Listen Up in the Warehouse Voice Technology Offers Numerous Benefits
By Holly Stapleton
In today’s highly competitive environment, warehouse and operations managers are constantly under pressure to reduce labor costs, increase accuracy and improve productivity, all while reducing overall operational costs. Many companies are investing in new technologies in order to automate warehouse processes that have traditionally been the most labor intensive and prone to human error. One technology that has become popular in recent years is the use of voice-directed picking systems to automate the order selection process.
Voice technology uses speech recognition and speech synthesis to allow warehouse operators to communicate with the company’s warehouse management system. Warehouse operators wear small, lightweight, wireless computers with headsets and microphones to receive instructions by voice and verbally confirm their actions back to the system. The wearable computer, or voice terminal, communicates with the warehouse management software via a radio frequency local area network.
The benefits of utilizing voice-directed picking are numerous:
Improved order accuracy – the single most significant benefit realized from implementing voice-directed picking technology. In order picking, errors occur frequently due to the wrong item being picked or the wrong number of items being picked. Incorrectly picked orders contribute significantly to the cost of returns.
The reduction in picking errors resulting from the use of voice-directed picking systems can vary greatly. Many facilities that maintain order accuracy rates of 99.5% report that their order accuracy increased to as high as 99.9% after voice-directed picking implementation. To illustrate the significance, consider the following three-step example:
Company XYZ typically ships 50 million cases per year and maintains an impressive 99.5% order accuracy. This translates to 250,000 cases picked in error per year
As a result of implementing a voice-directed picking system, Company XYZ increases order accuracy to 99.8%, translating to 100,000 cases picked in error per year
Although an increase in order accuracy of .3% doesn’t sound very significant, if each case has a value of $20, the reduction in errors from 250,000 cases to 100,000 cases translates to a savings of $3 million per year
Increased productivity – order picking productivity typically improves by 10 to 20% due to the fact that the hands-free and eyes-free features of the system increase the speed of picking and eliminate trips back to the assignment desk. Administrative productivity is also improved because tasks such as pick list and label distribution, keying in picking confirmations and picking amendments are eliminated.
As an indication of the magnitude of the possible savings, a distribution center that has a total labor cost of $1 million can save as much as $200,000 per year in productivity with voice-directed picking technology.
It’s green – eliminating paper picking tickets generates a significant cost savings in paper and supplies. Considering that paper accounts for more than half of all trash, anything companies can do to reduce their dependency on paper helps decrease the amount of trash going into landfills and lessens energy use and pollution associated with manufacturing, transporting and recycling new paper products.
Condensed training time – employee training time can often be cut in half as voice-directed tasks are easier to learn than understanding pick tickets and paper-intensive tasks.
Reduced labor costs – it’s no secret that warehousing and distribution environments have high rates of employee turnover. Companies that have implemented voice-directed picking technology, however, report greater employee satisfaction and reduced employee turnover. Employees like the modern technology and appreciate the flexibility and control the system offers them over their assignments and the speed at which they work, leading to greater job satisfaction.
Rapid ROI – implementing voice-directed picking technology has a rate of return that is well above industry standards for other picking technologies. Typical ROI achieved is less than one year – usually in the range of six to nine months.
Improved safety – voice-directed picking’s hands-free and eyes-free features lead to fewer accidents in the warehouse. Operators have to constantly communicate with the system, which keeps them focused on their assignments rather than on conversations and other distractions.
In summary, for companies that need to improve order accuracy, increase productivity and decrease labor costs – ultimately serving their customers better – voice-directed technology is proving itself to be an attractive option.
Author: Holly Stapleton is the marketing manager of Network Global Logistics, a leading provider of integrated logistics services and supply chain solutions. The company operates a strategic network of high volume distribution centers throughout North America, including a contract logistics facility in Indianapolis. Learn more at www.nglog.com
Listen Up in the Warehouse