50 DC VELOCITY AUGUST 2014 www.dcvelocity.com
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concern is how do they do e-commerce right and best
utilize their assets. It is their biggest fear, and yet it is their
biggest opportunity,” says Greg Cronin, executive vice
president at Intelligrated’s Knighted division, a provider of
voice systems.
Voice can help companies make the best use of their
assets by providing a common platform for nearly
every operation in the facility. While picking has
always been voice’s sweet spot, the technology
can also be applied in receiving, putaway,
replenishment, inventory management, shipping, and more.
“When you look at the entire process from
end to end, there are a lot of manual activi-
ties,” notes Voxware’s Phillips. “Anytime you
see a lot of manual tasks, voice can help.”
And if a particular technology works for
one channel, it is easy to see why companies
would want to apply it to other channels as well.
“If I am doing fulfillment of one channel, why can’t I take
advantage of the economies of scale and use it for other
channels too?” asks Bob Bova, CEO and president of voice
provider Vangard Voice.
The flexibility of voice enables users to move easily from
one DC task to another, while utilizing the same basic
equipment. Few other technologies boast that capability.
THE RIGHT PRODUCT, OR ELSE
Among the challenges retailers face when moving to omnichannel distribution is the need to step up their game
when it comes to order accuracy. If the wrong product is
delivered to a company store, it’s not such a big deal. The
inventory is still within the company’s system—records
can be updated, the inventory reallocated, and the correct
product delivered in the next shipment. But it’s not that
simple with direct-to-consumer orders.
“High 90s accuracy is not good enough with direct-to-con-
sumer,” notes Voxware’s Phillips. “Sending the wrong item
can be deadly. Those who don’t figure it out are going to be
facing severe consequences.”
Rob McKnight, program manager for voice solutions at
Intelligrated’s Knighted, concurs. “Fast is nice, but it’s not
good to ship the wrong thing fast,” he says.
As it happens, accuracy is one of voice’s biggest strengths.
To assure the right items are picked, voice systems include
a confirmation procedure that uses check digits. The check
digit, usually a series of three numbers, is attached to each
pick location. The voice system first directs a worker to the
assigned location. Upon arrival, the worker must read off
the check digit to confirm that he or she is picking from
the correct shelf or bin. As a result, voice is able to produce
accuracy rates of 99 percent-plus.
Another advantage of voice is its ability to facilitate labor
management. Forecasting and planning are not easy with
omnichannel distribution. While store deliveries can be
fairly predictable, Internet orders are not. They vary by day,
season, and whim. Voice allows managers to shift labor
to whatever area of the operation has the greatest need.
Workers can use the same device, doing store replenish-
ment one moment, handling putaway the next, and filling a
direct-to-consumer order later. Most voice systems operate
in real time with the flexibility to adjust assign-
ments on the fly.
“When I have a piece of paper and I find a
need to do something different, I need to go
get another piece of paper. Voice offers real-time interleaving. It can redirect the work
as needed,” explains Jennifer Lachenman,
vice president of product strategy at Lucas
Systems, a voice technology provider.
Voice systems provide workers with step-by-step verbal instructions for performing their tasks, which makes training a snap.
Workers simply have to be able to follow directions. As a result, training time is reduced to a few hours,
compared with days for many other technologies.
“With voice, training is incredibly easy,” says Ryan Absil,
project manager for voice provider topVox. “You just go
through the dialogue. Working with voice is like having a
supervisor with you all the time helping you.”
And while voice is designed to manage the process,
employees still have the flexibility to adjust their work as
needed. For instance, a worker assigned to putaway might
encounter a situation where he or she is told to deposit a
product in a location already occupied by another item.
Voice allows that worker to change the assigned location
simply by informing the voice system of the new storage
location. Likewise, if a worker can’t find a product he or
she has been assigned to pick, that worker can simply ask
the system to send him or her to a redundant location that
holds the same stock-keeping unit (SKU).
“Voice strikes a nice balance of worker autonomy with
the enforcement of best practices,” says Lachenman of
Lucas Systems.
Voice systems also offer visibility tools that can be used
for monitoring worker performance. Managers can easily
see where bottlenecks are occurring. They can also analyze
individual worker performance to see where additional
instruction and support are needed to help all members of
a team reach their potential.
“The visibility tools are an important part in empowering
the supervisors and other stakeholders who need immediate information,” says John Schriefer, manager of marketing communications at Lucas Systems.
THE ENDLESS WAREHOUSE
One of the biggest changes brought about by omnichannel
distribution is that order processing is no longer limited to
the warehouse. Many retailers view their stores as extensions of their distribution centers. Customers can order
