UK manufacturers are still slow to adopt voice technologies compared to their European counterparts, according to sales figures at auto ID solution specialist Zetes.
Zetes managing director James Hannay says the company is now looking to counter this and influence companies’ logistics arms to adopt voice and enable parallel tasking, which, he says, will allow them simultaneously to optimise productivity and accuracy.
“Zetes began implementing voice solutions at many of continental Europe’s top tier retailers and logistics companies over five years ago,” says Hannay. “Yet in the UK, only a fraction of the larger players have opted for voice, and we believe they are missing a big opportunity.”
Many UK retailers, for example, have opted for wearable hands-free solutions, which, from an initial cost perspective, are slightly cheaper than dedicated voice solutions, he explains. “However, factor in productivity increases, and the benefits of voice far outweigh other widely used alternatives, such as barcode scanning.”
Based on Zetes’ experience, implementing a voice solution typically delivers a payback after six to 13 months. In addition, warehouse pickers work between eight and 25% faster and achieve almost 100% accuracy levels.
Zetes believes a contributing factor to the slow adoption of voice so far, may be due to a lack of suppliers with the required capability to either advocate the benefits of voice or to offer the ongoing support necessary to maintain these solutions.
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