The Multi-Modal Warehouse: Getting the Mobile Worker in the Loop
When warehouse workers have immediate information to act, they are more effective. Multiple modes of interaction between workers and the warehouse system pay off with new levels of productivity, performance and accuracy.
The final loop of information from a warehouse management system to a warehouse worker and back is the most critical. This is where actual transactions occur.
Warehouse workers execute more than 95 percent of physical inventory transactions in most facilities.
Each inventory event, receipt, putaway, pick, shipment, etc., represents a change in condition and even ownership. The host WMS initiates these transactions by sending orders (instructions) to mobile workers who execute them and confirm their completion.
While this final information loop is vital, it is the weakest link in most systems.
From the lowest form of communication (paper and pencil) to more advanced wireless bar-code scanners, the technology used on the warehouse floor, or lack thereof, has been the most inefficient. Every mode of communication has its limitations. Paper pick tickets provide no real-time visibility and are error prone. Hand-held terminals force workers to continually stop to read the screen (usually in a cryptic DOS/character mode presentation) and key-in information before scanning. Speech computers, while offering hands-free operations, are limited to only a few warehouse operations such as picking and cycle-counting. They are typically expensive, proprietary computers dedicated to speech-only activities with no screens, scanners or keyboards. And the Speech computer will only have as much information as was provided through the interface from the host.
The advent of ruggedized Windows mobile computers opens up new opportunities for improvement in remote worker efficiency and accuracy that improves the overall effectiveness of warehouse operations.
These devices offer multiple input and output technologies that allow workers to receive and enter information in the most effective manner. Communication modes include browsers, touch-screens, bar-code scanners, speech recognition, RFID readers and keyboards, all on single, integrated, wireless devices. These overlapping, often redundant, modalities enhance the human-computer interaction by presenting the choice of output and input best suited for any single task.
At the same time, warehouse systems are being designed to serve up better information that is consistent for all modes of communication. This eliminates the need for specialized interfaces on specific devices, such as a proprietary speech system. Information is dispatched to multi-modal devices in interactive format rather than batches of work orders. This helps maintain a persistent series of updates and confirmations between the host WMS and the worker, which enhances the value and accuracy of real-time transaction visibility. A wireless computer in the hands of workers enables multiple modes of data capture and communication.
There are many different types of devices needed, based on physical and environmental diversity from warehouse to warehouse. This includes: sub-zero freezer operations; variable range scanning; voice capable circuitry; RFID scanners and wearable vs. hand-held vs. truck-mounted applications. Manufacturers including Motorola, LXE and Intermec have been on an aggressive product development path to deliver Windows-based devices to address these and other issues.
This paper explores the factors and benefits of multi-modal mobile computers in real-time warehouse settings and how both workers and managers benefit by completing the information loop.
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