Over 35 years ago, I began my career developing industrial speech recognition technology at Westinghouse Electric R&D Labs. Just like any technology, there is continuous transformation. Speech recognition technology began on ‘refrigerator sized’ recognizers and cards in desktops but has now shifted to Android mobile devices, smartphones and smartwatches. Over the course of this transformation, I saw an opportunity to use this technology in warehouses and distribution centers. Warehouse workers were using paper picklists to fill customer orders, causing them to struggle to meet goals. And as market demands evolved, there was an escalated need for innovative solutions to make their jobs easier.In the late 1990s, I help found Lucas systems and we made it our mission to make the lives of warehouse workers easier by simplifying their tasks with easy-to-use voice-directed solutions. I served as the chief architect and software engineer responsible for the development of these solutions.Since then, I’ve had the privilege to deliver hundreds of unique distribution center solutions, including the earliest implementation of speech recognition systems for non-picking processes, and groundbreaking multimodal systems combining voice, scanning, and other data entry techniques. I love visiting a customer site, months – or even years – after go live, and being told by warehouse floor workers that we changed their lives. Now, as market demands and technologies continue to evolve, my team at Lucas Systems and I have as well. By combining process expertise and our intelligent machine learning based software solutions, we make it our goal to transform DC operations from being a burden or ‘cost center’ into a competitive advantage for our customers. If you’re looking for innovative ways to maximize productivity, accuracy and service in your warehouse, please reach out to me. I’d love to see how I can help. Contact me directly on Linkedin or email me at May@lucasware.com.