Enhancing Supply Chain Management with Voice Technology

The continuous expansion and enchancement of both computer hardware and software is making it easier for companies to solve their business problems. Now there are programs available to automate almost all of a company’s business operations. With small mobile computers, smart phones and applications hosted offsite and accessed through the internet cloud, users with only the need of a web browser can perform the same tasks as it used to take dozens of individuals working on a large enterprise system. The newest technology impacting how business is operated is the implementation of voice technology. Now employees with mobile computers do not even have to touch a keyboard in order to run business applications. Voice technology is even providing new opportunities within supply chain management.

Now, voice recognition software and associated technologies provide efficiencies to the supply chain management process by allowing employees to order and ship supplies using simple language instead of a computer keyboard. Using the most widely used supply chain management software, employees selecting orders from a supply warehouse have reported as much as a 25% increase in productivity and a 35% decrease in human error.

When integrating voice technology into the supply chain management system, workers use a headset and microphone connected to a mobile computer that they carry with them. The mobile computer communicates wirelessly with a server that hosts the supply chain management software package. Information from the server is translated into simple language that can be heard through the headset. For example, the worker is told that an order has been filled and is then directed to the location where the items can be retrieved in the warehouse. The worker can also communicate information back to the server using simple language spoken through the microphone. Without the need to input information or read a screen, the worker can tell the supply chain management system that the order has been physically filled and that it has been transferred to shipping. This type of voice technology integration is not limited to supply chain management but has also been used to operate factories and distribution centers for almost a decade. Applications that have proven to be very successful are those that support quality control, package sorting, and inventory management.

In addition to performance enhancement, the reduction in physical interaction between user and system has led to a significant reduction in input and other human errors. Companies that have experienced almost 100% precision have been able to reduce the number of staff that was previously necessary to check orders for accuracy. Another benefit of using voice technology for supply chain management has been the reduction in training time for new employees. The reduction in training time and increase in worker safety are a direct result of employees not having to let go of safety railings or to take their eyes off of moving equipment in order to read data from a computer screen.

As application performance and ease of use of voice technology continue to increase, more companies have considered using voice technology to support supply chain management. Sales of these hands-free, eyes-free systems are reportedly growing at 50 percent a year. This trend is expected to continue if companies continue to obtain financial benefits in excess of the implementation costs.

Although it has been reported that the payback period for the investment in this new technology can be relatively short, the initial investment can be rather expensive in relation to other business systems. Having to equip a warehouse with the latest supply management software and the requisite voice technology hardware will cost considerably more than conventional systems that use barcodes to track transactions. The relatively large initial investment makes this technology more appropriate for larger companies that can finance the expenditure. However, as mobile computers become smaller and more durable and the technology becomes more widely used, the cost should continue to decrease until it makes financial sense for smaller businesses as well.

Right now the use of voice technology for supply chain management has still only been implemented in a small percentage of the large distribution centers. In addition to decreasing costs, new features such as multilingual voice recognition and synthesis and new supply management functions, such as restocking, will increase utility and drive continuous growth in sales and market penetration.

Although, at this point, voice technology integration with supply chain management may not be a solution for all small businesses, it is a tool that will eventually be part of most warehouse and distribution centers. Business owners should take the time and research existing solutions to see if any of them would be appropriate for their particular business. It seems that the continued trend for supply chain management is to increase safety, decrease errors, and decrease management costs by freeing employees from the need to physically interact with the company’s computer system.