Voice-operated picking system delivers results

First introduced to Australia in 1850, Schweppes is now a well-established beverage producer, with 1800 staff, 11 manufacturing sites and 12 distribution centres across the country. Besides the iconic Schweppes brand, the company also produces well-known brands such as SOLO, Cottee’s, Spring Valley, Pepsi and Gatorade.

Schweppes Australia distributes and delivers its products to more than 30,000 customers nationally. Its Archerfield site in Queensland services the majority of the state’s market. Up to 16,000 cases are picked daily by the site’s 40 employees and delivered to more than 5000 customers.

The site’s paper-based picking system meant that the process of planning each load could take the picker up to 15 minutes. Pickers had to identify 400 different products in the warehouse - some of which have similar packaging, such as Pepsi and Pepsi Max - which caused delivery errors. Stock tracking was also difficult due to multiple SKUs and pallets being stocked at each picking location.

To improve efficiency and accuracy, Schweppes decided to implement a fully integrated voice-operated system to deliver a comprehensive picking solution. The company wanted a solution that would eliminate the double-handing of pallets, equip managers and supervisors with workflow visibility and provide a safer work environment for pickers.

“Our goal was to build a fully integrated system that would eliminate the double-handling of pallets and non-value-add repetitive tasks, as well as provide our managers and supervisors with visibility in the workplace, which creates a safer place to work for our pickers,” said Danny Murphy, Schweppes Australia’s national logistics execution manager.

Schweppes engaged Dexion to implement a multifunctional paperless solution that would control the physical and operational aspects of Archerfield’s distribution centre. Dexion partnered with Vocollect by Honeywell to deliver a paperless picking solution to meet the needs of the beverage company.

The new Vocollect by Honeywell in use at the Schweppes Australia Archerfield distribution centre.

A key consideration was to establish how the pallets would be built according to order size. In contrast to the old model, in which all work was completed on paper with numerous SAP transactions, Dexion’s RDS provided a single real-time interface to Schweppes Australia’s existing systems, aggregating multiple features for the varying functions within the distribution centre.

“We’ve seen a significant improvement in the allocation of resources, productivity and accuracy since introducing Dexion’s RDS. Within the first week of using the paperless voice system, our carton picking errors were reduced by 90%,” said Mike Heide, Schweppes Australia’s Queensland distribution manager.

“The implementation of Dexion’s RDS was seamless, particularly due to the help of Dexion’s expert team who were on-site for six weeks prior to the cut-over, providing training and assistance wherever needed.

“One of the key benefits of the automated voice solution is that pickers can be trained in a much shorter time frame. We can now set up voice templates for new operators in 10 minutes and a picker can be trained on the product range within 20 minutes. This contrasts to the old system where it would take up to two weeks before an operator could be fully confident to pick unsupervised.”

Under the new voice system, a picker is provided with a pallet label. They are then directed to the correct picking located via the Vocollect SRX2 Wireless Headset. The location is confirmed by the use of a check digit upon arrival, removing any manual direction or confusion about location. The voice system advises the picker how many cartons they need to pick and the picker repeats the quantity back to the system.

The Archerfield team says the voice-controlled system is simple to use. “The new system has made my job much easier because I’m no longer using any paperwork,” said Archerfield picker Mitchell Henwood. “All I need to think about is pulling up at the location given to me, repeating the check digit and verbally confirming the quantity picked.

“I pick a lot faster and the process of invoicing is much smoother. It’s also more accurate because I’m allocated a specific pallet and a specific number of products that need to be picked.” Heide says the pick rate has increased by around 20%.

According to Archerfield’s distribution centre manager Nathan Lucinsky, the new system has resulted in greater accuracy in order completions.

“We can gauge the workload at the beginning of the day and flex our casual labour force based on this information, rather than waiting for the end of the day to determine how much work is still required. The new system has allowed us greater accuracy for our customer deliveries,” Lucinsky said.

Management can now clearly identify what each picker is picking, what their pick rate is and how much work they’ve completed. Where managers used to manually review each picker’s paperwork daily, they now simply press a button to access a comprehensive productivity report for each picker.

Since pickers no longer have their hands full of paper, scanners and labels, safety has improved. Drivers no longer need to refer to their pick sheet while driving as they now receive all instructions via a wireless headset.

“Safety in the workplace is a big priority - we want to make sure our workers go home safe. Under the old system, forklift operators would drive around the warehouse with their heads down looking at their pick sheet. Under the new system, there’s no paper so their heads are up and they are visually checking to make sure everything is safe as they drive around,” said Lucinsky.

Given the success of Archerfield’s new system, Schweppes Australia’s general manager of logistics and customer service operations, Ian Gatenby, plans to roll out the new technology nationally.

“We would like to leverage the benefits we’re seeing at Archerfield right across our network. Ideally, Archerfield will set the picking standard in Australia,” said Gatenby.

“We have already seen a range of productivity, quality and safety improvements. Most importantly, we have seen the benefits to our customers. We’ve had a terrific experience at Archerfield, and I strongly recommend using this technology across all our distribution centres. I see it as another milestone step in our journey to becoming a best practice workplace.”