Vocollect, Inc., the local technology firm that pioneered the application of wearable voice devices in warehouses more than 20 years ago, still leads the global voice marketplace both in terms of market share and research and development. The technology innovator has sustained an impressive growth clip in recent years fueled by global penetration of the burgeoning voice market and the expansion of its flagship capability across a variety of industries.

This growth is not surprising taking into account that Vocollect has delivered proven improvements in warehouse productivity, accuracy, cost reduction and overall worker satisfaction since the company’s founding in 1987. The company’s Vocollect Voice offerings literally walk people through their daily tasks, replacing cumbersome lists and traditional data capture methods with hands-free personal voice dialogs.

In 2006, Vocollect surpassed $100 million in sales, becoming the first dedicated voice supplier to do so. The future looks even brighter for Vocollect as voice-enabled supply chain solutions continue to infiltrate new industries compounding the company’s core market. “Global competition and a quickly evolving business environment are going to result in more companies shipping more merchandise, to more destinations, under more cost pressure, with more security issues, than ever before. This is already happening,” said Roger Byford, Vocollect Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“As competitive pressure grows, we believe that voice is going to be increasingly viewed as the most viable way to improve productivity, accuracy and safety throughout an entire operation. We believe it’s going to be used for a wider variety of applications in the distribution center, and also throughout the entire supply chain, from the point of manufacture right into the retail store environment.”

Originally, Vocollect gained traction selling early versions of its wearable voice devices into the grocery/food industry. Interestingly, Giant Eagle, one of Vocollect’s major regional customers, helped the company gain its initial foothold in the supply chain industry during this period. Since then, the company expanded into retail, third-party logistics, manufacturing and most recently, healthcare with the acquisition of Adherence Technology Corporation in 2006. From this acquisition, Vocollect formed Vocollect Healthcare Systems (VHS), a wholly owned subsidiary, to target the long-term care industry with its wearable voice applications.

“The healthcare vertical is very attractive to us going forward,” Byford explained. “The function of VHS is to provide wearable voice devices to nurses and nurses’ aides in long-term care facilities so that they can record and track patient information in a hands-free way while on the job.

“We are proud to have the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) as an early customer. VHS devices are in use in all four of UPMC’s regional long-term care facilities,” he continued. “The healthcare vertical is well over a billion dollar market opportunity for us because, like we did before in the supply chain industry, we are creating an entirely new product for the marketplace.”

As you can see, injecting voice into a variety of industries has become Vocollect’s forte over the years. The company’s unwavering commitment to research and development energizes this knack for creating new markets for voice-powered devices. Since its inception, the company has invested a minimum of 15 percent of its annual revenues into R&D to further expand its potential.

For example, Vocollect developed an entirely new product for mobile employees working in long-term care facilities to support its venture into the healthcare space. Looking forward, next-generation voice-powered devices are in Vocollect’s sights. Incorporating radio frequency identification (RFID) technology into its devices is one possible avenue of expansion.

“RFID is an emerging technology that has yet to fully hit the warehouse world, but when it does, we feel that it will make a big impact,” Byford explained. “We are currently exploring some interesting combinations with Vocollect Voice and RFID that will capitalize on the technologies to improve efficiency. The pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods markets are the two verticals where we see great opportunity to combine these technologies if RFID ever takes off in the supply chain industry.”

Since the early 2000s, Vocollect’s international expansion parallels the overarching globalization of supply chains. The company now has operations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia and has a presence on every continent except Antarctica, with Vocollect Voice being offered in 22 languages in 35 countries, and growing.

“The biggest shifts in the global supply chain industry are not occurring here in the States, but in emerging markets like China, India and Latin America,” Byford explained. “In these developing countries, for example, the transformation from a largely localized grocery market to a distribution-based supply chain economy equals a huge growth opportunity for us.

“With this and other new opportunities, we have every intention to rapidly build our business over the next decade,” he continued. “I realistically believe that Vocollect could eclipse the half-billion-dollar plateau over the next 10 years.” ■ ■