Thinking about Hololens 2 for Warehouse processes with SAP B1.

[erolbafto]

Hi,

I am working for a company in Germany. And I am thinking about modernizing our logistical processes and was wondering how realistic a Hololens 2 integration would be with SAP B1. As far as I understand, the only real solution currently would be to check with Microsoft partners who are officially programming special applications to integrate Hololens to ERP environments. However, I am not sure if this is even possible with SAP B1 or what the extent of implementing Mixed Reality could be.

We are still deciding whether we should keep our current SAP B1 Pick By Scan/Terminal process and only modernize our storage bins to automation, or we stick with our current storage setup and integrate Hololens 2 to digitize the processes and build assisted technologies like Augmented Reality around physical processes.

Are there any contacts / consultants at SAP we could approach within our location, since I have heard that SAP is actually working on Mixed Reality solutions?

Regards,

Erol.

[erolbafto]

Hi Johnan,

thanks for the reply and info. We are using B1 HANA. Would this be a bigger hurdle?

Regards,

Erol.

[Johan_H]

Hi Erol,

Do you run B1 on MS SQL or on HANA? If this Hololens system is from Microsoft, and you run B1 on MS SQL, it is likely that there is a way to connect the two. However, you will need to consult with the Hololens people and your SAP Partner.

Or you might be able to (have someone) build some sort of broker solution. I.e. Hololens <-> Broker <-> B1. What this broker could be, what it might look like, and how it would work, I cannot say, as I don't know anything about Hololens. In essence, it would mean that the broker takes data from B1, and gives it to Hololens, and vice versa.

Regards,

Johan

[Johan_H]

Hi erolbafto,

Considering that you aren't allowed to write directly to the database (be it MS SQL or HANA), you are going to have to look into a broker solution anyway. In other words, an integration will need to be built. "Would this be a bigger hurdle?" It actually doesn't matter. Either way, if Hololens really suits your way of working, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to do.

Any integration scenario is simply making two softwares talk to each other. That can be a one-way- or a two-way conversation, but the most important question is: how live does it need to be?

There are several ways a software can communicate, and the Hololens supplier will be able to tell you which one(s) Hololens uses. Similarly SAP Business One has several methods of communicating, each catering to different scenarios (i.e. how live does it need to be?). Determine your scenario, and your SAP Partner will be able to tell you what the best solution will be from B1's point of view.

Long story short, you will need to talk to the Hololens people to see if there happens to be a ready integration solution for B1, and otherwise you need to talk to them and your SAP Partner about how to realize your own integration solution.

Regards,

Johan