UK supermarket company to implement warehouse management, voice logistics technology at nine more distribution centers
London, England, and Princeton, NJ September 17, 2003 Somerfield plc, the UK's biggest neighborhood supermarket company, said it would fund an enterprise-wide rollout of integrated Warehouse Management and Voice Logistics technology that is currently installed at two distribution centers managed by supply chain solutions provider Wincanton. The solution combines the EXceed suite of inventory management products from EXE Technologies with the VoiceLogistics system from Voxware Inc.
Simon Thorogood, logistics strategy Manager at Somerfield, explained that the results his company has seen have been quite impressive, and it makes good business sense to expand the use of voice technology to all of our distribution centers. "VoiceLogistics has delivered a 60 to 70 percent reduction in picking errors and a 50 percent reduction in late picks," he said. "We are providing much higher levels of service to our stores and therefore our customers while at the same time reducing key cost components of the operation."
Somerfield initially deployed the voice-directed system at Pitreavie, Scotland. Next, the solution was installed at the state-of-the-art Northwest Composite site outside Liverpool, England. Wincanton operates both of sites.
In the coming months, Somerfield said the combined EXE and Voxware system will be deployed at seven more distribution centers supporting ambient, freezer and bond areas. Over 900 users will then be using VoiceLogistics during an average day, supporting delivery to over 1,200 stores.
"EXE is very pleased with the results of this initiative," stated Steve Smith, EXE's Managing director for Europe. "We work closely with our clients to maximize their operational efficiency, increase their profitability and build brand value by sustaining and growing their customer base."
