DURANT, Okla. -- Vocollect said that Stephenson Wholesale Co., a regional grocery wholesaler serving more than 2,500 convenience retailers across Oklahoma and Texas, recently implemented Vocollect's Voice-Directed Distribution in its 150,000 sq.-ft. distribution center.
With a shipping volume of 75 trucks per day, and an average inventory turnover rate of 32 times per yearamong the highest in the wholesale distribution industryStephenson Wholesale made the jump from paper-based order picking to voice-directed work in order to cut rising costs and speed [image-nocss] order fulfillment, Pittsburgh-based Vocollect said.
Making the switch to voice-directed work allowed our warehouse workers to operate hands-free in real-time, which allows us to meet our skyrocketing customer demand, said Dick Dunham, vice president of operations for Stephenson Wholesale, Durant, Okla. Right away, we saw a 30% increase in the productivity of our workers. We were able to make an immediate difference in our ability to keep up with demand and virtually eliminated costly picking and shipping errors.
For Stephenson, the move to Voice-Directed Distribution was a significant change from their previous, paper-based picking system. The pick-rate for each employee has increased dramatically, since they no longer use paper picking slips, and both of their hands are ready to pick each item when necessary, said Dawn Laxson, vice president of administration for Stephenson Wholesale. Our order pickers no longer worry about losing their place on a picking slip, since Vocollect's Voice-Directed Distribution tracks their progress on each order in real-time, while maintaining 100% accuracy.
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