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modern productivity solutionmanagers a handle on individual and area-by-area productivityrates in real time. The systems also provideimmediate picking status so workers can be movedfrom one pick area to another to ensure picking efficiencyin all areas.The dog pound, which was the first area to start productionpicking with voice, was up and running flawlesslywithin days. “In less than two weeks we had thewhole warehouse running on voice,” says Whetsel.Since moving to voice, the same number of pickerscan pick one-third more pieces, more than 60,000 piecesper day without overtime.Green orderpickingin the GreenMountainstateVermont’s Burlington Drug Companyturned to a voice solution to createa greener picking process and savesome green on its bottom line.The Green Mountain State takes its “green” statemotto very seriously, and so does the BurlingtonDrug Company. Based in Milton, Vt., Burlington Drugwas founded in the late 1800s and has evolved from asmall manufacturer to a wholesale pharmaceutical businessthat ships pharmaceuticals and convenience storegoods to more than 1,000 locations in eight states.The company had been using a paper-based pickingprocess to fill orders, but that was expensive and createdan excessive amount of documents each year. Theprocess was also inefficient because it took about two tothree hours to sort through paperwork before productscould be moved out of its 170,000-square-foot warehouse.So, the company wanted to find a system thatwould improve pick accuracy and productivity whilealso honoring the company’s commitment to eco-friendlyenvironmental practices.It chose a voice-directed picking solution (Voxware,voxware.com) that provides all of the features thatBurlington Drug required, including environmentalbenefits that shrink its carbon footprint and efficienciesthat cut its operational expenses.“We decided to go with voice not only for theincreased order accuracy and production that wewould get out of it, but for the cost savings on paperas well,” says Jay Mitiguy, Burlington Drug’s assistantvice president.The company has saved more than one million pageseach year, savings about $100,000. The new system hasalso reduced costs and created productivity-driven laborsavings. Burlington Drug’s productivity is up 20% andit’s picking at 99.95% accuracy.Mitiguy says the company knew quickly that this wasa good decision. Not only has the company has experiencedincreased order accuracy and increased productionlevels, the system’s software allows the companyto implement internal business process changes quicklyand efficiently.mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2 41