METRO opts for Voice Picking from ZETES

On the 11th of October at the CeMAT 2005 held in Hanover, zetesIND (the German subsidiary of the ZETES Group) got the largest individual order in Germany for a Pick-by-Voice system with 700 TalkmanTM terminals. The MGL METRO Group Logistics GmbH equips its eight German food storage facilities for the supply of the Real self-service department stores, Extra shopping centres and Metro Cash&Carry with new radio data transmission technology for voice controlled commissioning.

The MGL METRO Group Logistics GmbH with its headquarters in Dsseldorf is the logistic service and competence centre within the METRO Group. It directs the worldwide goods flows of the companies belonging to the METRO Group. The overall volume of the transports directed centrally by MGL  amounts to app. 12 million packages, 12 million pallets as well as app. 22 million hanging textiles per year. A total of about 4,300 suppliers are integrated in this system.

"By applying the voice controlled commissioning we want to reduce the actual mix-up quota from 0.3 to 0.05 per cent. At the same time we are expecting an increase of the commissioning performance in some areas," says Thomas Kahlmann, as Division Manager Food of MGL responsible for the eight food sites of METRO.

METRO will use the new Talkman terminals T2x provided by the American manufacturer Vocollect, which will communicate with the existing inventory management system ICAM from Atos Origin by means of a 3iV-Pick client software developed by zetesIND.

Each of the 700 TalkmanTM terminals is delivered with two headsets so that 1,400 commission agents will soon work voice controlled in two shifts. Thies vom Hofe, sales engineer and voice specialist of the Willich based system house zetesIND is pleased about this further reference in the trade business: "Our voice technology and mode of integration on the basis of the  TalkmanTM system from Vocollect has prevailed in Europe in the meantime. Many of the big goods distribution centres in the business are already using Voice Picking. Our references throughout confirm payout periods of less than two years and recommend the application of this innovative technology."