Home improvements retailer Wickes continues to increase efficiency and future-proof its operations through adoption of ZetesMedea Voice

Established in 1972, Wickes has almost 50 years’ experience within the home improvement industry, supplying both homeowners and the small building trade. The retailer operates over 233 stores across the UK, selling a large variety of DIY, home improvement and garden products.

Having worked with Zetes for a number of years to review and improve its warehouse efficiency, Wickes has once again chosen to drive further improvements in productivity by upgrading the ZetesMedea Voice solution to the next generation voice platform and deploying the latest Zebra Android wearable devices within its order picking process. This improvement provides Wickes added flexibility, resilience, and increased productivity within operations.

Long term partner

When Wickes first approached Zetes several years ago, they were seeking a solution to improve efficiency and health & safety within its distribution centre. At the time, Wickes were using paper dockets for order picking: a manual process that was prone to misreads and picking errors. This had quickly become one of the most costly and time-consuming processes within the warehouse due to the variety of products offered by Wickes. As a multichannel retailer, with an ever-increasing online presence, the picking process had become more complex with operatives having to fulfil orders for both stores and individual consumers.

Looking for a more efficient picking process to address the complexities of warehouse operations, Wickes adopted ZetesMedea Voice, a market-leading untrained voice picking solution that improves speed and accuracy of order fulfilment as well as reducing the time needed to onboard new staff and easily integrating with their existing WMS.

Increased productivity and accuracy  

Deploying ZetesMedea Voice within their distribution centre, Wickes were able to increase efficiency within their picking operations. As a wearable solution, operatives have both hands free. Productivity was further increased by utilising the solutions ability to streamline the picking process and reducing time wasted by allowing for smarter routes around the picking area. The untrained nature of the solution also enables the quick onboarding of new employees, reducing time spent on training and ensuring new operatives can be operational within minutes, which is essential especially at peak times.

Next Generation Voice  

Wickes have once again chosen Zetes as their trusted advisor when upgrading their operations within the order picking process. In a bid to further improve efficiencies, Wickes have updated to the latest version of ZetesMedea Voice, as well as adopting cutting-edge Android technology. Making the move to the new generation of voice will help future-proof operations, with an Android-based multimodal solution giving added flexibility to handle whatever complexities arise.

Callum Hancock, Head of Store Distribution at Wickes “Working in partnership with Zetes helps ensure our Warehouse operations are resilient and future-proof. When we initially moved from paper-picking to voice, they understood the challenges and helped us overcome them and we experienced an impressive 20% increase in efficiency. Now, moving to the next generation of voice, we expect to see further efficiency gains as we aim to maximise the productivity within our operations.”

“When we initially moved from paper-picking to voice, they understood the challenges and helped us overcome them and we experienced an impressive 20% increase in efficiency.” Callum Hancock, Head of Store Distribution at Wickes

Amir Harel, Zetes UK, Managing Director; “Pressure on warehouses and distribution centres has never been greater and we’re pleased to have helped Wickes to ensure greater efficiency within theirs and also increase their productivity levels even in the current challenging climate.

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