Special technology report Voice and WMS
Frankly speaking
Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with a number of key spokespeople within the Voice-directed system and Warehouse Management space about a wide range of current talking points and possible future developments.
V
oice-directed systems have been in use in warehouses and distribution centres (DCs) since the late ’90s, but since then there have been a raft of further
developments and enhancements to the technology, although the basic benefits remain; including providing a paper-free method of managing a range of warehouse functions including goods receiving, put-away, picking, dispatch and replenishment. And by ensuring warehouse workers are able to operate hands and eyes free, Voice-directed systems can substantially improve levels of efficiency and accuracy. Reflecting on developments in the Voice-directed systems marketplace in recent times, John Harper, sales application manager at Dematic, comments that Voice has served its time as an emerging technology and is now accepted within the logistics industry as one of the most efficient and
John Harper, sales application manager.
accurate methods of manual order
fulfilment. He points out that Voice can now be used on an
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MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS
IT July 2011
ever widening range of host devices. “Some WMS companies ‘saw the light’ many years ago and embraced Voice from the start by incorporating a Voice module into their own WMSs,” said Harper. “This gave their customers the option of fully Voice directed warehousing
“ Bread and butter
On the whole, though, Harper adds that most WMS companies did not embrace Voice technology entirely, with just a few supplying an option for picking by Voice if the customer specifically asked for it. “This created a big market for middleware, which became the Voice technology resellers’ bread and butter over the last decade,” he remarked. Middleware, as the name suggests, provides some software functionality that fits between the host WMS and the Voice terminals. Harper comments that it is this method that has been
With this in mind, Harper observes that over the past year or two the main Voice technology manufacturers have worked towards making it much easier for WMS companies to integrate Voice into their warehouse management systems in the hope of addressing many of these smaller opportunities. “This should result in more Voice choices for the WMS user,” said Harper. “I wouldn’t expect this potential rise in Voice- directed WMS choice to make much difference to the market for Voice-directed
www.logisticsit.com …the cost of Voice is starting to
including putaway, picking, replenishment and counting – all by Voice, in real time and with the Voice terminals communicating directly with the WMS.”
come down, but the customer should always consider the ROI rather than the initial cost of the implementation; as the difference in hardware costs won’t increase the time to ROI by much.”
– John Harper, Dematic.
the most popular method of adopting Voice thus far. “It has enabled countless companies to use Voice-directed picking, even though their WMS does not support it,” he said, adding: “It has got to the stage now where nearly all the major businesses, especially in the retail industry, have already adopted Voice for their order fulfilment operations. To the Voice suppliers this
means that most of the major Voice opportunities – the ‘low hanging fruit’ – are gone, with just the small-to-medium opportunities remaining.”
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