Warehouses can be incredibly dangerous places, with a high number of people and machines all moving within the same area. There are also risks that are inherent to the tasks being completed, as the objects that are being picked may be heavy or cumbersome, putting employees at risk if they lift the items incorrectly. With voice, both of those issues can be alleviated, showing a significant advantage over picking with RF Scanners or Paper.

Voice technology has great appeal for SAP users who want to extend their logistics and fulfillment processes. It offers the promise of hands-free, eyes-free, wireless access to the information needed to drive key warehouse processes and has become an important component in the success of many IT strategies.

Like the traditional RF-based scanners, voice solutions center on a small, wireless mobile device that workers typically wear on a belt. The difference is that Voice delivers instructions verbally through a headset and captures responses using a microphone, eliminating the need to stop, look at a screen, and key in a quantity or scan a barcode.

Troyer Foods, a Midwest retail and food distributor, has chosen Vitech to help them complete their implementation of Vocollect Voice in their two 75,000 square foot distribution centers.

After completing a detailed ROI study with multiple revisions and scenarios, Troyer’s decided that voice was the best fit for their operation. Initially they will be using voice in their picking, put away and replenishment workflows for their operation. 

“Vitech gave us everything we needed to make the decision to switch to voice, from a strong ROI evaluation to best practices learned from their experience,” said Kris Reckers, Director of Operations for Troyer. “We are excited to work with a team that took the time to truly understand our operation, and are confident that voice will be the change that we have been looking for.”

In today’s world, documenting inspection and maintenance checklists continues to be inefficient. For most, the process still requires the technician to enter their observations and findings as a separate process from the actual inspection and maintenance procedure. Vitech offers Honeywell’s best-in-class Vocollect Voice-based solutions that are purpose-built for the maintenance and inspection marketplace. The “Hands-Free, Eyes-Free” technology enables businesses to elevate their documentation and compliance to levels never before attainable.

When you think of “voice technology”, you probably think of all the ways voice has impacted your personal life. You can ask your smartphone a question and get an answer in seconds. You can call your bank or airline and complete an entire transaction without ever talking to a person. You can ask your home assistant to dim the lights, change the channel, or turn up the thermostat in your house. Many of us also rely on voice directions in the form of GPS to get us from point A to point B.

While all these are great examples of voice technology, voice is being used for much more than personal use. Most notably, voice is being used to improve the supply chain, improving picking speeds, warehouse safety, and much more.

When considering voice for the warehouse, it is easy to draw comparisons to voice technology like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. While these personal assistants also use voice technology to make your life easier, there are a few key ways they differ from a warehouse voice solution, like Vocollect Voice.