“One of the biggest benefits is that voice allows operators to keep their hands and eyes focused on the picking task,” says Alyssa Keeney, solution consultant at Atlanta-based Dematic. “Workers receive verbal instructions directing them to the appropriate location and quantity, which can reduce unnecessary searching and interactions with paper lists or handheld screens. That can translate into faster, more consistent picking and improved accuracy.

“Voice is also relatively flexible,” Keeney continues. “It can support different picking strategies and changing product mixes without requiring an operation to automate every part of the process. For beverage distributors in particular, voice can be integrated into case-picking workflows and mixed-case pallet building, making it useful in environments where operators are handling a wide range of products and order profiles.”

Tatiana Munoz, director of business development at Hardis Supply Chain, New York, echoes similar sentiments, noting that the biggest benefit of voice-picking systems is its ability to make picking more productive without unnecessarily complicating the operator’s job. 

“By delivering instructions through a headset, voice-picking frees the operator's eyes and hands and reduces the need to interact with a screen or handheld device,” she says. “The technology can also improve operator comfort and reliability. Short voice dialogs are designed to keep interactions efficient, while multilingual capabilities allow operators to select their preferred language.” 

Meeting the SKU challenge

As the number and variety of SKUs increase, picking operations become more complex, impacting interest in voice-picking technology, experts note.

Hardis’ Munoz explains that with SKU proliferation, operators must identify more products, navigate more locations, and make more decisions while maintaining accuracy.

“In beverage operations, where products can have similar packaging or formats, even a small picking error can create downstream costs and affect customer satisfaction,” she says. “Voice-picking can help manage this complexity by providing precise, step-by-step instructions directly to the operator. 

“The technology can also provide immediate error notifications, helping prevent mistakes before they become shipping or inventory problems,” Munoz continues. “Because the system is customizable, it can adapt to different warehouse procedures and workflows as product assortments evolve.”

Dematic’s Keeney also highlights how voice-picking addresses SKU proliferation which is making beverage picking significantly more complex. 

“Consumers have more choices than ever, from craft and specialty beverages to health-focused products and new package sizes and formats. For distributors, every additional SKU can mean another pick location to manage, longer travel distances, and more opportunities for errors,” she explains. “Voice-picking helps operators navigate that complexity by providing hands-free, location-directed instructions rather than requiring them to continually reference paper lists or screens.”

Keeney adds that voice-picking also supports more accurate inventory information by connecting picking activity back to warehouse software in real time.

“The value of that flexibility increases as the SKU mix becomes larger and changes more frequently,” she says.

A winning combination

As voice-picking technology continues to be an important tool as beverage warehouses look for practical ways to combine automation with human expertise, experts weigh in on what the future holds for the technology. 

“The future is less about voice operating as a standalone technology and more about how it works alongside other forms of automation,” Dematic’s Keeney says. “Beverage warehouses have products with very different velocities and handling requirements, so the most effective solution may combine voice-directed manual picking with technologies such as automated storage, conveyors, AGVs, AMRs or automated palletizing.

“Voice can remain particularly valuable in areas where human flexibility makes sense while automation takes on repetitive, high-volume or physically demanding tasks,” she continues.

Hardis’ Munoz says that for many operations, the most effective approach will be a combination of technologies, with people and automation working together.

“The future will likely involve more integrated warehouse environments in which voice-picking, robotics, conveyors, automated storage systems, and other technologies are coordinated through the WMS or broader warehouse execution architecture,” she explains. “Voice can remain particularly valuable for tasks where human judgment, flexibility and physical handling are still important.

“The goal should not be automation for its own sake,” Munoz continues. “It should be creating a warehouse that is more productive, accurate, flexible, and easier for people to work in. Voice- picking offers a relatively accessible way to improve manual operations while also providing a foundation that can fit into a broader automation strategy as the warehouse evolves.”