Vision Picking : A Success Story

Vision Picking: A Success Story

Background

S.P. Richards (SPR) has served customers for over 170 years from multiple national distribution centers. They are one of North America’s largest independent wholesale distributors.

In early 2021, SPR Atlanta decided to move from pick to voice (P2V) to vision picking. As with any change to operations, line-level employees needed to be on board with the transition. Atlanta experienced pushback with the transition, as most were used to the incumbent solution of P2V and hesitant to adopt a new way of thinking.

Fast Forward

The excitement was immediate once the Atlanta pick team tested vision picking using the heads-up display (HUD). SPR is now launching vision picking in all their distribution centers and looking at ways to implement HUD in as many workflows as possible.

SPR Dallas was second to implement vision picking. Having heard about the success in Atlanta, the management and employee base were eager to transition from P2V to vision picking. Miguel Coquis, SP Richard’s Dallas Picking Supervisor, commented:

“I was waiting for this moment!”

Miguel shared that because the SPR Dallas Pick Team is majority Latin non-native English speaking, the transition to vision picking was the right thing to do.

“…they’ve got, you know, trouble saying the numbers, or asking for the UPC…so, with this, uh, system, it’s easier for them, and they’re getting faster and faster every day.”

When asked about training the team on the vision picking, Miguel also shared that the team’s transition from P2V to fully functional vision picking was virtually “instant”. Within hours, pickers were operating at peak performance with almost no training.

As e-commerce expands, warehouse staffing needs are increasing along with turnover; vision picking eliminates historically long train-up times, allowing for instant employee onboarding.

Along with eliminating train-up time, productivity also shot throught the roof. Zack, a native English speaker, who averages 141 lines per hour (LPH) with P2V, started to average 180 LPH with vision picking. When asked why he was picking faster, he said:

“The HUD is a lot easier

With the old system, you’d have to repeat yourself, ’cause sometimes it wouldn’t hear you. I also didn’t like that it (the wearable computer) was on my wrist. This is a lot easier ’cause it’s right here {points to HUD}.”

On a separate occasion, one person called in sick on a five-person shift. The four remaining pickers, using vision picking, were able to complete the task of five pickers in less than the allocated time.

The enthusiasm around vision picking has been ubiquitous with SPR. Vision picking eliminates frustration for non-native English speakers who must repeat instructions with P2V, leaving them fatigued at the end of the day. Todd Clark, SPR Dallas Warehouse Manager, commented:

“They love it

They don’t have to struggle with the language barriers. We’re looking forward to adding the HUD into all aspects of the warehouse.”

When Miguel was asked if he and his team would be “okay” to go back to P2V, he answered with an emphatic, “NO”.

Miguel’s colleague Stevens Jeans-Jacques, SPR Operational Excellence Supervisor, added,

“This is a one-way street.”

Speed up with ST1 HUD

Six15 has developed Plug and Play vision picking with its ST1 industrial HUD, in partnership with Ivanti.

The ST1 HUD is an accessory that plugs into wearable or handheld mobile computers running Ivanti’s Velocity Terminat Emulation (TE) or Web Browser (WB). Integrating ST1 vision picking takes just days and does not disrupt existing operations.

ST1 vision picking pays for itself within weeks.

The question is: Do you want to improve pick rates and employee satisfaction?

Website

Six15 Technologies (six-15.com)

Contact Us

Emily Sherman, Customer Success Manager

[email protected]