Applying B2C Technology Trends to Voice Picking
Innovation and Identifying Trends in Voice Picking is Paramount
Logistics are all about staying on the cutting edge. If you don’t anticipate new developments in technology, what was once a cost-competitive asset can drag your operation down. Innovation – and a keen eye for it – is paramount.
The same principles apply to software technology companies. At Voxware, if we do not identify trends in voice picking, our reputation for forward-thinking will quickly become yesterday’s news. Lately we’ve spoken with our customers about leveraging advancements in mobile computing from the consumer sector. Although unconventional, it appears that the consumer market for phones and personal devices could become an incubator for technology that can then transition into the supply chain world.
Gerrard Says: |
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| Although unconventional, it appears that the consumer market for phones and personal devices could become an incubator for technology that can then transition into the supply chain world. |
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What Do You Say?
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In a first step towards harnessing this innovation, Voxware became the first warehouse voice vendor to support the Android OS a few months back. Our voice recognition software has been ported to operate on Android and verified to perform accurately. Of course Android hasn’t gained a foothold in the wareshouse (yet), so it’s fair to ask why we spent time developing support for a consumer market OS.
We’ve talked to companies who are looking towards the consumer mobile computing world for inspiration as mobility becomes more important – not just for workers, but for managers, too. ‘Mobile management’ is an up and coming concept that will free managers from staying at stationary points, allowing them to move within the DC without losing access to the functionality they need to manage the operation. Managers can have their eyes on the floor and still have the capacity for action at their fingertips.
How can managers get their jobs done while on the move? Utilizing tablet computers could be the answer. Towards this end, we engineered our voice picking management application to work on a wide array of tablets. In our customers’ warehouses, supervisors could walk the floor while reviewing real time graphs, alerts, and activating executable options to change parts of the workflow. Instead of waiting for technology to catch up with business ideas, warehouses can leverage new capability towards greater efficiency.
Closing Thoughts
Warehouses may not have been the first place that iPads and Android devices were intended for. But in technology, you cannot restrict your inspiration to the same preconceived channels of development. We know innovation can come from anywhere, and we want to prepare now for the time when Android and tablets are going to play a bigger and bigger role in warehousing.
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