to improve the performance of intelligent warehouses that operate with automated forklifts, smart cameras and the latest automation and robotics solutions.
“At KION, we leverage AI-driven solutions as an integral part of our strategy to optimize our customers’ supply chains and increase their productivity,” said Rob Smith, CEO of KION GROUP AG. “With NVIDIA’s AI leadership and Accenture’s expertise in digital technologies, we are reinventing warehouse automation. Bringing these strong partners together, we are creating a vision for future warehouses that are part of a smart agile system, evolve with the world around them, and can handle nearly any supply chain challenge. This collaboration underscores our commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries of industrial automation to usher in a new era of supply chain efficiency.”
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“Modernizing supply chains to make them more resilient and agile, with real-time flexibility, is the next digital frontier,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “This collaboration with our long-term client KION and partner NVIDIA will break exciting new ground in not only reinventing the warehouse, but also in raising their performance standards with technology, data and AI, helping our clients operate autonomous, safe supply chains that better serve their customers and consumers, enhance productivity and efficiency and create new value.”
Recent Wellesley Information Services research shows a continuing focus on mitigating the rising complexities and risks within supply chains, with 53% of companies noting that increasing complexities and risks is the top driver of supply chain transformation projects. In the recent research report, Building Resilient and Agile Supply Chains via Data, Analytics and Automation, companies also recognized the significance of AI/ML in supply chain operations, with 43% of respondents highlighting its increasing prominence on the corporate agenda. External pressures also influence the need to enhance data, analytics, and automation capabilities. Evolving customer expectations and demand (37%) and the pressure to run more sustainable supply chains (36%) indicate a growing societal and environmental consciousness among supply chain leaders.
“Future warehouses will function like massive autonomous robots, orchestrating fleets of robots within them,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “By integrating Omniverse and Mega into their solutions, KION and Accenture can dramatically accelerate the development of industrial AI and autonomy for the world’s distribution and logistics ecosystem.”
Today’s warehouses and fulfillment centers combine workers, autonomous vehicles, and fully automated systems. Managing these complex environments requires a delicate balance of precision and adaptability—a challenge compounded by fluctuating demand and shifting inventory needs.
Using NVIDIA Omniverse and Mega, KION will be able to provide digital twins of warehouses that allows facility operators to design the most efficient and safe warehouse configuration without interrupting operations for testing. This includes optimizing the number of robots, workers, and automation equipment. The digital twin provides a testing ground for all aspects of warehouse operations, including facility layouts, the behavior of robot fleets, and the optimal number of workers and intelligent vehicles.
The digital twin doesn’t stop at simulating and testing configurations. It also trains the warehouse robots to handle changing conditions such as demand, inventory fluctuation and layout changes in the best possible way. Integrated with KION’s warehouse management software, the digital twin assigns tasks like moving goods from buffer zones to storage locations to virtual robots. Powered by advanced AI, the virtual robots plan, execute, and refine these tasks in a continuous loop, simulating and ultimately optimizing real-world operations with infinite scenarios. For the CES showcase, Accenture developed an interactive application that tracks how digital robot fleet and facility planning and testing enhances warehouse key performance indicators, such as throughput, task completion time, safety incidents and error rates.
As a next step, the partners are working to integrate the digital twin with a fine-tuned vision language model to capture real-time insights from warehouses, reducing the risk of bottlenecks, accidents and other unforeseen events, pairing cameras, robots and NVIDIA NIM, a set of services for deployment of foundation models to edge devices in the warehouse.
In essence, the warehouse of the future will create an environment where both human workers and machines can collaborate seamlessly and safely. It predicts, visualizes and adopts to potential issues and generates data-driven insights for operators. This ultimately helps clients design warehouses that are not only more efficient but also more resilient.
What this means for ERP Insiders
Build bridges to your ERP system. Integrating KION Group solutions into leading ERP systems like SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics requires a strategic approach to ensure seamless workflows and maximize efficiency. Start by aligning KION’s material handling and supply chain automation solutions with the ERP’s existing architecture to enable real-time data synchronization. Leverage APIs and middleware platforms to connect KION’s systems with ERP modules like inventory, warehouse management, and production planning. Conduct a thorough analysis of data requirements to ensure compatibility and standardization across platforms. Focus on end-to-end process automation by integrating KION’s robotics, IoT-enabled devices, and automated storage systems with ERP capabilities for demand forecasting and supply chain visibility.
Glean tangible learnings from NVIDIA Omniverse customers. NVIDIA Omniverse has been instrumental in transforming operations across various industries through its simulation and collaboration capabilities. One notable customer case study is BMW Group. BMW utilizes NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise to create digital twins of its factories, enabling real-time simulation and optimization of production processes. This integration enhances construction and management workflows, facilitating efficient production planning and improved collaboration across global teams. Another customer is global architecture firm Woods Bagot, which employs NVIDIA Omniverse to advance architectural simulations and real-time collaboration. By leveraging Omniverse’s open platform and NVIDIA RTX GPU technology, the firm enhances design workflows, enabling seamless integration of various software tools and improved visualization capabilities. And a third customer is urban planning and design firm Houseal Lavigne, which uses NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise to elevate urban design and planning. The platform allows for the integration of multiple design tools, facilitating real-time collaboration and visualization, which enhances decision-making and project outcomes.
Not Accenture’s first rodeo in warehouse modernization. Accenture has collaborated with various clients to modernize warehouse operations through comprehensive integration with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. One notable example is Zuellig Pharma. In partnership with Singtel, Accenture developed a “5G Warehouse” proof of concept for Zuellig Pharma, a leading healthcare services provider in Asia. This initiative introduced 5G-enabled technologies such as augmented reality (AR) vision picking and drone inventory management to enhance warehouse efficiency. The integration with Zuellig Pharma’s ERP system facilitated real-time data synchronization, resulting in a 30% improvement in picking productivity and 100% pick accuracy. Another good example is global paints and coatings company, AkzoNobel, which Accenture assisted in transforming its operations by consolidating 43 disparate ERP systems into a unified platform. This ERP-driven business transformation streamlined processes across eight regions and 30 countries, enhancing efficiency and visibility throughout the supply chain, including warehouse operations. These collaborations demonstrate Accenture’s commitment to leveraging advanced technologies and ERP integrations to optimize warehouse operations, resulting in increased productivity and streamlined processes.
