Glanbia invests €1m in mobile voice technology

5 Jan 2012

Ronan Clinton of Heavey RF with John Mee of Glanbia Consumer Products

The largest branded food supplier to the Irish grocery sector Glanbia Consumer Products has signed a €1m contract to roll out automated voice technology across its manufacturing and dairy warehouses.

The company produces household brands like Avanmore, Yoplait, Kilmeaden and Petits Filous and supplies 4,000 customers with 2m consumer packs daily. The company employs 650 people across eight locations in Ireland.

Glanbia Consumer Products has signed a €1m deal with Heavey RF Group to deploy Heavey’s VocalPoint voice technology across two milk manufacturing and three food and dairy warehouses.

Heavey RF also worked closely with Glanbia’s IT team to implement an interface to Glanbia’s SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software.

Productivity boost

The installation has boosted productivity in one warehouse by up to 95pc. Stock picking accuracy improved in that same warehouse by 600pc, resulting in a reduction of credit claims by 45pc. Pick speed improved from 160 to 260 cases per hour.

“The Heavey RF VocalPoint voice implementation has had a direct impact on our bottom line,” commented John Mee, Supply Chain Manager, Glanbia Consumer Products.

“In addition, we always had good customer service levels, but with the improved traceability voice provides, our customer approval ratings have soared.”

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com