Feature Logistics


Giving voice to productivity F


Moving to voice-directed technology, from Vocollect Voice Technology has helped to increase capacity and enable faster warehouse performance at a growing UK-based domestic appliance and parts distributor


or millions of domestic appliance users, retailers and engineers, the web provides a fast and cost- effective means of buying replacement appliances and tracking down the precise replacement hose, door handle or other essential spare parts needed for repairs.


Behind the scenes, the logistics of serving thousands of orders each day from multiple retail and after-care sites takes considerable co-ordination and workforce capacity. With 40 years’ experience in the industry, Birmingham-based Connect Distribution Services understands the complex requirements of the domestic appliance market, as well as the chal- lenges and opportunities that e-com- merce brings. The family-owned business supplies retailers, manufac- turers, insurance companies and B2B firms with domestic appliance spares and accessories for white goods such as washing machines, freezers and tumble dryers, as well as electronics accessories to the consumer market. Connect Distribution holds around 100,000 product types on site and has access to around 1.5 million lines. The firm is based at a six-acre national dis- tribution centre (NDC) which processes over 180,000 orders on aver- age per month, for customers through- out the UK, Europe and further afield.


Supply and demand


In recent years, Connect Distribution has enjoyed considerable growth, particularly in the e-commerce field. It supports over 200 websites, including a partnership with Dixons for its electrical spares and accessories site; partmaster.co.uk. It also operates major industry sites such as buyspares.co.uk and 4ourhouse.co.uk, which supplies OEM parts direct to consumers, as well as its own branded products such as Wellco and Electruepart. To accommodate its growing logisti- cal requirements, the company opened up a series of ground floor rooms in its warehouse, developed new packing areas and technology, built a new 2,000 location bulk pallet store and recruited additional staff. As part of this devel- opment of its site, Connect Distribution added voice technology to the opera- tion with the aim of improving labour


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management, increasing productivity and improving accuracy in Connect Distribution’s demanding and fast- paced pick process.


The voice picking solution was developed and installed by VoiteQ; a dedicated total solution provider of Vocollect Voice technology. The com- pany opted for VoiteQ’s middleware – VoiceMan to link Vocollect devices – Talkman T5 computers and SR20 headsets – to its custom built ware- house management system (WMS) and provide improved labour management reporting to the business.


The pick-to-tote logistics system, used by the company, services up to 14 orders within a single tote. The amount varies according to whether it is a trade, consumer, single or multi- line order. When a tote passes a bar- code reader, it is automatically diverted to the relevant picking zone. This in turn updates the WMS and instructs the picking to take place via a voice command.


In a typical conveyor-based opera- tion, the tote is pushed out into each zone, the number is read into the voice system and the pick instruction is then generated. The innovative system used at Connect Distribution has been fur- ther configured to operate by priority, automatically directing the picker to the most urgent pick and enabling the company to fulfill a high volume of next-day deliveries.


Talking sense


Familiar with the proven productivity and accuracy gains associated with voice, Connect Distribution’s director of NDC Operations, Iain Priestley, first


Vocollect T: 01628 552900 vocollect.co.uk Enter 352


Iain Priestley, Director of NDC Operations for Connect


Distribution Connect


Distribution has realised significant productivity gains since implementing voice into its pick-to-tote system


commissioned VoiteQ to run a trial of the VoiceMan and Vocollect Voice technology in September 2009. “To start with, voice was rolled out in a trial section of the NDC,” he says. “Initially, our pickers were a little concerned that they wouldn’t be able to adapt to the verbal instructions. Yet, within just a few days, everyone had increased the speed setting they receive from the Talkman’s voice com- mands. After two weeks they were working at the fastest setting.” After a successful trial, Connect Distribution took voice to a full imple- mentation in its conveyor picking zones. Impressed by the technology’s success rates, the firm replaced the existing label-based picking method in 2010, during one of its busiest periods and in the summer of 2012 extended voice into its putaway operation. As part of this process and to get staff adopting the new method of working, it selected voice trainers who motivated and trained staff on the new system.


Fast and accurate By selecting the Vocollect Voice tech- nology, Connect Distribution is using trained voice-recognition software which means each user’s unique tone and dialect is recognised for complete accuracy. It takes as little as 20 min- utes for a new user to create an indi- vidual template on the system, which is a small price to pay compared with untrained voice-recognition that can prove cumbersome and inaccurate causing further delays in the order ful- filment process.


Once up and running, pickers at Connect Distribution required minimal support and quickly increased the pro- ductivity of the operation. Priestley believes the new voice system has played a substantial role in the rapid growth of the business, owing to its sim- plicity and speed. “Our workers are more productive than ever before and are focused on the task at hand. They come into work, pick up their Talkman unit and away they go. New users also find it easy to use, they are up and run- ning to full capacity in no time at all.” “In year one, we achieved annual productivity gains of between 25 and 40 per cent, which exceeded our initial prediction of 20 per cent. Now in year two, the combination of voice technol- ogy and better overall performance management has meant our productiv- ity has increased still more. We are now seeing an 85 per cent improve- ment over our old manual system.”


MARCH/APRIL 2013 Materials Handling & Logistics


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