IHD (International Healthcare Distributors), the largest pharmaceutical distributor in South Africa, uses Psion Teklogix's voice picking system for paperless, accurate and productive fine picking.
Raymond Hoy, Country Manager of Psion Teklogix, global specialist in wireless radio technology, quotes an independent study by KOM Int, which showed that picking is the highest labour cost (42%), followed by stocking (15%) and replenishing (11%).
"Our multilingual voice picking system is a stable 'eyes and hands free' solution that delivers high performance, reliable solutions equally, eliminating time-consuming, inaccurate manual data entry," says Hoy.
IHD, a UTi Worldwide company, provides a fine pharmaceutical distribution service direct to the end dispenser, distributing over 7.5 million units per month.
Services include warehousing, order taking and processing, picking, packing, delivery and debtor's management. "Our customer base covers pharmacies, doctors, hospitals, private and state clinics, general retail stores and pharmaceutical wholesalers," says IHD National Logistics Manager, Robin Botha.
IHD operates five distribution centres (DCs); the main DC, situated in Linbro Park, Johannesburg, is the finished goods warehouse for the manufacturers' products and is responsible for 70% of the business. The remaining four DCs are based in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein and a sixth DC, planned for completion in mid-2006 in Longmeadow, Johannesburg, will service specialised segments and product groupings.
Botha explains the decision for implementing a voice picking system: "Until September 2005, IHD used two fine picking methods (single unit and shrink quantities) - paper picking and Pick-to-Light (PTL). The PTL system had reached the end of its useful life and alternative picking solutions had to be investigated. We wanted to move to a paperless picking environment across the company without compromising productivity or accuracy, and the final solution had to be flexible enough to accommodate future expansion. For example, the PTL system needs hardware to add a new picking bin while this is not required with voice picking," says Botha.
Botha discusses the process: "The picker is equipped with a headset and Talkman terminal which communicates via the voice picking server directly to the IHD WMS. The picker receives voice commands and responds with voice commands back to the system. The picker selects his/her voice profile and then supplies a password to ensure double security. Once authenticated, the work area is identified and the picker is ready to receive picking instructions. The picker is directed to the correct bin, which is verified by a check digit printed on the bin location. Once the WMS is satisfied that the picker is in the correct location, he/she is given the picking quantity. The voice picking software includes the ability to control batch numbers of products, which is of paramount importance. The picker is able to indicate various actions to the WMS such as short picks and that he/she is now picking from a new batch of product."
IHD is extremely satisfied with the system, which currently comprises 48 Talkman terminals with over 100 pickers operating over multiple shifts, and the company has already seen improved productivity in areas previously using paper picking, reporting improvements of between 10% and 15% per pick. Accuracy has also improved by 25% to 34% with picking accuracy of up to 99.8%.
Commenting on the user-friendliness of the system, Botha says that, as IHD was concerned about staff reaction to the new system, the company implemented an extensive internal marketing campaign to highlight the new technology and to generate some excitement in the company.
Botha concludes: "Internal training programmes, which included classroom style training, posters and on-the-job training, were developed. We believe that training is supplemented by the fact that the system constantly prompts and so assists the user. We find the system user-friendly and easy to understand."
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