Load-Driven, Voice-Directed Warehouse Selection

Syntelic at the Center

Are you evaluating voice technology in the warehouse? If your outbound warehouse operations involve complex selection and loading challenges, Syntelic can meet those challenges head on. Syntelic drives the processes that lead to optimized, more profitable loads, including voice-directed selection. Syntelic is tailored for companies that:

• Pick cases, flats, and eaches that are assembled on pallets.
• Pick catch weights such as meat and seafood.
• Pre-stage some products for efficiency or because of restricted access.
• Use variable-sized pallets, racks, or custom equipment.
• Run routes with sequenced stops.
• Load multiple trailer types including multi-compartments.
• Load trailers with side doors, roll doors and other challenging configurations.
• Use mixed product rules.
• Focus on axle-weight limitations.

Syntelic leverages the clear advantages that voice technologies provide over other order picking methods. Voice-directed selection has been proven to reduce picking errors, increase productivity, drive down training costs, and enhance warehouse safety. But voice alone is just one piece of the logistics puzzle. By itself it can't address the problem of staging pallets on the loading dock and other inefficiencies. Syntelic brings in the day's routes and orders to calculate optimal load plans and sequence voice-directed selection tasks based on the order pallets need to go on trailers. Syntelic makes the most of voice systems to cut costs and increase profitability for companies with complex outbound logistics challenges.

Voice Technology in the Warehouse

Voice systems allow warehouse selectors to pick orders quickly and accurately using voice communications instead of printed records, labels, or the use of hand-held scanners. A voice system includes the hardware used by selectors, such as lightweight headphones, microphones, and wireless wearable computers to work hands-free by getting voice instructions and responding back by talking. It includes speech recognition and speech synthesis software to convert computer text into speech and vice versa. Communications between selectors and the software terminal are relayed in real-time via radio frequency (RF) over a local area network (LAN). A voice system’s software communicates with a Warehouse Management System (WMS), Labor Management System (LMS), or other order-handling system to generate selection tasks. Syntelic gives managers the ability to manage the work queue, document standard labor times for each task, make reassignments on the fly, and assess each selector’s productivity.

Key Benefits of Voice

Why are companies making the switch to voice picking? Simply put, the cost savings are substantial over label picking and hand-held laser scanning. The typical return on investment is less than one year. Voice-directed order selection saves money through better accuracy, increased productivity, and less training time.

Fewer picking errors

Short picks, over picks, and missed picks siphon off profits, especially for industries where margins per case are low. Consider these cost factors:

• Administrative costs of handling credit claims and recording adjustments.
• Transportation costs for returning items or reshipping them.
• Labor costs for handling the returns and reshipments on the truck and in the warehouse.
• Lost sales should miss pick or short pick leave a store shelf empty.
• Stock loss should an overpick go unreported or perishable products have to be written off.

Implementing a voice system can increase picking accuracy by 80-90%. An error rate of < 1 per 1,000 picks is common with voice.

Example of Lower Error Rate

Consider a warehouse that picks 5 million cases per year and sees an average of 5 picking errors per 1,000 at $12 per error for a total annual cost of $300K. After implementing a voice system, the error rate drops to 1 per 1,000.

Before Voice Picking: (5 million x .005 x $12 = $300K)
With Voice Picking: (5 million x .001 x $12=$60K)

Annual savings ($300K - $60K)= $240K.

Pick-by-label can generate picking errors when labels are miscounted or mis-applied, selectors memorize the location of picking slots to produce faulty assumptions, or data is recorded incorrectly. Even bar-code scanning which can attain a 99% accuracy rate is subject to errors when labels are scanned correctly but a selector is distracted when keying in a quantity picked and mistakenly grabs the wrong case or puts it on the wrong pallet. That 1% error represents substantial lost profits. By reducing the elements of hands on labels,  or hand-held devices and eyes off of picking tasks to read or enter data, voice systems are inherently less prone to errors.

More efficient picking

Voice-directed order selection elevates worker productivity by optimizing physical movements, minimizing distractions, and setting a faster pace. Productivity improvements of 10-25% can be met as selectors:

• Operate "hands free" since there are no labels or paper to handle, bar-code scanner to holster and unholster, or keypads to use. In frozen foods areas selectors no longer have to spend time removing bulky gloves to peel off labels or perform data entry.
• Don't have to pause to read instructions but can simultaneously move to the next location while listening to instructions and speaking.
• Don't have to return to an assignment desk to pick up a pick list.
• Encounter fewer empty picking slots since real-time stock updates trigger faster replenishment. This efficiency gain lowers the number of re-picks.
• Log faster catch weights (the variable weight of food items for food service and grocery companies), picking amendments, or picking confirmations by voice than keying in the information.
• Generally work faster as voice prompts drive them to start the next task.

Example of Increased Productivity

Increases in productivity can be measured in terms of the average cases per hour picked by each worker. Take the cases picked per day divided by hours per day worked (e.g, 8 hours) divided by number of selectors (e.g., 18 selectors.

20,000 cases ÷ 8 hours per day ÷ 18 selectors = 139 cases per hour per associate. A 20% productivity gain would raise the cases per hour to 167.

To figure out how this translates into a work force reduction, take the same equation and solve for X as the number of selectors.

20,000 cases ÷ 8 hours per day ÷ (x) selectors = 167  OR  x = 20,000 ÷ 8 ÷ 167 = 15 selectors.

In this example that means three fewer selectors are needed with the switch to voice-directed selection.

Other Benefits

• Reduced Training Time — Companies that have made the switch to voice technology report that it takes less time to train new employees to reach peak productivity, since voice-picking is less complicated for workers compared to the alternatives. For distribution environments that employ non-native English speakers, voice technologies can be easily adapted to function in other languages. This flexibility and ease-of-use translates into more satisfied workers and lower turn over.
• Safety and Ergonomics — Since selectors are unencumbered and alert as they move about the warehouse, and are constantly focused on the picking task at hand, they are more likely to stay out of the way of aisle traffic. They can also focus on proper ergonomics when picking products.
• Inventory Management — Selectors provide constant feedback to the voice system in verifying the location of items in the warehouse and accurate product descriptions and UPCs. Selectors can alert the system to stock-outs and shorts. This information can be fed back to the order replenishment system, narrowing the window between order picking and replenishment to reduce the number of times a slot is empty or short of products. Selectors can also move a picking task to the end of their assignment or the task may be reassigned to another selector, enabling better inventory control.
• Eliminate Costs — Voice systems eliminate or greatly reduce the costs associated with paper orders or printed labels. Even at just one cent a label, multiplied by 5 million cases a year, that's $50,000 in paper.

How It Works

The Syntelic warehouse solution, having planned all outbound loads, keeps track of all the warehouse picking tasks. Every task is given a standard labor time based on factors such as the number of cases to be selected, their weight, and where they are located relative to the last task. All of these tasks are then assigned to selectors, and managers can monitor picking progress and make adjustments as needed. Managers can also evaluate a selector's performance and provide guidance as needed to achieve improvements.

1. The load plans calculated by Syntelic determine the optimal sequence of tasks that are queued and released by Syntelic's Voice Manager to the Voice System
2. Selectors log into the Voice System using their individual voice computers via a spoken password. The hardware can be shared among employees on different shifts, since an individual's unique voice template and user preferences are saved into memory.
3. The Voice System directs selectors to the first pick location.
4. Selectors verify that they are at the correct location by reading aloud a unique numeric identifier posted at every pick slot. If the ID number is incorrect, the system will inform the selector about the wrong location, and can guide the selector to the correct slot.
5. When the Voice System hears the correct location ID number, the system will say the number of picks to make for that location.
6. After the selector has placed the picks on the pallet, the selector confirms the pick or alerts the system about any shorts or misplaced products. At any time, selectors can request more detailed information about a location or a product, including product description, to aid in making accurate picks.
7. The Voice System upon receiving confirmation of a pick then issues a new pick location and the selector eyes up begins moving to that location. When pallets are completed, wrapped, and labelled, with Syntelic driving selection and loading, they can be rolled right into the trailer, for added efficiency.
8. Supervisors can monitor the work queue and make reassignments as needed. Managers can also evaluate the data to make decisions regarding potential warehouse optimizations and performance improvements.

ROI

When savings are calculated for order picking accuracy, productivity improvements, paper and other materials reductions, and training, the break even point for a Vocollect Voice System is usually reached in less than one year.