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Learning from Consumer Electronics
2008 Update: There has been dramatic
growth in consumer electronic devices that use the same technologies we
can apply to inventory-related tasks. I bring this up because there is a
lot that can be learned from these consumer devices about user
interfaces.
Cell phones and voice dialing.
Many if not most new cell phones now provide voice dialing capabilities.
The functionality is generally a combination of the phone recognizing
numbers spoken into the phone (user speaks actual phone number into the
phone) and voice-based speed dial (where the user defines specific words
or phrases that are attached to specific numbers to auto dial). Once you
start using this type of functionality, it's easy to grasp the
advantages of utilizing speech to communicate commands to a computer
(modern phones are actually computers).
Automotive GPS navigation systems.
Here we have vehicle-mounted consumer devices that use touch screens,
speech recognition, and voice direction. If you've used several
different GPS devices over the years, you would also get a good feel for
the difference between a good user interface and a poor one.
You can get a good feel for how a good
touch-screen device not only eliminates the need for a keypad, but also
makes entering information much easier than a keypad because the touch
screen adjusts automatically for the specific task you are doing. You
can also get a good feel for how properly combining technologies can
result in a far superior system than just focusing on a single
technology. The voice direction ("turn right in 1.5 miles on Elm
Street") is extremely useful, but you still need to use the screen
occasionally. Little details like showing a distance countdown to the
next turn on the main map screen is incredibly useful and seems like an
obvious standard feature once you get use to using it, but it may not
have existed on some earlier devices simply because the designers didn't
think of it. In fact, if I look at the information that's included on my
main navigation screen, I see it has the key information I need and
nothing more. Hmm, I wonder if they read my book?
The lessons to learn here relate to the
appropriate use of technology. Not only choosing the right technology
for the right task, but also setting up the user interface properly for
the specific task. Even though I'm very good with computers and am a bit
of a technology junkie, I choose to use a rather inexpensive GPS
navigation system that doesn't have all the bells and whistles of
higher-priced devices. Not because I'm cheap (I am), but because the
less functional device is actually easier to use. It's built for a very
specific purpose (navigation) and for non-techie users. As soon as I
turned it on, it was obvious how to use the main navigation features.
It's very efficient at helping me get from point A to point B.
If you're thinking about using portable
computers in your warehouse or on your shop floor, I recommend spending
time using these types of consumer devices as part of your research. Not
that you can use these actual devices, or that the functionality you
implement will be identical, but that just getting a feel for how these
technologies work (or can work) can prove to be very useful.
Bar code
scanners.
It looks like 2D bar code scanners are
finally coming down in price. Though I still don't see the need for 2D
in most inventory applications, it is good to see new lower cost 2D
scanners becoming available. In addition, I am starting to see scanners
with USB connectivity (though most still connect via serial port or
keyboard wedge interface).
2005 -There is an interesting low-cost laser
scanner (1D only) that has been gaining visibility recently. I'm not yet
convinced that the Flic Scanner
is the best choice for warehouse and other inventory applications, but I
am impressed with the innovation of the product. The Flic scanner
provides a small non-standard design (not the normal pistol-shaped
scanner) for a very reasonable cost. In addition, Flic is available with
USB connectivity and even integrated
Bluetooth for wireless connectivity. These options allow the Flic
scanner to easily integrate wired or wireless with desktop PCs, notebook
PCs, and portable devices such as PDAs. The scanner also has enough
memory to store up to 500 bar codes, so even with a wired connection,
you can simply unplug the scanner, walk over to a pallet, scan the bar
code, and then plug the scanner back in to download the bar code. These
are some pretty slick options, especially for this price range. Again, I
don't see this device as the primary device in large data collection
applications, however, it is a nice inexpensive option for the
occasional physical inventory (in combination with a portable notebook
computer or PDA) or other less intensive data collection applications.
Go to
Bar Code Scanner Links
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Portable Hand-held Computers.
Well, I'm still less-than-impressed with the
hand-held portable industrial computers being marketed towards warehouse
applications. The majority of my comments made on pages 218-222 still
hold true.
Virtually all of the new models have adopted
Windows CE/PocketPC as the operating system of choice though you'll
still find DOS in many of the older models still being sold. With the
continued growth of Windows CE in the hand-held area, I need to once
again warn that the use of a stylus on a touch screen is not appropriate
for warehouse environments. Make sure you make this message very clear
to whomever is programming your devices. Don't assume that they know
better than to program stylus requirements in their programs.
I did notice that the color displays on
these devices seem to be getting better (I have no scientific evidence
of this). I especially noticed the color screens on handheld
computers made by PSC which seemed to be brighter and clearer than
others.
The most significant--though not
particularly useful--change recently with
portable hand-held industrial computers is the incorporation of RFID
readers. This is discussed in greater detail in the RFID update. Also,
(as mentioned again below) most handheld computer vendors now have
devices with voice technology capabilities.
I was pleased to see some creativity used in
the design of the new
Code Reader
3.0 Wireless from Code
Corporation which is about thee size of a cell phone and used
Bluetooth for RF and JavaScript for programming the user interface. This
design still suffers from the many of the same issues as other
handhelds, but it's good to see that there are some people out there
experimenting with handheld designs and technologies.
Go
to Portable Computer Links
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Voice
technology and wearable systems
2007 Update: I'm seeing more wearable
options out there, but nothing I would consider revolutionary.
LXE now has a wrist worn computer
called the HX2 .
Socket has a new wireless
ring scanner . I think just about every portable industrial computer
vendor has voice capable devices now. I am pleased to see that many of
the portable computer vendors are thinking hard about not only wearable,
but also devices that use combinations of voice, bar code scanning, RFID,
and other technologies. I see these technology combinations to be the
ultimate solution for many industrial applications.
2005 Update: I'm still seeing promise for using
speech-based technology for material handling tasks (especially order
picking). I think the recent hype over RFID has somewhat overshadowed
the emergence of speech technology in the warehouse and distribution
applications.
I remain disappointed to see that many
"wearable" computers being integrated with voice technology are still
just hand-held devices stuffed into fanny packs. I do, however, continue
to be impressed with ergonomic device manufactured by
Vocollect. In addition,
Vocollect has recently partnered with
MCL Technologies to provide
development tools that will allow greater access to voice technology.
More specifically, it should help to integrate voice with bar code data
collection (MCL's specialty). As mentioned in the
Inventory Accuracy book, I see
this combination as the ultimate in accuracy and productivity in the
near future.
Voxware has also introduced a new
device that is designed specifically for voice systems. Their VLS-410
device is carried inside a fanny pack, but it is designed
specifically for that purpose, resulting in a smaller and more
comfortable device than a hand-held device in a fanny pack.
Intermec
has partnered with Syvox to
incorporate voice technology into their systems. At Supply Chain Week, I
saw a demo of a system from Intermec that utilizes voice in combination
with RFID. This system was in its early stages and was designed to be
used as a vehicle mounted system. A full-color LCD vehicle mounted
touch-screen computer combined with voice prompts and voice command
capabilities with a lift-truck mounted RFID antenna. I think the
Intermec guys are having a hard time letting go of the visual interface
(computer screen) that voice is designed to replace. Although, in a
vehicle-mounted application I guess I won't be as critical as I would in
a wearable system.
When implementing voice technology, make
sure you review the prompt recommendations from pages 226-227 of the
book. I have noticed some of the voice system vendors have already
changed their demos to reflect a more streamlined voice/response script
such as that suggested in my book. Maybe they arrived at these
conclusions independently of my book, but I think I'll take credit
anyway.
Go to
Voice Technology Links
NetworkAnatomy is working on some interesting wearable technology.
Their products are not focused on warehouse and manufacturing processes,
but you should find it interesting to see some of their products. Of
particular interest is a device built into a glove called the
CommanderGauntlet. Again, this isn't designed for inventory management,
but you can begin to see some of the possibilities.
Integration
Tools
As mentioned in the Voice technology
section,
Vocollect has recently partnered
with MCL Technologies to
provide development tools that will allow greater access to voice
technology.
RFgen has introduced interfaces
available for SAP and JD Edwards ERP systems. This is somewhat of a
change for a company that has been providing more universal integration
tools.
Go to
Integration Tools Links
Software for
Training Programs.
I had mentioned in the book using website
design programs to create training materials. In recent years there has
been an explosion of highly functional open source (free software
including source code which can be modified) software products designed
as web collaboration and content management tools.
Wikis are a great
example of these. They allow you to quckly set up a highly functional
site that is organized, searchable, and provides easy editing of content
by users. The most well known example of a Wiki is the
Wikipedia Project,
a massive community created encyclopedia. In addition to numerous open
source wiki products available, there are also content management
systems and even tools specific to education. Below are some examples of
available "Free" programs.
RFID
I have set up a separate page for
RFID Updates.
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