Foodservice distributors turn to voice-directed picking

Performance Food Group has joined several competitors in adopting voice technology for its order picking operations.

Corinne Kator -- Logistics Management, 6/20/2008

Voice-directed order picking technology is becoming increasingly popular in the foodservice distribution industry.

Performance Food Group (PFG), the nation’s third largest foodservice distributor, recently announced that five of its distribution centers are now using voice technology provided by Voxware. By the end of 2009, PFG plans to have more than 600 workers across 18 distribution centers using the voice system.

While Sysco, the country’s largest foodservice distributor, uses wearable bar code scanners in its order picking operations, several of its biggest competitors have switched to voice-directed picking in recent years.

The country’s second largest foodservice distributor, U.S. Foodservice, has been a Voxware customer since 2000, and at least two other top-10 foodservice distributors have rolled out Voxware technology, according to Voxware CEO Scott Yetter.

Maines Paper & Food Service, another top-10 foodservice distributor, uses voice-picking technology from Vocollect.

According to Yetter, voice technology is especially well suited to the needs of the foodservice distribution industry:

• Order pickers in foodservice DCs often work in chillers and freezers, where protective gloves make handling RF devices or paper lists difficult.
• Foodservice distribution is a high-volume industry, so worker productivity is especially important.
• Foodservice distributors often send small orders to individual restaurants and hotels. When you’re shipping small orders, says Yetter, “accuracy is key.”

Improved accuracy was PFG’s goal when it implemented voice technology, and the company says the new voice system has helped decreased mispicks by 65%. This improvement not only affects PFG’s relationships with its customers, but also improves relations with employees.

“Many of our workers who struggled to meet and maintain minimum error rate requirements are now able to reach and exceed required levels,” says Jeff Williamson, vice president of warehouse operations for PFG. “Because our incentive system is tied to both productivity and error rates, voice has allowed more workers to earn incentives and bonuses, keeping them happier and more motivated.”

The switch to voice technology has also reduced employee training time by approximately 25%.

Corinne Kator is Associate Editor for Modern Materials Handling, LM's sister publication.