Delfour installs speech-based picking system at Atlas Storage

Markham, Ont.’s Delfour Corporation, a provider of third-party logistics solutions, has implemented a speech-based picking system at the Atlas Cold Storage facility in Appleton, Wisconsin.

The implementation is the first joint project resulting from a partnership between Delfour and SyVox Corporation, a provider of speech-based solutions for industrial markets.

Delfour is implementing the SyVox ISIS standard interface into their current WMS offering to work with SyVox’s SpeechNet Logistics, a new generation of speech applications announced last fall for the warehousing and logistics marketplace. The interface will enable Delfour’s WMS to benefit from SyVox Applications without investing significant time or money into developing and integrating speech capabilities.

This joint offering introduces the use of speech-based applications for mobile workers operating in warehouses and distribution centers. The interactive speech-based solutions enable warehouse workers to hear instructions through a headset earpiece and to communicate data and instructions to the system through a headset microphone. As a result, warehouse workers will be able to carry out the picking function without having their hands encumbered by handheld scanners or order sheets.

Atlas, the fourth largest refrigerated warehouse company in North America with 33 facilities throughout the U.S. and Canada, specializes in temperature-controlled storage. Cold, high-condensation environments hinder the ability of gloved warehouse workers to operate hand-held devices.

Migrating to a hands-free, voice-enabled data entry environment offers increased productivity and a more user-friendly working environment. Atlas currently operates its warehouse network using Psion Teklogix wireless technology, allowing for easy integration of the SpeechNet Logistics application.

"The Delfour and SyVox offering will give us productivity gains, increased inventory accuracy and is easy to use," said Robert Lockie, Director of MIS, Atlas Cold Storage. "The application allows for hands-free usage and for catch weight recording which is very important in our operations. The workers can record catch weights in real-time and shorten the data entry lag time."

Initially, the system is being utilized for Atlas’s largest client at the Appleton facility, however, Atlas plans to expand the implementation to include other clients and facilities across North America.