Voice speeds produce picking

Four Seasons Produce eliminated paper and improved accuracy and productivity.

By Noël P. Bodenburg, Managing Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2006

Eleven million cases of produce is a lot to track and pick manually in a year. But that's exactly what Four Seasons Produce was doing across five facilities. As would be expected, productivity wasn't all that great, and mispicks were high, too.

A move to a voice system (Vocollect, 412-829-8145) changed all that. In fact, the performance numbers with voice are so strong against the previous ones that it's a lot like comparing apples and oranges.

Before voice was implemented, throughput was 155 cases per picker per hour. Now that number is 220, says vice president of organizational development Nelson Longenecker. In addition, there was a 63% reduction in mispicks and shorted product.

Accuracy also improved, although not quite as dramatically. Prior to voice, says Longenecker, shipment accuracy was 99.6%. Now, it is 99.88%. More importantly, that higher rate is not the result of quality checks, but increased picking accuracy.

Along with adding voice, the Ephrata, Pa., based company made some major distribution changes. To start, it folded five facilities—four for storage and repacking and one for shipping—into a single DC.

"We looked for a warehouse management system with voice capabilities," says Longenecker. "We knew we wanted a full solution that allowed us to have real-time information. This is critical in a fast-paced environment."

And higher speed is essential to the company's ability to distribute fresh produce to the mid-Atlantic, New England and Bermuda.

The old process required staff to track perishable inventory manually by keying in every quantity received, transferred and shipped. Then labels were applied to every box for shipping. That system slowed the process considerably, which was a problem for inventory that had to turn every four or five days.

Now, DC staff members wear computers and headsets to provide paperless hands/eyes free order selection. The computers relay picking information from the WMS, which is converted into speech and transmitted to selectors through voice-recognition headsets. With their hands free, selectors can work faster and more accurately. The two elements—WMS and voice—dynamically direct product just in time into correct pick slots or reserve locations.

"The hands-free element has from a productivity point been significant," Longenecker says.