storage order picking l
At a time of intense fiscal pressure for the supply chain, voice-directed working offers the chance to work smarter and become more competitive. Richard Adams EMEA VP of sales for Vocollect, a supplier of voice-directed technology for logistics, explains the benefits and flexibility that voice can bring.
Talking sense T
he current climate has left little margin for error in logistics. As a result, many in the industry are turning to voice-directed technology to bring about supply chain efficiencies and enable their warehouses and distribution centres to cope more easily with variable orders - and at shorter notice. In productivity terms, companies can work up to 20% faster with voice than with paper lists, while accuracy rates can be boosted by up to 99.9%.
Recession-proof technology When the financial spotlight turns on the warehouse, the challenge for distribution is to make staff as productive as possible and reduce costs whilst simultaneously improving – or at the very least maintaining – service levels to customers. Voice-directed working can also help reduce operating costs by increasing the accuracy of picked orders: even the most experienced pickers will find the error rate is reduced when compared with traditional manual methods such as printed pick lists.
One of the biggest advantages of voice technology is that it enables workers to operate ‘hands-free and eyes-free’ and focus entirely on the item they need to select. With voice-directed working, operatives avoid time- consuming and inefficient workflows that may otherwise see them travel to and from a central point for paper lists, finding location data, looking at a paper list or terminal for instructions, looking at an item on the racking space, putting down the list or terminal, looking back to the racking - and then often incorrectly picking an item from an adjoining space.
In this way, voice-directed workflow saves travel time, minimises the processing steps and eliminates written
52 ShD January 2012
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or keyed errors. Ultimately, orders can be picked faster and more efficiently with voice.
Voice-directed working also delivers similar benefits in administrative processes. As workers speak to the headset they wear, the speech is converted to data and the back-office warehouse management system is automatically updated. For example, one Vocollect voice customer, a major supplier of catering goods with 35 operatives in the warehouse, was spending 17 man hours each day putting data back into the system after shifts. With a voice-enabled system in place, the customer reported it had achieved an annual saving of approximately £50,000 in this area alone.
Let the good times roll… The advantages of increased productivity and higher accuracy also apply when the warehouse finds itself in a period of strong growth or increased demand, especially in terms of bringing in new contract staff to deal with seasonal peaks.
With Vocollect’s voice-directed technology, it takes no more than twenty-five minutes for new workers to programme or ‘train’ the system to understand their particular voice footprint for optimum two-way communication. The worker speaks all the relevant key words and the voice recogniser then stores an individual profile for that worker.
If the worker comes to work with a cold, the voice recogniser will still understand them. Even if the warehouse has lots of background noise the voice recogniser will adapt itself over time to become increasingly accurate. These advanced capabilities help most Vocollect customers achieve accuracy rates of 95% or higher. In addition, using voice technology that is fully integrated with the WMS ensures management have immediate, real-time visibility of warehouse operations, better enabling them to make key planning decisions faster. For example, when scheduling shifts to cope with increased demand, voice integrated with a WMS provides complete transparency of productivity down to the operator level, and in real time.
By giving the workforce the tools to be more productive and providing more accurate management information, voice can make best use of existing warehouse capacity. When orders increase it is often possible to defer expanding the premises – or even put off the decision to build a new facility altogether.
In every operation, experiencing both good times and tough times is hard to avoid. Yet, whatever the challenge, with greater flexibility and the ability to increase productivity and improve business processes, firms with voice technology are far better equipped to ride out the volatility of the market. ●
www.vocollect.co.uk
How does voice-directed technology work? Wearing a headset and microphone, each worker receives ‘spoken’ instructions from the organisation’s
warehouse management system. Data is delivered over a wireless network and converted into voice instructions by a small computer unit, typically worn on a belt and communicated to the worker via a headset. The operative then verbally confirms the completion of tasks back to the system. As the workers speak to the headset they wear, the speech is converted to data and the back-office warehouse management system is automatically updated.
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