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modern productivity awardsinnovation winnerCoca-Cola Refreshments U.S.A.New take on voice technologyTo revitalize its distribution processes, Coca-ColaRefreshments U.S.A. implemented a VoIP-based voicetechnology that enables 3,000 warehouse associates in100 facilities.Everything about Coca-ColaRefreshments U.S.A. (CCR),the subsidiary that manufacturesand distributes Coca-Colaproducts in North America, is big.The company is the largest manufacturerand distribution point in the worldfor the largest soft drink producer in theworld. CCR manages some 600 Coca-Cola brands and thousands of differentbeverages, producing 5.3 billion casesa year. It has some 65,000 employeesworking in 630 facilities around thecountry and makes more than50,000 deliveries a day with afleet of 30,000 vehicles.And some 3,000 of thoseemployees, working in 100facilities that each handlesmore than 7.5 million cases ayear, are directed by a voiceover Internet protocol (VoIP)voice recognition system(Datria, datria.com) whenthey are picking orders.Yes, one voice system.And CCR intends to enablemore workers across theenterprise and more tasksdown the road. “Basically,anything you can do on akeyboard in our SAP enterpriseresource planning(ERP) system can be donein voice, including pickingand putaway, shipping, anddirecting our drivers and servicetechs in the field,” saysRick Gross, director of supplychain development.The results are big: “Weare maintaining the 99.8%shipping accuracy that manyof our large customers require, andwe are 100% accurate in a number ofour facilities,” says Mike Jacks, CCR’ssenior manager of logistics systems.Here’s how CCR decided on a VoIPsolution and why this unique approachmeets its needs.Driven by accuracyFor more than 100 years, the Coca-Cola bottling system in North Americarelied on a manual pick operation.Order selectors swiped an ID card atCCR’s voice system uses VoIP phones.a kiosk to receive a paper printout oftheir work assignments. Filling ordersmeant pulling full pallets from a storagelocation and delivering them to theshipping dock.But, full pallets are no longerCCR’s operating environment. Overthe last decade, beverage producershave added more products in morepackaging configurations. At the sametime, retailers want mixed pallets withenough of each product to satisfydemand in the short run. And, theyincreasingly demand accuracy rates ofup to 99.8%, as shippers pay dearly fororder mistakes.With 80% of its volume being mixedcase pallet loads, CCR’s warehouseshad manual handling and throughputissues. Additionally, complex orderrequirements made it more costly tomaintain the accuracy rates required byCCR’s biggest customers.Selecting voiceIn 2007, CCR began to investigatetechnologies to improveaccuracy without sacrificingefficiency. Since they wanteda solution that allowed headsup,hands-free operation by theorder selectors, voice seemed tomake the most sense.The company’s initial investigationled it to the leadingproviders of traditional voicesolutions for the warehouse aswell as tours of food warehousesusing traditional voice solutions.At the same time, CCR hadmade a corporate commitmentto a VoIP infrastructure for itsbusiness. Then, CCR’s strategicpartners for its voice infrastructuredecided to create their ownsolution.In the spring of 2007, severalCCR team members attendedSAP’s user conference wherethey learned about Datria’s VoIPvoice solution. That was followedby a challenge to the voiceprovider to develop a server-38 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com