Special technology report Voice and WMS
Stephan Vennemann, business development manager WMS
Adams maintains that the quality of the voice recognition is critical. “It must work with minimal errors or repeats in noisy environments,” he said. “And it must take into account the language and accent of the speaker; i.e., train the system to recognise the worker,
not train the worker to speak to the system.” Another key differentiator for Voice-based systems, according to Adams, is their capability to easily integrate with the ERP/WMS. Binder’s view is that there are two main differentiators. First, there are untrained/trained systems, available from Zetes. Secondly there is the thin client approach which aids the Voice dialogues and flow control being completed by the WMS systems. “This creates a very flexible software architecture,” he said.
Masoji highlights the benefits of ruggedised industrial computers designed specifically to operate reliably in harsh environmental conditions. He also makes the point that WLAN/mobile infrastructures can extend the accessibility of these solutions to areas where non-industrialised units can prove less proficient. As an example, he explains that a PC with a fanless design and IP protection rating can be used in a wider range of temperatures – hot and cold – and are suitable for moving between indoor and outdoor conditions.
Harper considers that some Voice manufacturers offer ‘open’ Voice systems where the manufacturer sells the customer the Voice hardware, the software and give them some training on how to create their own Voice ‘task’. This, he says, can be appealing to some companies where the IT department wants to develop all the systems they deploy. However he points out that Dematic doesn’t work this way as it doesn’t see how it can support a system that it has not developed itself. “But we always give the IT department a big input into how the final solution should
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work and make them as independent from us as is possible,” he added.
SaaS factor Has the Software as a Service (SaaS) model had any notable level of impact on the Voice or WMS software solutions market so far? Harper considers that the SaaS model has not had any great impact on the WMS software solutions market as yet, although he believes many WMS companies are testing the water and saying they can provide it if required. “I think many potential customers are still wary of the ‘all eggs in one basket’ scenario,” he said, “but the increased reliability, increasing quality of the connections required and fast response times are beginning to allay fears. Many users already have remote hosts for their WMS systems so are part of the way there. I believe, though, that if a company decides to go for the SaaS model it should do it across the board and not just for the WMS. There are usually lots of interfaces involved, which may make the decision difficult initially.” Harper added that he believes SaaS will initially be taken up by small businesses and operations that need temporary additional services at peak times such as Christmas.
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Gerrard considers that, to date, the SaaS model and Cloud computing have not made much of an impact on the Voice market. However, he adds that this does not mean that they never will. “Part of the issue here is the high degree of customisation that typically occurs with Voice solutions,” he said. “One challenge with SaaS offerings is to balance the need for the vendor to satisfy all customers using a common product offering with the need for customers to have a solution tailored to their
www.logisticsit.com
requirements. Again, configurability will be the key here, and we can expect to see some movement – although the Voice market will follow the WMS market in this area.”
The most important reasons for integration of software in logistics processes are faster and more accurate delivery to customers in combination with possibilities for cost reduction because of better planning of the entire process.” – Stephan Vennemann, Vanderlande.
Adams considers that for small- to medium- sized warehouse operations that may have previously considered an on-premise WMS too costly or too complex to deploy, SaaS is emerging as a new option offered by many of the same leading WMS. “SaaS delivers the financial and operational flexibility that smaller warehouse operations need,” he said. “Vocollect integrates with a wide range of WMS/ERP systems that provide SaaS with
both pre-configured connectors for the leading and most widely used WMSs, and a range of integration methods to support connectivity of Vocollect Voice with the broadest range of WMSs/ERPs.”
Best of both worlds Clark believes the economic climate has not only forced all parties – vendors and buyers – to question how software is funded and deployed, but also the continued rise and growth of e-commerce businesses has
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