What Causes Picking Errors?

Recent increases in E-comm and B2C ordering patterns have put a spotlight on the impact that picking errors now present to operations managers.  At a minimum, the B2C shipper incurs a customer return with all the associated costs.  But all too frequently the single item mis-ship results in the loss of the next sale.  Consumers typically do not return to shop at the seller who delivers the wrong item- or the right item in the wrong size, color or quantity.  In fact, they tell their friends and the damage is accurately measured with a multiplier nearly every time.  Even in the B2B environment, these errors typically carry a deduction against future invoices along with a correlating reduction in customer satisfaction, opening the door for competitive offerings – even in long-time established accounts.

The picking error that occurs in the distribution center is most often the result of using a sub-optimized process for order fulfillment.  The interaction between a picker and paper pick tickets, paper labels, RF handhelds or wearable devices, all have inherent distractions that take the picker’s attention away from the task at hand.  Errors occur when a picker is at the pick face with similar or like items stored side by side and must look away from the item/location in order to enter or read information from an RF device or paper ticket.

Voice picking technology removes this inherent distraction faced by all selectors in DCs by utilizing a conversation with the system of record (WMS, ERP, Inventory System) to keep the picker focused on picking the correct item and quantity every time.

Here are a few examples of improvements achieved with our voice-directed picking application:

• One company achieved a reduction of 50% in returns after implementing voice, resulting in nearly $1.3 million of savings in the first year.
• At one manufacturer, their shipping errors dropped in the first month from an average of 500 per week to only 3.
• One company achieved 99.99% order accuracy, noting only 1 error per 7,000 cases and reduced overall QA staff by 75%.

Want to know more? Reach out and we can discuss if voice can help solve some of your challenges at voice@mountainleverage.com.