« Le nez dans le micro ». Répercussions du travail sous commande vocale dans les entrepôts de la grande distribution alimentaire

Abstract

Order picker operations in large food distribution warehouses have been considerably changed by a introduction of a new tool – voice guidance systems. Where the work used to be characterized by a lack of fixed sequencing and the impossibility for operatives of getting ahead of schedule, preparation activities have evolved towards more restrictive temporalities comparable to production line workers’ experience. With “up front and close” vocal guidance, order pickers’ skill is limited to their physical engagement, now considered a resource (i.e. a mode for appropriating the meaning of work) but also a bulwark against the pathologies that arise as the general intensification drive reaches its limits.

Keywords

• supply chain modernization
• voice picking
• voice guidance
• de-skilling
• organization
• health and safety at work.