FAQs on Voice Directed Warehouse solutions

• Q. “My warehouse is very noisy – there's no way voice technology can work there!”
• Best of breed voice directed warehouse hardware utilises sophisticated noise cancelling microphones. Mic faces the operative and the other faces away from the operator to capture ambient noise. The ambient noise is then cancelled out resulting in excellent voice recognition even in very noisy environments.
• Q. “English is a second language to most of my warehouse team – how will they understand the system and how will it understand them?”
• Each operative trains their voice profile into the system and draws this down onto the terminal each time they log onto the device. This process takes around 20 minutes and only needs to be done during the initial setup of the user. By training the voice profile the system is able to understand strong regional accents and can even register foreign language commands for example a French speaker could register Oui and Non for Yes and No.
• Q “I operate a frozen goods warehouse at -28C – will the equipment withstand this?”
• There is a wide range of voice hardware options on the market all of which are supported by the eSmart Voice solution. Options exist for Deep freeze environments, cold, wet and extremely rugged environments.
• Q “What if the system registers an operator's conversation as pick data?”
• The system is always ‘listening’ for a defined set of voice commands. General conversation does not follow the expected format of these commands and is simply ignored by the system.
• Q “Will Headsets cause safety issues in the warehouse since pickers will not be able to hear fork trucks approaching?”
• Headsets are never worn on both ears and some are even acoustically transparent, allowing the picker to hear safety-related noise in the warehouse.
• Q “My Pickers won't like talking to a Computer”
• Depending on the organisation culture there may be some resistance initially. However, once a selector becomes familiar with the system, they invariably love it. Voice technology simplifies the picker's job, reduces fatigue and can help contribute to a safer working environment with eyes and hands free to focus on the job.
• Q “One of the advantages of RF systems is that they can display information about the product being picked to assist the pickers. Any exceptions can be reported back to the hosts system by entering the information on the terminal keypad.”
• A Voice systems can provide all of the capabilities of RF Scanner based systems. The difference is in the user interface. Things like product description, EAN, and inner pack size can all be communicated via Voice.
• Q “Won't voice be too expensive for my operation? We are not a huge distribution centre. ”
• The cost of implementing a voice solution has decreased dramatically as the technology has matured. If you are already using an RF based system the chances are a replacement voice system will be within budget. The important point to focus on however is the savings you will achieve by moving to a voice directed system. Paybacks of a year or less are very common so why not fill out our Voice picking ROI form to see how voice could transform your business.
• Q “I don't want to duplicate the inventory/order systems in my WMS/ERP system.”
• The eSmart Voice system is a flexible voice solution built to satisfy a variety of operational scenarios. If you already have a Warehouse Management System (WMS) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in place eSmart Voice can be integrated seamlessly to complement the capabilities of your existing inventory system, leveraging the capabilities of your existing software investment and delivering the enhanced capabilities voice provides.
• Q “What if my pickers create errors by not hearing or remembering instructions properly or simply picking from the wrong place?”
• In the eSmart Voice system pickers can use "say again" commands to repeat instructions if required. The use of check digits either on the warehouse location label or on the product EAN code ensures that the correct product has been picked or that product has been picked from the correct location.
• Q “I am sceptical that voice can be as fast at paper or RF based picking.”
• In some scenarios voice picking may not be the most appropriate picking method: for example pick tasks requiring the input of long serial numbers, Bulk item picking for example huge paper rolls or whole pallet picking by forklift, picking very limited SKU numbers from a single bay or small zone. In typical warehouse environments though, Voice is as fast or faster than either paper or RF because Voice frees up both the hands and the eyes, allowing the operator to get from location to location faster. Hands free also means items are selected faster. Voice allows pickers to focus on picking, rather than on terminal displays or lists.