Build a Voice AI System for Hands-Free Inventory Management
The best voice AI solution for an SMB warehouse is a custom application using a speech-to-text API. It connects your ERP to worker headsets for real-time, hands-free updates.
The system's complexity depends on your existing ERP and the number of voice commands required. A warehouse using a modern ERP with a documented API is a direct integration. A business using legacy software without an API requires a database connection or an intermediate data mirror.
We built a voice system for a 15-person e-commerce warehouse managing 3,000 active SKUs. Their team used scanners and paper lists. After a 4-week build, their pick-and-pack time per order dropped by 22%, and mis-picks fell from 3% to under 0.5%.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Many warehouses try using mobile apps with voice input, but the general-purpose microphones on consumer phones fail in noisy environments. The apps also lack deep integration. They can export a CSV, but they cannot perform a real-time inventory lookup in your Fishbowl or NetSuite instance to confirm a bin location is correct before the worker moves on.
Enterprise-grade Voice-Directed Warehousing (VDW) systems solve the noise problem with specialized hardware but create others. These systems often cost over $3,000 per user for hardware and licensing, with long implementation cycles. They are built for 500-person distribution centers and are too rigid for a 20-person SMB that needs to frequently change its kitting or receiving workflows. You adapt your process to their software, not the other way around.
For example, a regional distributor needed a voice command to flag a partial pallet for quality control. Their enterprise VDW system had no such command, and adding one was a $10,000 change order with a 3-month timeline. They were stuck with a manual paper process for all exceptions, defeating the purpose of the hands-free system.
How Does It Work?
Our process starts with defining a simple, rigid grammar for your specific warehouse operations. Commands like "PICK 12, SKU 5-0-4-4, BIN A-7" are more reliable than conversational language. We use AWS Transcribe with a custom vocabulary list containing all your SKUs and bin locations, which increases recognition accuracy in noisy settings to over 98%.
A central FastAPI application, written in Python, processes the transcribed audio. This API acts as the brain. It validates commands against your inventory data, which we access either via a direct ERP API connection using httpx for async calls or through a replicated Supabase database for systems without an API. Valid commands update inventory levels in real time.
The API then sends a text-to-speech response back to the worker's headset confirming the action, such as "CONFIRMED. 12 units of 5-0-4-4. PROCEED TO BIN B-3." The entire cycle, from voice command to audio confirmation, takes under 700 milliseconds. We deploy the FastAPI application on AWS Lambda, so hosting costs for a 10-person team processing 4,000 picks a day are typically under $40 per month.
We build the system to work with inexpensive, off-the-shelf Android devices and commercial-grade Bluetooth headsets. This avoids proprietary hardware lock-in and keeps the cost per worker under $200. Every command, response, and API call is logged using structlog for easy debugging and performance monitoring.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Live in 4 Weeks, Not 6 Months
From workflow audit to on-floor deployment in 20 business days. Your team starts picking faster immediately, without a quarter-long integration project.
One-Time Build Cost, Not Per-User Fees
You pay a fixed price for the custom build. There are no recurring license fees that penalize you for hiring more warehouse staff.
You Own the Code and the Hardware
The full Python source code is delivered to your GitHub account. You are free to use any compatible headset or Android device, avoiding vendor lock-in.
Real-Time Error and Latency Alerts
The system monitors its own performance. If command processing latency exceeds 1 second or the error rate passes 3%, you get a Slack alert.
Connects Directly to Your Inventory System
We build direct integrations to your ERP or WMS, whether it is a modern platform like NetSuite or a custom-built SQL database.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Workflow Audit & Grammar Definition (Week 1)
You provide documentation of your pick, pack, and put-away processes and grant read-only access to your ERP. We deliver a defined command grammar for your approval.
Core Voice Engine Build (Week 2)
We build the FastAPI application and integrate it with the speech-to-text service. You receive a secure API endpoint and test scripts to validate command processing.
ERP Integration & Staging Deployment (Week 3)
We connect the voice engine to a staging copy of your inventory database. You receive a fully functional system for your team to test on the floor with real hardware.
Production Handoff & Monitoring (Week 4)
After a successful test period, we deploy to production. You receive the full source code, a technical runbook, and a 30-day period of included support.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom voice inventory system cost?
- The cost is a fixed-price engagement based on scope. The main factors are the complexity of your ERP integration and the number of distinct workflows (e.g., picking, cycle counting, receiving) to be automated. A simple pick-and-pack system with a modern ERP API can be built in 3-4 weeks. We determine the final price after the initial discovery call.
- What happens if the system mishears a command?
- The system is designed for confirmation. If it mishears "pick 12" as "pick 20", the audio response "CONFIRMED. 20 units..." allows the worker to catch the error and issue a correction command like "CANCEL". All unrecognized commands are logged for review, allowing us to further tune the recognition model's custom vocabulary after launch to reduce these errors.
- How is this different from an off-the-shelf VDW system?
- Off-the-shelf systems are powerful but rigid and expensive. They lock you into proprietary hardware and charge per-user license fees. Our approach uses commodity hardware you can buy anywhere, and you own the software source code. This makes it far more affordable and flexible for an SMB warehouse that has unique processes or needs to adapt quickly.
- How does this handle loud warehouse environments?
- Success in noisy environments depends on two things. First, we use high-quality, noise-canceling Bluetooth headsets. Second, we train the AWS Transcribe model with a custom vocabulary of your specific SKUs, bin numbers, and commands. This dramatically improves accuracy over a generic speech recognition model that is not tuned to your business's specific language.
- What if our ERP or inventory system has no API?
- This is a common scenario for businesses using older or custom-built software. In most cases, we can connect directly to the underlying SQL database. If that is not an option, we can set up a mirrored database in Supabase that syncs with your system on a frequent schedule. We determine the best approach during the Week 1 audit.
- Can workers use the system in different languages?
- Yes. The core architecture is language-agnostic. We can configure the speech-to-text and text-to-speech services for different languages, like Spanish. The system can be set to use a specific language based on the worker's login. This is a common requirement that we can scope into the initial build.
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