EPG’s Lydia voice solves picking niggles and boosts inventory management for Niglon
Challenge
- Growing product range and business with Niglon moving to a 30% larger warehouse.
- Targeting improved customer service levels impacted by falling picking accuracy from; 96% to 99.9%.
- Identify an intuitive picking system that accommodates seasonal and new operating staff.
Solution
- Transition from a paper- based system to a digital voice picking solution compatible with an in-house ERP.
- LYDIA Voice by EPG was implemented with Niglon in April 2017, a year after their move into larger premises.
Results
- Now in 2021, Niglon are delighted with the results.
“Yes, accuracy is 99.9%” Oliver Hinley, Operations Director at Niglon
“Other gains have been impressive, too. “Productivity has risen by 10-20% across all of our operators, with first time accuracy rates up by 20%,” he confirms.
“We’ve increased turnover by double-digit figures but without any need to increase permanent staff and just a few agency staff to cover peaks. The good news is, that when we do need those extra staff, they can be upskilled into a complex environment very quickly because LYDIA Voice requires no voice training and is very user-friendly.”
- Two years after going live, Niglon introduced a rolling stock take program reducing 2 days of shut down to an hour a week.
“LYDIA Voice delivers for Niglon without necessarily requiring a full WMS to be deployed,” explains Gavin Clark, who heads up EPG’s business in the UK.
“It removes the printing of paper, it will allow operatives to interact with the system, it will validate that they are at right location, it will make sure they’ve picked the right item by just reading the last digits of the barcode or check code on the location. It will also update the ERP, enabling accurate, up-to-date stock checks.”
- Lydia has had a previously anticipated benefit: During the Pandemic the removal of the printer and the need to collect printouts has made social distancing easier to implement.
