Ivanti Velocity and Ivanti Speakeasy have enabled barbecue home grill company Weber to consistently meet customer expectations amid heightened demand during the pandemic, while keeping operational costs low.
Ivanti Wavelink, the supply chain business unit of Ivanti, has announced that Weber, one of the largest brands in the home grill market, is leveraging Ivanti Velocity and Ivanti Speakeasy to solve supply chain challenges, streamline warehouse processes, and unlock productivity and safety gains.
Weber’s supply chain processes have long been underpinned by technology, but the company’s recent investments in Ivanti Wavelink solutions have truly improved workflows, reduced training times and future-proofed its supply chain operations.
Before the pandemic, the Weber team in Australia had been using mobile computing technology to manage day-to-day warehouse tasks, such as product put away and order picking, but some business challenges existed.
For example, the number of key clicks required to process a transaction was considerable. This presented productivity and safety concerns, as employees were often distracted and spending too much time on its devices, while struggling to pick goods safely and effectively; working in a Weber warehouse involves handling bulky items that require two-handed picking, which cannot be achieved with a device in hand.
In addition, the rugged mobile devices were approaching their end of life, due to an operating system becoming unsupported. The COVID-19 pandemic presented yet another challenge in early 2020; with lockdowns in place, Weber shifted its business model and offered free shipping for online orders, thus increasing sales and pressure on the warehouse to be more productive.
To solve these supply chain challenges, Weber worked with its mobile device supplier to replace its existing devices with Android-based Honeywell CT40 devices. Using the Ivanti Velocity solution, Weber then migrated and modernized its green screen-based applications to a modern, touch-enabled layout on the Android operating system without a line of code being written.
This meant that the adoption of the new devices within the Weber warehouse could happen in days rather than months, and processes could immediately be streamlined by reducing the number of keystrokes with the new, more intuitive applications. But it was the next step that truly transformed Weber’s warehouse practices and unlocked significant productivity and safety gains.
With the new Weber applications now working on the Ivanti Velocity, Weber decided to add the Ivanti Speakeasy voice solution to its processes to eliminate the need for staff to physically interact with their mobile devices. Weber moved to voice within two weeks of adopting the new mobile devices, a concept unheard of with other solutions.
Warehouse staff could now rely on voice commands and acknowledgement and work handsfree by placing their devices in waist-mounted holsters. This solved the safety concerns of managers when handheld devices were in use. In addition, staff could undertake their tasks at a faster pace, allowing for significant productivity gains.
“Shifting to voice-based processes in the warehouse at Weber has created a significant impact,” said Terry Garner, the Weber Logistics Manager for Australia and New Zealand. “We have experienced a 12-second reduction in the time to pick an item. In product-picking numbers, that equates to time savings of 20 minutes for every 100 items picked, representing a significant boost in productivity, especially given that the Weber Australia operation picks approximately 600 items a day. With the new voice solution in place, we have been able to save a massive two hours a day in picking time. With such productivity gains, customers’ expectations are met, even with an increase in demand.”
Garner continued: “Staff are more productive and safer. Managers have greater visibility and accuracy around stock movements. It’s easier for Weber to onboard new warehouse staff with the more intuitive applications in place. Above all, Weber customers’ expectations are being met, even when the demand for Weber products has increased.”
Overall, Ivanti Velocity and Ivanti Speakeasy have enabled the Weber operation in Australia to meet customer expectations amid heightened demand during the pandemic, while keeping operational costs low and preparing for the future of warehouse work. Weber recently increased its warehouse space in Australia from 600sqm to 2500sqm.
The Ivanti Speakeasy voice solution has supported the growth effectively and will enable further process enhancements by working on the Ivanti Velocity framework, a future-proofed technology that empowers organizations to maximize their investments.
“It’s an honor that Weber selected our Ivanti Wavelink solutions to speed its warehouse operations and increase productivity,” said Brandon Black, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Ivanti Wavelink.
“I’m proud that the implementation of our technologies happened so quickly, so that Weber could quickly realize the ROI and keep up with heightened demand. We look forward to continuing to help Weber further streamline its warehouse processes through the power and simplicity of voice and unlock even more productivity gains through our Velocity solution.”
