This episode of Point of Sale is sponsored by ArcBest. ArcBest is more than logistics. Whatever you do, whatever you ship, ArcBest makes it easier for you to do business. ArcBest combines reliable capacity, innovative technology and trusted relationships to take the complexity out of your supply chain and keep your shipments moving. That’s what makes ArcBest more than logistics.
Warehouses of all sizes are seeing a technology revolution and COVID-19 increased the need for tech implementation as the virus put constraints on people physically working in close quarters.
On this episode of Point of Sale, Andrew Cox talks to Keith Phillips, CEO of Voxware, about how his company supported warehouse automation with new tech rollouts.
Phillips said the last 11 months were interesting to watch with the surge in e-commerce activity, both in the retail and grocery space. “You couple the increase in activity with lack of available workers and … warehouses have been forced to figure out how to rapidly move products across the supply chain,” he said.
Consumer habit changes have been a big driver of the need for warehouse tech, said Phillips, and Voxware has answered demand with wearable mobile devices for product scanning, voice technology, picture taking and more.
Phillips cited the speed of Android technology as one of the reasons Voxware has been able to roll out new hardware for warehouse workers to use. He said, “If you can keep up, new Android rollouts happen every 12 to 18 months,” and warehouses and distribution centers can really benefit from implementing tech like headset devices and augmented reality.
Cox asked about the timeline of full wearable technology implementation and Phillips said it is dependent on how you define “wearable.” However, Phillips said companies are quickly moving toward total implementation and that “it is uncommon to go into a warehouse today and find zero technology.”
Technology does not come without issue though and Phillips thinks companies have not moved fast enough to keep up with consumer demand, so the companies were forced to implement and troubleshoot at the same time.
“There’s a lot of catch-up that needs to happen in the distribution space,” said Phillips, and Voxware has seen the disparities in the amount of business coming through its client space.
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