E-Commerce warehouse – Three Types of Picking Methods

 Have you ever thought about the type of order picking used when you choose an E-commerce warehouse? The order picking method used on daily basis plays a crucial role in optimizing the speed of fulfillment.

 

The Three Types of Picking Methods

There are three basic types of picking methods – zone picking, batch picking, and wave picking. Usually, warehouses use one or a combination of these methods.

Zone Picking Method

In this picking method, the workforce is assigned to a designated or particular zone or area. They would pick merchandise only in their specific area even if an order may include line products from more than one area. Once picking at a specific area is done, those items are delivered to a staging zone and combined with things from the other areas. This type of picking method is used when items are different from one another or a warehouse is large. For instance, there might be a specific area for dry goods that is completely separate from a refrigerated area. 

Wave Picking Method

This specific method works on the concept of making a picking sequence that targets individual line products for filling an order in a single trip through the warehouse. The objective is to walk less, not to duplicate steps. 

This can be described as – walking down an aisle collecting products on one side, again coming back up the aisle picking from the other side. In case aisles are close together, pickers might move in one direction picking from the left and right sides as they make their way down, and might continue the same to the second aisle. The actual path does not matter. What matters is the flow that saves steps and involves no backtracking. 

Batch Picking Method

This picking method is similar to the wave picking concept however for more than one order at a time. One picklist has line items for various orders. The picker fulfills the batch of orders in one pass down the pick wave or path.

The picked orders are put together through two methods. In one method, the whole batch of orders is picked and the picker delivers them to a specific zone. Then the picked products are sorted into individual orders and then prepared for packaging and shipping. 

Another method is to build the orders along the way. The truck or cart of the pickers is equipped with bins that signify each order. While they move along the pick path, they would categorize picked products into the proper bins. Completed orders go straight from the cart of the picker to the packaging area, potentially eradicating the requirement for a distinct staging zone.

Automation – Key for Optimizing Order Picking Process

Creating and implementing an effective and efficient warehouse order picking process is possible only if you choose the right E-commerce warehouse partner for your online business. Being experts, they help in choosing what works best for your online business and execute the plan accordingly. The main purpose and objective is to create a system that is accurate and fast.