When voice and RFID converge

Voice technology and RFID are coming together to create seamless hands-free operations in the distribution center.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/20/2006

RFID and voice technology are powerful solutions in their own right. Together, they may be downright synergistic.

“Right now, we can direct a worker to a picking location using voice technology or a warehouse management system,” says Dick Sorenson, director of RFID products for LXE. “But then we trust him to pick and enter the right amount in the system.”

Not only does the operator have to scan a bar code, key in information or speak it into a microphone, if he picks the wrong item or the wrong amount, the error isn’t caught until the order gets to an audit station or the shipping dock. “When that happens, we have to tear the pallet down and repack the right item,” says Sorenson.

The convergence of voice and RFID technology, now under development, promises to catch picking errors where the picking is taking place and to automate data-entry.

How it would work

• Both solutions would run on a wearable mobile computer. Units from vendors like LXE, Symbol and Intermec can already run bar code and voice applications.

• The next step is to enable the platforms with RFID reader capabilities.

• The system would direct an operator to a picking location and tell the operator the quantity of an item to pick by voice.

• The RFID reader would automatically verify the pick.

“RFID and voice are both hands-free technologies,” says Rich Hayden, director of channel programs for Voxware. “If you combine the two, the work flow is more streamlined and fluid because the operator doesn’t have to read a check digit to verify the pick.”

What’s more, because an RFID tag can carry more information than a bar code, the system can catch exceptions.

“With serialized product information, the system can identify discontinued items, promotional items or expired products in the food or pharma industries,” says Tom Kerr, director of applied research for Vocollect.