Solutions | Voice Directed Applications

Voice Picking Applications

Whether it’s called voice picking or pick by voice, Lucas Move voice-directed applications featuring Jennifer are a proven solution for improving distribution center operations across industries. While traditional voice picking systems merely voice-enable existing paper or RF-based workflows, Lucas Move incorporates flexible, configurable process flows that combine voice recognition with barcode scanning and other input or display tools (such as smart watches or smart glasses). Whether Move communicates directly with your WMS, or works with Lucas Engage work optimization software, our voice-directed solutions deliver bigger improvements in efficiency, productivity, and inventory accuracy, and larger reductions in shipping errors.

Voice Picking Designed for Efficiency and Ease of Use

All of our voice-directed solutions use Lucas Move, which is configured to offer optimal efficiency and ease of use across all warehouse tasks, not just voice picking. And since the experience of users is critical, Lucas Move features Jennifer, an intelligent voice agent that speaks with a human voice rather than synthesized computer speech, enhancing  user acceptance and ease of use. All Move applications also include the Lucas Serenade speech recognition platform, the industry’s best, most robust speech recognition technology for industrial environments.

Associates communicate with Jennifer through a headset and the voice-enabled mobile computer of your choice – including rugged smartphones or other wearable devices. Jennifer tells workers where to go and what to do in a friendly, easy to understand voice, and users speak to Jennifer to confirm their activities. Serenade recognizes and interprets the users’ spoken responses, in multiple languages, regardless of accents and background noise.

Voice Picking With An Existing WMS

For DCs with a robust, modern WMS, Lucas Move can include standard, direct integration with an existing system. For DCs looking to extend or enhance the capabilities of existing IT systems, Lucas Engage allows you to create highly efficient new processes without extensive updates or changes to your current systems. For example, if your WMS does not support flexible order batching, Lucas can provide this capability, so you don’t have to change your back-end to get the benefits of optimized, voice-directed batch picking. In addition, Engage provides a rich set of real-time reporting and management tools that help managers better manage their operations. Whether you choose a direct or server-based solutions, the Lucas Application Integration framework simplifies integration using standard system interfaces.

Voice Picking Compared to RF

Warehouses and distribution centers that move from RF to voice technology typically see improvements in productivity, accuracy, associate training, worker safety, and employee satisfaction.

• Two Hands Free Is More Productive. Voice users never have to juggle a scanner while trying to grab and move items, so they can grab, lift and move items more efficiently, saving time in every pick and move. In addition, voice users never have to stop to scan or key enter a quantity or exception – they speak and listen as they move.
• Heads-Up Improves Accuracy and Safety. With voice, users never have to look down at a terminal screen to get information – their eyes stay focused on the work they are doing. Every time a user looks away from a pick location there is a possibility he will pick the wrong item. And like texting and driving, using an RF terminal while driving a piece of equipment is never a good idea.
• Ease of Use and Training. Throughout our lives we learn to do tasks via verbal instruction, so voice picking is inherently relatable and easy to learn. Most voice users can be working on their own on their first day of training, and the majority reach initial performance standards within a week or two. Read more.
• Worker Satisfaction. When moving from RF to voice, associates typically see significant improvements in accuracy, productivity, and safety, which translate into higher levels of job satisfaction and sometimes increases in pay. Many also report less job-related stress.

Optimized for End-to-End Warehouse Operations

Every Lucas solution incorporates best practices gained from thousands of users at hundreds of warehouses and distribution centers. And since every DC is different, our work execution solutions are designed to adapt to different processes and can support a variety of configurable voice directed workflows, including the flexible use of barcode scanning and other data capture technologies. Jennifer’s voice dialogue can be tailored to your needs to maximize the productivity and accuracy of your warehouse staff, giving you a bigger, faster ROI from voice. To ensure the ideal fit, Lucas Systems follows a collaborative implementation approach that focuses on ease-of-use for users and overall process optimization for your DC.

Improved Work Management and Insight

When using Lucas Engage, you are able to further enhance your existing inventory, order and work management systems, and, through the Engage Management Dashboard, give DC managers and front-line supervisors improved insight and control over operations. With Engage you can view and manage workflow, users, exceptions and system configurations. By applying the latest web technology, we give managers the ability to configure and change how they view information, resulting in a flexible, productive, and easy-to-use system. In addition, managers can use their smartphones and other mobile devices to access information.

Additional Voice Directed Work Execution Capabilities

Dynamic Work Optimization

Lucas Engage includes dynamic optimization tools that use advanced mathematical models to reduce travel, increase pick density, and optimize the use of labor and other DC resources. The batch and travel path optimizations can reduce average travel time by 50 percent or more.

Configurable Assignment Creation

Using configuration rules, Lucas Engage can group and manage customer orders in different ways for different warehouse areas, groups of users, or order types, based on pre-defined business rules that can be managed by on-site personnel.

Flexible Work Distribution

Picking, replenishment and other work assignments may be pushed to users, pulled by user (i.e., voice user will request a specific customer order, etc.), or a combination. Managers can also manage the priority and distribution of work via the Engage Management Dashboard.

Real-Time Exception and Process Management

Through Engage, managers have real-time insight into the status of work, with visual dashboards highlighting work completion, in-process and available by area and/ or process. Exception tracking and real-time alerts allow supervisory staff to address issues as they arise, improving responsiveness and overall efficiency.

Detailed Productivity and User Management

Engage gives managers immediate, up to the minute productivity information by user, process and work area. This data can be used as is or integrated with an external Labor Management System.