World's Smallest Wireless Barcode Data Collector

The KDC200 Barcode Data Collector/Scanner. Image courtesy from KoamTac.

Nope. They are not mobile phones nor cigarette lighters, neither digital cameras or remote controllers. They are enterprise-grade barcode data collectors or scanners. Who needs the gigantic, bulky, heavy and outdated barcode data collector when you can use the sleek, zippo lighter-size and Bluetooth-enabled powerful Barcode Scanner?

The barcode data collectors are innovations from Koamtac, a Princeton, New Jersey company that specializes with data collection devices. These devices only weigh just 2 oz and the size of a cigarette lighter making them the world's smallest Bluetooth-enabled barcode data collectors. The KDC barcode scanner can be worn around your neck, carry it in a purse, or simply slide it in your pocket.

The KDC barcode Data Collector fits perferctly into your
palm. Image from CFCompany, Japan

Do not underestimate because of its size. The device is an enterprise solution for virtually any retail, supply chain, or data collection requirements. It tracks packages, couriers, shipments, deliveries, and identify your location worldwide.

It is used in retail stores for quick physical inventory, UPC validation and Scanning. It makes speedy access to patient's medical records, and insurance data. It is used to manage properties, visitor's identifications and scanning of driver's licenses, among others.

The first generation of this product, the KDC100 was introduced in the US in 2008 at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by the Princeton-based company. A year later, the second generation was released with the ability to read 2D barcodes with Bluetooth technology and supports the Honeywell's Adaptus Imaging Technology.

In 2010, the KDC300i was introduced as newer upgrade which supports iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and can scan any type of barcode symbologies. This time the device gets smaller and weighs only around 1.2 oz. In 2011, Koamtac has released the newest version of the barcode scanner with GPs capability. The company also released new KDC firmware which supports Spec2.1+EDR and HID option which allow the user to toggle the iPhone soft keyboard so that both device works simultaneously.

All KDC line of barcode scanners support all mobile devices such as laptops, desktops, PDA's, Tablets,  Mobile Phones, and Smartphones. It supports virtually any mobile and desktop operating systems which include Google Android, RIM Blackberry, Apple iPhone/iPad iOS, Mac OS, Windows Mobile, all Microsoft Windows operating systems such as Win98/2000/XP/Vista/Windows7/Windows Servers, making it the first barcode collector that supports cross-platform.

Image from KoamTac

Read more enterprise news about KDC Data Collectors

KDC is a registered trademark and property of KoamTac, the innovator of the KDC line of Barcode Data Collectors. KoamTac, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures barcode data collection devices and barcode scan modules.  Adaptus is a registered trademark and property of Honeywell International Inc; Android is a registered trademark and property of Google Inc; Bluetooth is a registered trademark and property of Bluetooth SIG.


Blackberry is a registered trademark and property of Research in Motion Limited; KDC and KTSync are trademarks of KoamTac Inc.; Mircosoft Windows is a registered trademarks and property of Microsoft Corporation; iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Self-scan Inventory Part 3: Is it Really Worth Your Money?

A typical Target retail store. The company hires an inventory service to count merchandise. 

This is the last part of this 3-part series on self-scan inventory:

• Self-Scan Inventory Part 1: What is it?
• Self-Scan Inventory Part 2: Who are they and what benefits they offer?
• Self-Scan Inventory Part 3: Is it really worth your money?

In my previous posts (please refer the series listed above), I already have covered much of the topics I wanted to discuss. Now, I will give a short comparative table in terms of expenses, and advantages between self-scan inventory vs. hiring a professional inventory service. The goal of this post is for you to decide which is more appropriate to your retail business.

Consider the following data:

• Store Name:                                          (withheld)
• Number of Employees:                          8 including Store Manager
• Approximate number of Merchandise:    35,000
• Nature of Business:                                Retail, Ladies' Bags and Accessories
• Scan Mode:                                          Auto Scan, UPC Integrity, Verify 20%

A comparison chart between self-scan inventory and hiring a professional service
Self-Scan Inventory Required to rent inventory equipment with at least 9 scanners. The extra scanner is needed just in case a unit malfunctions. Weekly rental rate starts at $1,500 Equipment Rental Cost Using Daily Rate: $990.00 If you close your store for the inventory, estimate the potential net profit loss for the day. Here, I will provide a conservative estimate: $2,000 If you plan the inventory prior or after store hours, all staff must be present and therefore overtime hrs may require. Use time and a half to pay overtime hours spent. Estimated hours spent based on 8-hour inventory time at an average of $10.00/hr OR $15.00/hr including overtime: $840.00 You may also include expenses such as food/snacks for your staff when the inventory goes beyond wee hours. When you open your store the next morning, don't be surprised when some of your staff looked so tired. Some won't show up, and some will call and sick. If you plan the inventory while the store is open, you can only maximize half of your employees since the other half will focus on sales and customer service. You will spend twice the time for inventory due to staff limitation. If you intend to ask help from the closest store (if it happened to have one) in your area, the other store will be short-staffed as well. Who will train you and your staff for the inventory? Remember, you only rented the equipment. Estimate time spent for familiarizing the equipment, procedures, actual training and exercise. Estimated time to spend: 30 minutes-45 minutes. It is estimated that store staff count 30% bit slower than professional inventory crew. The average auto scan speed for a professional inventory member is 800 auto scans per hour. The average auto scan speed for regular store employee is 560 auto scans per hour.  If your store has an estimated 35,000 pcs. of merchandise, it takes about: 9 hours to complete the inventory using your employees. If you split your staff into 50/50, you will spend 18 straight hours of inventory time, not including lunches and breaks! When you split, adjust and recompute your Equipment Rental Cost from daily to weekly rates.   6 hours to complete the inventory using professional inventory crew. You have the option to hire a dedicated trainer-internal auditor to train and assist employees for all inventories if your corporate requires it.		Hiring A Pro No equipment rental. You can always open your store while the inventory is ongoing which means no profit will be lost. Fixed Inventory Fee. Only ask a flat rate even if inventory may extend. Inventory service may even be penalized for going beyond the agreed duration time. No overtime pay for employees. Your employees can focus more on customer service. No training of staff needed. No hardware-software hassles. No troubleshooting of equipment. Inventory done in due time. Saved 30% more on time and effort. Inventory crew is done while your staff is 3 more hours to go counting. You don't have to worry where to get staffing.  You get well-trained inventory crew, and experienced inventory service  You save energy, time, avoid unnecessary inconveniences associated to a stressful physical inventory.
Estimated Cost: From $1,830 - $4,000		Estimated Cost: Flat Rate: $2,100

All data are for informational purposes only. Should you have any question, it is always best to discuss it with your company or with the inventory professional of your choice. The author shall not be responsible for any damage(s) arising directly and indirectly as a result of misuse or abuse of information herein.

You may also like:

        

Self-Scan Inventory Part 2: Who are they and what benefits they offer?

Jewelry and silverware company, Tiffany & Co. uses self-scan service for its product inventory

This is the second part of this 3-part series on self-scan inventory:

• Self-Scan Inventory Part 1: What is it?
• Self-Scan Inventory Part 2: Who are they and what benefits they offer?
• Self-Scan Inventory Part 3: Is it really worth your money?

In my previous post, I mentioned about what essentially is a self-scan inventory. This post deals with the benefits of having self-scan inventory, why self-scan inventory is better in many ways than hiring the pros. Lastly, I will list some companies that offer self-scan service. I will also attempt to provide good reasons why retail owners should consider self-scan over hiring a professional inventory service.


Benefits of self-scan inventory

It is Cost-effective.
Self-scan inventory can save you an average of 20% inventory cost over hiring a pro. In fact, some retailers that use the self-scan service even boast up to 50% net savings over their stores' current inventory costs.  This average savings may include cost of equipment usage, manpower cost, etc.

System Compliance. 
Most self-scan systems are approved or at least complied with all major external auditing firms. These are the Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, or Price Waterhouse Coopers. These firms adhere to the basic requirement of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which states that it requires accuracy in the valuation of a retailer's inventory.

Result is relatively more accurate.
The logic behind it is that since you utilize your employees to count merchandise, they have better knowledge of YOUR merchandise and they  know WHERE your merchandise are located. Most importantly, employees have vested interest in the success of the inventory process.

Software designed for a specific requirement.
Each retail store has specific needs for inventory reports. Most of these providers can customize the result of your inventory and the data that you require unlike some pros that have rigid software specifications.

Complete control.
You will have a better control of your inventory, both with your employees, the inventory process, and how you like the outcome of the inventory. In hiring a pro, you have to comply with the rigid agreement, with their rules and procedures of inventory process. When you do it with your own, you will be the boss. When somebody do it for you, you are constrained with the rules of the inventory procedures by the pro. You can always delay, extend, or even suspend your inventory using self-scan because you control your time. When hiring a pro, the inventory manager is time driven. If the inventory extends, the pro loses time... and money.


Flexibility.
In self-scan, you can do how you want and when you want the inventory to be done. In hiring a pro, even if you wanted more time to validate data and double check physical merchandise, you won't be able to do it because you are tied with the time allowable for data verification and other constraints imposed by the inventory service. When the inventory is over, you won't be able to call them back and let them count free of charge for merchandise that have missed during the inventory. In self-scan, as long as you have the equipment, you can always perform any post-inventory changes.

Companies that offer self-scan inventory

The Bed Bath & Beyond company uses self-scan service to audit its retail stores

There are literally dozens of solutions providers of self-scan in the United States alone. Some of them simply offer the hardware without the inventory software that runs them. Others offer bundled software with limited support. Others offer complete line of products and services. Most equipment for rental ranges from barcode scanners, wired and wireless access points, terminals, interrogators, to readers with WiFi connectivity, complete with inventory management software and operating systems.

To know more about these companies, I am going to list some of them here:

• Rapid POS
• Barcoding
• Barcode Rental
• Label Data
• MSS-Software
• Rent Barcode Scanners
• Barcode Trader
• Legacy Global
• Unified Barcode  And the list goes on.

But there are at least 2 companies that I believe stood out from the rest. These two companies offer complete line of self-scan products and services which include the hardware, software customization, process, and customer service:

DataScan
www.datascanlp.com

• Been in the business for 35 years now.
• The only self-scan company with SAS 70 Type II Certification. 
• Uses the latest innovation in data collection such as IP data transmission, real-time reporting, etc.
• The company boasts as the nation's largest self-scan inventory with over 40,000 scanners in stock.
• 24/365 Help Desk service 
• DataScan provides self-scan inventory over 40,000 counts each year in over 15 countries worldwide. 

Hart Systems

www.HartSystems.com

• Over 40 years in the business
• Hart Systems are used United States, Canada and in 27 countries around the world.
• Offer 24/7 Help Desk and IT support, file processing, and data archiving.
• Hart Systems complies and are audited by all major accounting firms, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, or Price Waterhouse Coopers.  These firms have given their approval for the use of Hart’s scanning system to take self-scanned physical inventories.
• On demand reporting

Now that you have some ideas about what is self-scan, what are the benefits, and which companies offer these services. In my last part of this series, I will examine the benefits as claimed by these companies and we compare them side by side against the benefits of hiring inventory providers. Then you will decide which group live up to what they wanted us to believe. And which one that really offers the best bang for your buck.

Cheers!


Inventory and POS systems:

      

Self-scan Inventory Part 1: What is it?

Clerk performing self-scan inventory using a handheld scanner.

This is the first part of this 3-part series on self-scan inventory:

• Self-Scan Inventory Part 1: What is it?
• Self-Scan Inventory Part 2: Who are they and what benefits they offer?
• Self-Scan Inventory Part 3: Is it really worth your money?

The rise of inventory providers
Back in the days when computers and data collection equipment are foreign to retail inventory operations, the de facto method of gathering data in physical inventory was the paper and pencil or manual data collection. Retail stores use their employees to perform this method. It was simple, and cost-effective. But it was tedious, time consuming, and became impractical when it applies to medium to large scale physical inventories.

When barcode scanning became the accepted data collection method for retail inventories, it replaces the old system. Because it is a lot more efficient. It can handle complex data and use to perform large scale inventories. It is fast, more accurate, and reliable. But there is always a price to make: capital investment. Retail owners have to invest in inventory equipment, inventory software management, and computer systems that run them not mentioning the cost of maintaining those systems and the crew to use them.

Because of the problem of cost, companies that have the expertise and capital to address those issues have come up to provide solutions to the nitty gritty and complexities of conducting physical inventories. They perform efficient, fast, and reliable data collection services to retail companies using the latest technology available in the market. Retailers are no longer have to spend on expensive systems or worry about inventory procedures, and training for inventory crew because these solutions providers perform everything for a fee.

Retail owners agree on the many benefits of hiring an inventory professional service. Now, there are more than 2,000 professional inventory providers with varying sizes accross the United States alone.

However, while many of them seemed to agree that it can be cost efficient in short term period, but how about the long term period? When one is to analyze the cost of hiring pros in a long term basis, say 10 years, and compute all those fees paid including other associated expenses, they will find out that purchasing inventory equipment and computer systems have comparable cost against hiring the pros.
So again, retailers are faced with more questions, should I hire or should I buy? Is there any other way to cut inventory cost and remains to have efficient physical count?

I think there is another possible solution to both of these questions which attracts thousands of small to medium retail owners. This solution is what we call self-scan inventory. If you are a small retail owner, new in the business, or maintains small to medium retail chain, and never have tried to contract a self-scan inventory provider, this segment maybe good for you or at least provide you with basic essentials.


What is Self-scan inventory

Image: Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is an inventory method where store people AND rented inventory system collaborate to perform physical count. The logic and procedure behind this method is very simple: Simply rent the inventory equipment, and use your most valuable asset - your own employees - to perform inventory. Self-scan inventory providers have equipment rental service where they provide ready to use inventory equipment, procedures, and a responsive customer service to handle all questions and issues.

Another good thing about this is that you have total control of the system from the initial until the closing of your inventory resulting to a better accuracy, cost effective, and time-saving process. Self-scan inventory maximizes the efficiency and availability of your own employees. They know the locations and nature of  your inventories better than any third party provider could. One more thing, since your stores are your employees' responsibility, they feel compelled to keep your stores clean and organized during and after inventory.

In my next segment, I will talk about more on the benefits of self-scan inventory, which companies that provide these services, and why you should or should not consider them.


Related Posts:

• 6 good reasons to hire a professional inventory service and 3 good reasons to be precautious Part 2
• Voice activated inventory, Unique or Obsolete?
• The best barcode scanners for mobile 

RFID: Better than Barcodes?

An RFID tag used for electronic toll collection

In the next 3 posts or so, I will focus my content to some interesting topics that fascinates me for the last 5 years. The RFID technology. So it is going to be a series of topics. RFID is a very broad subject to write about. But in this case, I will only deal some issues and understanding of the technology as it applies to retail inventory. So, the series shall be as follows:

• RFID: Better than Barcode?
• RFID: Inventory Jobs killer?
• RFID: Does RGIS ready for it?

This post shall be the first of the 3-part series.

What is RFID

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is one of the newer wireless technologies that uses radio wave frequency as a mode of capturing or identifying data. They are smart tags and can be embedded into objects or products which sizes range from that of a credit card to smaller size like a dot. 

It has been around for many years but prior to 2000, RFID tags had been used in the US which include toll road passes, access ID cards, and animal identification. After 2000, its use has been expanded to include applications on smart Credit Cards, drug labellings, military equipment and logistics, the airline industry, automotive, public libraries, and the list goes on. Now, it is being applied in the supply chain. 

Portable RFID reader

Most RFID tags operate at either 13 MHZ or 900 MHz frequencies. To give you a better idea, think of these frequencies as the AM and FM bands from the radio in your car: one is a short-range frequency, and the other is high or ultra frequency. The 900 MHz (UHF) RFID tags operate well for reading multiple tags simultaneously and therefore suitable for inventory purposes. When using with the right RFID reader, the 900 MHz tags can be read from 10 feet away. While the 13MHz tags can only be read roughly within 3 feet distance. RFID tags are categorized as either passive, like the ones I just mentioned, or active (battery-operated which can be detected as far as 300 ft. away) depending on the application. 

Couple of years back, the use of RFID was confined to warehouse and distribution centers where pallets and cases were tagged for faster and efficient supply management. Now, the technology has found a new place at item-level identification. As we know, Walmart, Department of Defense, American Apparel, and thousands of other retailers have applied the technology either as a pilot program, a dry run, or full fledge retail application.

How does it work

In check outs, unlike barcode scanning, with RFID, multiple tags are captured or read simultaneously in one pass. To give you an idea, watch the IBM RFID commercial which captures the very essence of the technology:

Looks futuristic? Not really. The multiple light rays are for emphasis only. The actual capturing does not have. The idea is similar to capturing data using a barcode scanner, but the big difference is HOW data are being captured. Since RFID does NOT use the "line-of-sight" laser technology which the barcode scanning is built into, the RFID reader detects frequencies from smart tags embedded into clothings or products even if those tags are hidden.

For as long as those tags are within the specified range, say within 10-feet, RFID readers can capture multiples of tags almost in an instant with 99.9% accuracy. No 'scanning' is needed and most importantly, no 10-key is required. It reads multiples in one pass while barcode scanning is one barcode per reading. Imagine a 5-hour auto-scan apparel inventory can be done in less than an hour with fewer people using RFID.

To give you a better understanding, please view the following video on how data are captured in retail setup. The RFID application from this video is currently being used by American Apparel in collaboration with Avery and Motorola as solutions providers.

Video duration: Less than 5 minutes

Benefits of RFID in retail inventory

I am not going to compare which technology or standard is better than the other. At this point, I will simply focus more on the benefits of RFID in relation to retail inventory:

Faster inventory and greater accuracy
In barcode scan and 10-key, the term "fast and accurate" is oxymoron. With RFID, it changes that idea. Research shows that RFID-enabled scan is 8 times faster than the traditional barcode-enabled scan. In an actual demo, RFID-enabled scan gets around 8,000 per hour while barcode-enabled scan gets around 1000 per hour or less. RFID accuracy boasts 99.9% while barcode accuracy is less.

SKU checking is the normal way to revalidate missing SKUs or UPCs. But due to lack of material time, manpower, or inefficient computer system, inventory associates and store people simply scan similar item instead with comparable value. Imagine a 4-hour shoe store inventory using auto-scan, with RFID, the inventory will only last about 30 minutes! Retailers who base their statistics on total piece count typically underestimate the variance between POS-driven figures and their actual on-hand positions.  Instead they should be measuring accuracy at the SKU level.  RFID enable retailers to elevate this to 99 percent or better.

Better location visibility
RFID tells you if the electric fan being used by employees should be part of the sales floor  and not for the pantry, or is not in stock room where it should be found. In many cases this shortens the time spent searching for merchandise or eliminates trips to the stock room.

 More efficient receiving
Receiving can be automated, meaning pallets and boxes can be processed in minutes, allowing new shipments to become sellable sooner. RFID can also be used to identify or locate boxes with merchandise that needs to get rushed to the sales floor immediately.

Fewer items sold at markdown or move to clearance area
A surprising number of items never reach the selling floor until they have already hit their first markdown.  Not only is this a lost revenue opportunity, your labor must be devoted to locating and re-ticketing or relabeling of merchandise slated for markdown or clearance.

More efficient sales floor replenishment
With RFID, the sales floor can be quickly scanned and “pick lists” automatically generated, making it easier to keep stores properly stocked.

Shrink can be identified easily and can be addressed immediately.
Employees are sneaking out merchandise from the store? Or dishonest customer activities in fitting rooms and along the isles? In RFID, it lets you spot backward-moving merchandise because each single item gets assigned a unique serial number. Employee theft and shoplifting which considered as top causes of shrinkage can now be reduced significantly.

Retail application of RFID seemed very promising. This is not to say that it is flawless or without issue. There will be changes as the technology evolves into a more mature and agile system. I predict that given the right opportunity, proper implementation, and better standards, RFID will totally change the inventory management landscape in the next few years.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Amazon recommends:


   

Voice activated inventory: Unique or Obsolete?

Image from AccuTrakInventory.com

Data collection 101

There are numerous ways of collecting data in retail inventories. Each way has some degree of effectiveness and level of application. The oldest data collection system was the paper-pencil. It was not a very convenient medium to record data and information, but despite the advancement of technology in the 21st century, some businesses still very comfortable using the paper-based system.

The coming of computer age in the 1930's until to this very moment, made computers both as the front-end and back-end for data collection and processing possible. Using a wide variety data entry devices such as keyboards or keypads, pointing devices, touchscreen technology, etc. made inventory and data collection becomes more efficient.

A typical barcode

In 1960, the first prototype of LASER (Light Amplification by the Simulated Emission of Radiation) was invented. Today laser technology has become a medium for data collection by enabling to caputure barcoded information widely used by retailers and manufacturers in their supply chain. Because of its high demand and wide applications, barcode scanning and data-entry are the de facto standard in data collection among retailers in their inventory systems.

Although the earliest prototype of wireless application was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1908, wireless network becomes publicly possible only in 1994 when Carnegie Mellon University successfully configured the first wireless internet network available. Now, IEEE 802.11 becomes the standard of carrying out wireless data communications. The standard uses radio wave frequency as modes for data collection, processing, and communication. Among the chief benefits of wireless data collection is the emerging RFID technology.  

But there is one more method of data collection that many of us have not known, but less advanced than RFID is Voice activated data collection.


What is voice recognition inventory and how it works

The first successful speech recognition method, which converts spoken words into text was the IBM Shoebox exhibited at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The application was originally used in the healthcare, then the military, air traffic controllers, and people with disabilities. Numerous improvements in language modelling and voice algorithms have been made. Now, there are plethora of commercially available
voice recognition software out in the market.

The Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Student Edition is one of them . The later versions of Windows OS were equipped with voice recognition software such as the ones pre-installed with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition FULL VERSION with SP2, Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 Upgrade, or the Microsoft's latest Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium. In fact, you can download similar software for free at www.download.com. It seemed to me that these software I have mentioned are general purpose voice recognition programs and none of them really dedicated to purely data collection and retail inventory solution. 

But, is there a software dedicated to that particular application? Yes, there is. In September 2005, inventors Vincent Perrin, Judi Perrin, Micahel Joost and Kevin Wood together with AccuTrak have come up with the retail industry's first voice-enabled data collection and inventory system called VoTrak. It was first introduced at a conference in Myrtle, South Carolina. Votrak a special collection of blue-tooth enabled wireless headsets, a laptop, and a custom voice recognition software working as a single unit.


How the system works

Example of a Bluetooth headset

It is simple. The inventory taker wears the wireless headset, then speaks into microphone using a predefined human commands that marks the beginning and end of each section or area which include item prices, number of items by the eaches or by the case. Then the voice information is transmitted over a wireless link to a laptop or portable computer with the software especially programmed to translate each entry.

Data being stored shall be processed into an inventory management database. The system also accepts multiple voice entries simultaneously. Should the inventory taker commits entry error, the software is equipped with error handling functionality to make corrections with entries. The software can also produce a complete audit trail for verification and reporting purposes. The final result is an accurate financial inventory report.


Benefits

Dragon voice recognition kit

Voice recognition software have been around for years. Its general application is diverse. But a specific application in relation to retail inventory have not been widely recognized or to some, it was something new. Let's take a look some of the benefits:

1. It is not machine dependent and therefore reduces repetitive motions and physical stress such as symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and related health issues.
2. It eliminates keystroke errors that are prone to 10-key data collection.
3. It leaves both hands free to count and keeps auditors focused on counting. 
4. Auditors don't have to look at a 10-key machine or be distracted by any other tool.
5. Excellent in financial inventory when the value of all merchandise is a priority in a business.
6. No additional expensive equipment such as handheld scanners, lasers, wands, etc.
7. The system is unique and proprietary. It uses an Adaptive Grammar technology that no software maker or inventory company can use the unique technology. 
8. It uses latest technology: The microphones have significant noise-canceling capabilities and the speakers are high quality with remote volume controls. The data are transmitted by the microphones to the computing unit using Spread Spectrum Radio Communication or Bluetooth® technology.

It basically utilizes the current standard in communications technology. It also convenient because there is no need for 10-key data entry. But for the last 5 years of using the system, there are always issues associated with it.

Some issues being raised 

1. It is not 100% accurate. The best voice recognition systems can only get as high as 95% accuracy for spoken words and has not been perfected even using the latest voice algorithms available. Which means that its results is not totally foolproof.  
2. Speaking for the rest of the inventory can be tiresome. A six-hour inventory would mean 6 hours of speaking. The best speakers can only last several hours.
3. Voice and noise interference. A noisy inventory environment could be an issue. Working near warehouse equipment or with other inventory auditors in close proximity would be an issue. 
4. Language and accent issues. Does the system can adopt to a variety of auditors with different accents. This is probably one of the problems voice recognition software maker is facing. 
5. Only AccuTrak is using a voice-recognition software for inventory. It's been five years now and it seems no serious inventory services has adopted the system.
6. You cannot use the system to an SKU-dependent inventory, or auto-scan inventory. The Votrak inventory auditor must revert back to barcode scanning system which means using different set of barcode scanning machines.
7. Because the technology is proprietary, the system is locked and limited only to its patent user. Therefore it prohibits other software maker to adopt the system for wider or other application.
8. There are no research or statistics being made which suggests that voice-activated inventory is more efficient or at least comparable in terms of accuracy, length of inventory, system efficiency, customer preferences, and over-all impact of the system among inventory service providers compared to the de facto standard barcode scanning and 10-key data entry. Unless AccuTrak can dispute it otherwise.

Analysis

I think that Votrak or similar voice recognition data collection systems are unique in the inventory business. Voice recognition as model has its own strengths and weaknesses just like 10-key data entry. I would love the idea of a hands-free inventory. It is not only convenient but also eliminate physical stresses and health issues such as Carparl Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) which most inventory takers are experiencing. However, the benefits relatively weigh equally with the  issues associated with it. Voice recognition has a specific use in the inventory niche and it may not be widely accepted standard for retail inventory for now, lets put it that way.

I think that it is a good addition or option to the traditional 10-key inventory system but it shall not replace the latter. Right now, barcode scanning and 10-key remain the de facto standard of inventory taking in the next 10 years until the emerging RFID technology will ultimately replace as model of inventory data collection possibly in the next 15 years. 

If there is a growing demand among inventory providers about the benefits and usage of the voice recognition system, then that will give me a good reason to believe that it is a strong contender for data collection in the retail business. For now, let's keep our fingers crossed until the next 5 to 10 years and we go from there. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You might also like: