Press Releases / The Container Store Hires Jennifer

Mar 22, 2012

The Container Store Hires Jennifer

Jennifer Joins The Container Store™ – Employee-First Approach To Voice Picking Results In Rapid, Successful Rollout. Leading Retailer Selected Jennifer™ VoicePlus from Lucas Systems to Improve Safety, Accuracy, and Productivity for Store Replenishment and Direct-to-Consumer Fulfillment

Lucas Systems, Inc., the largest independent provider of voice-directed warehouse applications, today announced that The Container Store, the original storage and organization store, has installed Jennifer VoicePlus for voice picking in its Dallas- area, 1.1 million square foot Distribution Center. At the Modex trade show in Atlanta last month, Christy Parra, Logistics Systems Director at The Container Store, described the company’s employee-first approach to the selection, implementation and start up of the Jennifer VoicePlus System.

“Distribution Center employees who work with Jennifer every day had a big part in selecting our voice system,” said Parra. “As a company, it is very important that any new technology we install be something that is going to make life better for our employees, in addition to the company, our stores, and customers. Distribution Center employees preferred Jennifer’s human voice, the easy, five minute voice training process, and the rich voice-enabled help functions. We also liked the ability to tailor what the user hears, not just for ease of use and efficiency, but also to keep things fun and interesting. Since installing Jennifer in September we’ve seen steady increases in picking productivity, in addition to a sharp reduction in training time for new employees.”

Jennifer VoicePlus integrates with The Container Store’s Catalyst warehouse management system and supports order picking for both direct-to-consumer fulfillment as well as for store replenishment. Like all Jennifer VoicePlus systems delivered since 2005, the system at The Container Store includes the flexibility to use speech recognition and barcode scanning interchangeably using a standard multi-modal mobile computer, in this case the lightweight Motorola MC3190. In addition to voice picking, Jennifer’s Engage Management Services Console gives Distribution Center supervisors increased visibility into real-time operational information and the tools they need to effectively plan and manage their work making their work easier and more efficient.

“Growing retailers like The Container Store face a unique challenge to improve distribution efficiency amid a changing mix of direct to consumer business and traditional brick and mortar sales,” says Jennifer Lachenman, VP of Product Strategy and Business Alliances at Lucas Systems. “One of the big advantages of Jennifer VoicePlus is the ability to configure the voice picking processes to support a range of business and operational needs, including non-picking tasks. Likewise, we appreciate the importance of keeping the needs of voice users in mind. Like The Container Store, we believe in putting the users first. With that focus in mind we are able to provide voice systems that motivate the mobile worker while maximizing their accuracy and productivity.”

About Lucas Systems, Inc.
Since 1998, Lucas Systems has delivered more voice-directed warehouse applications on a wider variety of mobile computers than any other company. Customers like Cardinal Health, The Container Store, HD Supply, Kraft Nabisco, OfficeMax, Oriental Trading Company and Rustoleum trust Lucas to deliver solutions that greatly improve worker productivity and accuracy because Lucas truly understands warehouse operations. Jennifer VoicePlus, the Lucas voice solution, creates a conversation with warehouse workers that frees their hands and eyes to focus on the job at hand. Jennifer also provides managers and supervisors with real-time reporting and management tools that help them better manage their operations. Tens of thousands of associates at hundreds of distribution centers work with Jennifer every day.

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