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 activities,” notes
Voxware’s Phillips. “Anytime you see a lot of man-
ual 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-consumer,” 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 solu-
tions at Intelligrated’s Knighted, concurs. “Fast is
nice, but it’s not good to ship the wrong thing fast,”
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 replenishment
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 assignments 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 provid-
er 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 pro-
cess, employees still have the flexibility to adjust
