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Six-figure investment allows first ‘cool warehouse’ to implement voice-directed working across three temperature zones

Six-figure investment allows first ‘cool warehouse’ to implement voice-directed working across three temperature zones

 

McCulla Ireland, an independent third-party logistics (3PL) provider specialising in the temperature-controlled food industry, has become the country’s first foodservice distribution specialist to implement voice-directed picking.

 

McCulla has invested a six-figure sum to improve its warehouse operations with Zetes’ 3iV Crystal voice directed work solution and Vocollect’s Talkman T5 voice computers, VoiceClient and VoiceConsole.

 

Family owned McCulla operates a 9,000-square-metre capacity distribution centre with three temperature-controlled zones and serves food service clients across Ireland including McNeil Nutritional, Benecol Ireland, Johnson & Johnson and Dale Farms. The company had previously operated its picking processes using handheld terminals, but required a system that allowed the flexibility to tailor pick processes in line with each client’s individual costing and billing operations.

 

Helping to deliver value for customers

 

“We were very impressed with Zetes, they understood our business processes and how voice would benefit a 3PL by helping us to deliver greater value to customers,” said Ashley McCulla, managing director at McCulla Ireland.

 

He continued: “Putting in voice enables us to increase our KPIs [key performance indicators] and efficiencies to customers by getting more things right first time, which strengthens loyalty and satisfaction, but also reduces our cost base and improves profitability.”

 

McCulla expects to improve picking and dispatch accuracy levels to 99.5% and better, and will recoup its investment in voice within a very short time period, according to the provider.

 

Targeting efficiency of process

 

“Voice is ideal for the ‘cool warehouse,’ anyone confronted with the daily problems of perishable transportation and logistics systems will consider voice-directed working to improve picking and dispatch accuracy,” said Robert van Vliet, sales manager for Zetes Ireland.

 

A key factor in the decision to implement voice was the potential for McCulla to reduce the number of man-hours required to complete stock counts. The company will eliminate the requirement for bi-weekly stock counts and instead operate a perpetual inventory management system.

 

Zetes’ 3iV Crystal voice solution will be integrated directly with the Accellos warehouse management systems (WMS), to give McCulla’s management real-time visibility of warehouse operations. The implementation will be completed in phases from July 2010, starting with the chilled warehouse. All of McCulla’s clients will be benefitting from voice-directed picking by November 2010.