Types Of Picking
The process of choosing the right materials, products, items or SKUs from the storage bins in a warehouse or fulfillment center for fulfilling an order placed by a customer is known as Picking. It is the first stage in fulfilling an order and must be flawless so that the remaining fulfilment processes—order packing; shipping, and post-sales activity—can also run smoothly. An efficient order picking process should be able to make sure that the right product is picked for every order. It has to be executed speedily and accurately because a lot of productive time of operators/pickers is wasted if they have to wait unduly to obtain the items. Types of Picking There are three types of picking systems: piece picking, case picking, and pallet picking. Under these types are five different processes: single order picking, batch picking, multi-batch picking, zone picking, and wave picking. Let us look at them individually:- Piece Picking Pallet Picking Case Picking Methods of Picking Single order picking or discrete picking Batch picking or Cluster picking Zone picking or Pick and Pass Wave picking Best practices of Order picking systems The best strategies minimize picking times by making frequently picked items more accessible through a quicker pick path. Implementing one or more of the following order picking process refinements supports higher accuracy, increased productivity, greater throughput, and faster cycle times in order picking—ultimately maximizing efficiency while boosting customer satisfaction. Some of the best practices are- Warehouse Organization/Layout Reduce Walking Time Utilize Bins, Totes and Dividers Choose the Correct Picking Strategy Implement a WMS