The Effect of Pick-by-Light-Systems on Situation Awareness in Order Picking Activities

Pick-by-light systems are widespread in the industry, especially in order picking. Literature shows their potential to reduce picking-time and –errors as well as mental load. Using pick-by-light is also relevant for training processes since employees may tend to rely on these systems without consciously comprehending and processing the environment. Situation Awareness is a term referring to this fact and is analyzed in the study described in this article. The study took place in the learning factory “Center for industrial Production” at TU Darmstadt with N=31 subjects, who completed two order picking tasks: One of them assisted by pick-by-light and the other by pick-by-paper. SAGAT-based Situation Awareness showed no significant differences, whereas heart rate showed higher strain when using pick-by-light. NASA TLX showed a higher subjective strain using pick-by-paper.