Food supplier switches to voice picking

This was previously an all-paper picking process across the company’s warehouse operations, which total 70,000 sq ft and are serviced by 27 Colbeck wagons as well as 3PL carriers. The company provides a twice-weekly delivery service to over 95% of its 2,500 customers.

The company was founded in 1893 and the oldest independent supplier to the UK fish and chip market.

"Our business is growing, and although we were already achieving 99.92 percent accuracy using our old paper system, our aim is to further improve our picking accuracy while increasing our efficiency," explains Henry Colbeck financial director Paul Holliday. "We looked at barcoding and voice and preferred hands-free technology for our operation, as it saves time by guiding our people round the warehouse, paper-free. Renovotec used their logistics knowledge to collaboratively appraise our warehouse processes before implementing the new technology."

Renovotec is an exponent of automatic data capture (AIDC) on rugged and mobile hardware using voice, scanning and RFID technology. Its lower-cost-of-entry, out-of-the-box Voice Manager system for small and medium warehouse operations uses packaged software to voice-enable picking, put-away, stock checking, movement, loading and order checking work processes. The system runs on Honeywell’s Vocollect voice technology using a task-driven engine, for which Renovotec claims a first-to-market.

"Market research reveals that operational efficiency and accuracy are what customers want most from warehouse operations,” says Renovotec director Lance Bennett. "Voice technology directly and measurably impacts both – and our solution now makes it available to a wider range of warehouse operators."