Dublin, 3rd December, 2007: Shamrock Foods, one of Ireland's leading sales, marketing and distribution companies has invested almost €300,000 with Dublin based IT company Heavey RF to replace its RF system with advanced voice picking technology. The solution also includes handheld and forklift mounted computers.

(L-R) Ciaran Lavelle, Business Development Manager, Heavey RF, Michael Broderick, Operations Director, Shamrock Foods and Denis Lynch, Sales & Marketing Director, Shamrock Foods

Shamrock Foods expect some improvements in its pick rate and accuracy as a result of this investment. The system was installed in the company’s 225,000sq.ft Ballymount facility in Dublin, where over 70 members of staff are now using the new technology.

“We took advantage of the requirement to replace our existing technology with this industry leading solution. We selected Heavey RF because they were providing a good quality product which incorporated a wireless solution for assembly,” said Michael Broderick, Operations Director, Shamrock Foods. “We were also looking for a local service provider with a good after sales support service and Heavey RF met and surpassed on all criteria.”

“Shamrock distributes a large number of ambient product lines from the Mars Ireland Confectionery, Food and Pet food ranges, as well as the Roma, Shamrock, and Unifood brands. Its large annual volumes are distributed directly to most players in the FMCG sector so a seamless transition to the new system and good support were of paramount importance to ensure continuity of service,” said Ciaran Lavelle, Heavey RF. “We provided Vocollect T5 wearable voice computers with wireless SRX Bluetooth headsets, mobile handheld computers as well as vehicle mounted mobile computers. Shamrock Foods are the first site to deploy the Bluetooth headsets in Ireland. We also offered 24x7 back up service and comprehensive support.”

The new system from Heavey RF provides picking instructions to warehouse operatives via a ‘text to speech’ engine through their individual headset. The user then speaks back confirmation to the system using Vocollects’ industry leading voice recogniser. Information is passed to and from the users via the wireless local area network (wlan). Ronan Clinton, Managing Director of Heavey RF says “Voice directed logistics has really transformed how products are moved in the supply chain. The use of the natural voice to carry out and confirm tasks accurately and promptly permits a much more seamless operation for Shamrock Foods. ”

For press queries please contact:

Press queries to:
Céline Crawford/Ronnie Simpson, Simpson Financial & Technology PR
Tel: 01-260 5300

About Heavey RF

Irish owned Heavey RF Ltd. is a division of Heavey Technology focusing on mobile solutions using Radio Frequency technology. This includes the supply of handheld and vehicle mount radio data terminals (RDT's) as well as voice directed systems, integration software and peripherals and wireless security solutions. It has been working with Psion Teklogix since 1995, and has built up a large and impressive customer base.

About Vocollect, Inc.

Since 1987, Vocollect has delivered dramatic improvements in productivity, accuracy, and cost reduction and worker satisfaction for mobile employees. Vocollect’s voice-directed work applications literally talk people through their daily tasks, replacing traditional work lists and cumbersome data capture methods with personal voice dialogs. The company’s global network of resellers and supply chain performance experts enables hundreds of thousands of people on six continents to use voice to improve work every day. Vocollect is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S., and supports its clients and resellers through regional offices in Europe, Latin America and Asia. For more information, visit www.vocollect.com. Vocollect®, Talkman®, Vocollect Voice®, and Voice-Directed Work™ are registered trademarks of Vocollect, Inc. All rights reserved.