This post is the first in a series in which we will explore the Revolution Street WXS, Version 2.0, in more detail. Before getting into the specifics, an explanation of why we developed this software is in order.

Pendant established three guiding principles for the creation of Revolution Street. These principles were in part a reaction to frequently repeated comments we heard from clients and prospects regarding the state of the software segment of the warehouse automation space. They also arose from Pendant’s core values and commitment to our way of doing business, briefly explained in more detail on the back side of the flip cards in this section of our home page:

The Three Principles

• Free the user from the feeling of being locked up by your software supplier.  Most people we talked to wanted more “do-it-yourself” (DIY) capabilities and less reliance on the whims of the software supplier when it comes to support and adaptability. This first principle is the main subject of today’s post.
• Make it modern, simple, and easy to use.  You’ll get a strong sense of that in today’s post as well.
• Give you functionality that you’ll actually use, and not make you pay for what you don’t need.  Now, once you see Revolution Street for yourself, we think there is plenty you’ll want. But you won’t pay for what you don’t want.

Freeing the User

To free the user from over-reliance on and dominance by the software supplier, building in the ability of the user to configure parts of the application is crucial.  Users are adapting to fast changes in operations, and given that we live in an imperfect world, there are also times when something goes wrong and users need to be able to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities quickly.  Revolution Street was developed with that in mind.

DIY configurability is a hallmark of Revolution Street WXS. Users with the right credentials have the DIY capability to add, edit, and delete other users. They can also add, edit, and delete “roles”, e.g. “maintenance tech” or “operator” or “shift supervisor”.

A Revolution Street user can configure his or her own Dashboard, reports, and notifications, including setting how reports and notifications are delivered (email or text), the name of the reports/notifications, when they get delivered, and what information they contain. Each user has his or her own experience of the system, making decisions faster and easier.

This video shows even more of the power of this DIY mentality.  In this example, you’ll see the sorter configuration screen. As a bonus, you’ll also see how the “trainer” capability walks a new or infrequent user through every part of a screen such that they can take advantage of its capabilities without having to call for help. The bottom line result is that you and your team get things done faster.

Check out the video:

But wait – isn’t there a concern that users configuring important stuff can lead to even more problems? Hold that thought for a future post in this series in which we’ll show you how we can both prevent that as well as quickly undo mistakes to minimize their impact.

One last thing for today. We’re going to be debuting version 2.0 of the software at the upcoming ProMat conference in Chicago. We’ll be showing an emulation of an automated warehouse running on Revolution Street. If you plant to be at ProMat, be sure to come see us. In the next post, I’ll be sharing a link where you can, if you prefer, schedule a time to see us at our booth. Otherwise, be sure to drop by our booth while you’re there.