The company saw the benefit of moving from the current RF technology to a hands-free picking solution, in order to maintain and even improve picking and distribution levels.
 
Psion Teklogixs radio network systems have been so successful in rapidly and accurately handling our picking and storage operations at our Cape Town and Durban Distribution Centres over a number of years, that Psion Teklogix was the obvious choice to implement a voice technology system at three of our Distribution Centres (DCs), explains Pep distribution manager, Jannie Hanekom.

According to Psion Teklogix, its TekSpeech voice technology is an eyes and hands-free solution that aims to ensure improved speed, accuracy, performance and productivity for order preparation, picking, receiving, quality control, data collection, etc. - although Pep only utilises voice technology for picking purposes at this stage.

The TekSpeech system is designed to open a two-way dialogue between warehouse management systems and DC teams, guiding workers step-by-step through their daily tasks. Time-consuming, inaccurate manual data entry is eliminated as workers are no longer required to read computer screens, handheld displays or printouts, or utilise other devices to carry out tasks, the company says.

Utilising speech recognition and synthesis, the system is designed to translate data from the host computer into spoken directions for the worker. The workers spoken responses are then translated into data for the host. Transmissions are sent via a radio frequency network that connects the host computer to a wireless, lightweight Talkman T2 terminal fitted to a workers belt; a headset enables the worker to hear instructions and to literally talk back to the system.

This communication process is repeated each time a worker and the host computer exchange information, aiming to result in real-time working dialogue between the system and the worker.

According to Hanekom, Pep replaced RF with voice in July 2005 in order to improve productivity and accuracy. To alleviate continuous pressure on supply chain capacity due to sales growth in a deflationary environment it was necessary to increase productivity and the voice system is giving us a 15% improvement on productivity which, in turn, has led to substantial savings in operating costs.

Hanekom says that improved accuracy was a pre-requisite for enhancing the goods received process in the retail stores and here the voice system allowed Pep to realise an improvement of 19%.

He explains the operation of Psion Teklogixs voice system at its DCs in Durban and Cape Town:

Our 22 000 square metre Durban Prospecton DC operates with 56 X T2 Talkmans and eight base stations. The DC has 9 000 pallet positions in terms of racking, and processes 12 000 cartons per day, picked with up to 6 teams of 8 pickers each during day shift.

Four base stations and twenty four T2 Talkmans are used at our Durban Mobeni DC. In this 11 500 square metre area there are 522 pallet positions, while the rest is a free stacking area. Up to three teams of eight pickers each are responsible for picking 12 000 cartons daily during day shift."

Kuilsrivier is a high-rise, narrow-aisle DC with 16 000 pallet positions, where 6 000 cartons are processed every day. Five base stations and twenty five T2 Talkmans are used by up to three teams of eight pickers every day during day shift in this 11 500 square metre warehouse, he concludes.