Recent Industry Trade Articles
RFID: Not Ready For Prime Time
CSD Staff - April 2008
While radio frequency tracking may represent the future for distribution, warehouse inventory management still relies on the tried and true.
7-Eleven Inc. also uses a voice system to move fresh foods and perishable products from warehouses to the stores. Eventually, the system, developed by Voxware, will be used to pick all products in the company’s proprietary distribution network, which includes 25 facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
"It is flexible," Macken said of the Voxware system. "And you can track each picker’s productivity and accuracy. That’s the beauty of it."
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Raising Your Voice-As Well As Productivity
Brian Schiavo - April 2008
Voice technology is heating up.
Why have the prices come down? According to Scott Yetter, CEO and president of Voxware Inc., Lawrenceville, NJ, there are a number of trends that are making it possible for companies of any size to adopt voice.
"Before, everyone thought that everything had to be done as a highly-customized solution-you had people writing their own payroll systems, their own general ledger systems, their own manufacturing systems and the same thing was true with voice," Yetter explains. "However, over time, all those things became pieces of packaged software that you could buy off the shelf. I don't think the voice market is any different."
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The Human Touch
Mary Aichlmayr - April, 2008
We often think in terms of black and white; it’s either technology or people. I wonder if there is another way. Can technology help recruit and retain humans? Let’s consider voice recognition, a technology used for just about everything from picking and putaway to replenishment and receiving. Vendors claim the hands-free, eyesfree technology boasts extremely high accuracy rates.
Scott Yetter, president and chief executive officer of Voxware, sees it the same way. “One of the challenges of implementing technology is a misalignment of benefits,” says Yetter. “Oftentimes, management gets the benefit at the expense of the worker.” Voice seems to benefit employees as well as management. “That sends a different message to workers,” he says.
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Protecting Your Human Assets
Kevin T. Higgins - March, 2008
Of all the continuous-improvement efforts manufacturers can undertake, none is more vital than plant safety. Steady state is not an option when it comes to safeguarding an organization’s human assets.
Handheld scanners and on-board video monitors boosted distribution efficiency, and now leading soft-drink bottlers and other food companies are graduating to voice systems to deliver instructions. One of the early adopters was Dunkin’ Donuts Mid-Atlantic Distribution Center (MADC), a cooperative owned by 7,000 restaurant franchisees in eight states. Since system installation in 2004, payments for worker’s compensation claims are down 71%, reports Warren Engaard, director of operations.
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100 Ways To Rev Up The Food Supply Chain
February, 2008
The FL100 is a resource of software, hardware and IT service providers that focus on the unique needs of companies in the food supply chain, including manufacturers, retailers, grocery wholesalers, convenience and foodservice distributors, and third-party logistics providers.
These companies are selected based on their proven track records and expertise in providing food companies with technology and services to help them meet business objectives.
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Now Hear This: Voice Technology Delivers in the Warehouse
Scott Yetter - January, 2008
IN TODAY'S evolving marketplace, wireless voice technology can help building material companies better manage their warehouse and distribution operations.
Voice technology is becoming an increasingly important part of warehouse operations-and for good reason. Many distribution centers are assessing their warehouse management programs and searching for cohesive methods to help reduce injuries, help increase accuracy rates, and improve working conditions overall. The big idea behind standards-based software is that services can be independent of each other, but can be combined to accomplish a business objective.
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The Multi-modal Warehouse
Bob Trebilcock - January, 2008
Warehouse management and data collection are converging into one system that can scan a bar code, read an RFID tag or communicate instructions using voice technology.
Most often, voice is being adopted as a stand-alone technology that replaces bar code scanning, especially in order picking applications. “The benefit is increased productivity and accuracy,” says Scott Yetter, CEO and president of Voxware. Yetter says productivity improvements of 10 to 25% are not uncommon, as are error reductions of 50%, especially for users moving from paper-based picking to voice.
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Listen Up
Karen M. Kroll - December, 2007
We all know the drill. An order comes in, and the picker has to wade through sheets of labels to know what to pick. It takes time, and he also has to report that it's complete. But there's another way. The worker gets the order through a headset. When he's finished, he says “done.”
How many speech recognition systems are in use? It's hard to say. But experts say they're growing in number — and that they're being applied to more things.
Yes, picking is the most labor-intensive activity. And that's where the greatest savings will result, says Scott Yetter, CEO of voice technology provider Voxware.
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Try these on for Size: Wearable Computers
Lamont Wood - November, 2007
With wearables, "new employees in a warehouse can be got up to speed in a day, since they are continually getting instructions on what to do, as opposed to being trained for a week by following another picker around," added Scott Yetter, CEO of Voxware, Inc., wearable computer vendor in Lawrenceville, N.J. He said that users can typically expect a reduction in their error rate of 30% to 50%, which may by itself justify the system because shipping the wrong product can be expensive. Productivity usually increases 10% to 20%, because the pickers don't have to put aside their clipboards, he added.
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Wireless Solutions Boost Productivity In the Warehouse And on the Road
Jean V. Murphy - November, 2007
Logistics companies were early adopters of wireless applications and they continue to find new ways to use the technology as it evolves and matures. In many instances, voice may be used in conjunction with traditional scanning.
“There may be instances where a worker needs to record product identification numbers or lot numbers that are very long and it actually is faster to scan these than to say them,” says Scott Yetter, president of Voxware, a leading provider of voice systems based in Lawrenceville, N.J. Also, a warehouse that may require scanning in some areas could switch to voice in cold storage to avoid condensation on the screen and the difficulty of operating handhelds with gloves. “I think multiple technologies clearly are converging,” Yetter says. “That is why you see vendors like Motorola and LXE developing devices with both scanning and voice capabilities.”
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European Retailer Albert Heijn Selects Voxware
November, 2007
“The benefits of voice picking are well documented, but for a long time rigid hardware solutions have been a barrier to widespread adoption,” says Scott J. Yetter, President of Voxware. “With our open standards approach, our goal is to enable the seamless conversion and execution of voice regardless of what platform distribution centers are operating with. We’re thrilled Albert Heijn has recognized the value of open, standards-based voice software and we expect a timely, successful transition to voice in all of its distribution centers.”
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Tools That Help Business Prosper
Nick Bragg - August, 2007
“There’s no paper, it’s totally voice driven,” Jurkowski notes. “The system can speak to the pickers in a language they’re comfortable with. It knows multiple languages and they can speak back to the system in their native language. On the picking shift here there’s a lot of Hispanics and some don’t speak English well and they are very comfortable speaking to the system in Spanish.”
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