Getting your pick-and-pack process right is essential to efficient e-commerce order fulfillment and customer satisfaction. Picking and packing involve four steps – order receiving, order picking, order packing, and order shipping. All four processes become successful by using the Inventory management system. There are dozens of combinations of methods and strategies you could tap into for a seamless pick-and-pack workflow.

Getting the picking and packing right means taking cognizance of your business’ size, products, product diversity, order volume, and target turnaround times. Irrespective of how your e-commerce fulfillment is currently performing. Let’s begin with the most widely used methods to help you identify areas where efficiency opportunities lie.

Below are the picking and packing methods that Katpen INV can help to make them successful for your business.

• Piece picking

Here, one-person picks and packs a single order at a time. They’ll move through the warehouse, pick up the items as specified on the list, and then take the order to the packing station for onward shipping. Piece picking usually works for small businesses that experience a trickle of orders each day.

• Batch picking

This involves picking and packing batches of orders. A single batch will include orders easily assembled at one part of the warehouse. The goal is to navigate the most efficient path through the warehouse. Batch picking is a great technique if your business has a stream of orders that is large enough to be organized into groups of orders. It could work for small businesses too that need tight order delivery timelines. They can accumulate orders throughout the day and do all the picking in one go.

• Zone picking

Ideal for large warehouses, workers in one zone partially pick and pack order items before passing them onto the next zone in line, where additional items are added and packed. Once the last zone finishes packing, the order is moved to the packing station and prepared for shipping. Zone picking is complex and can only work where warehouse management technology is used.

• Wave picking

Wave picking is zone picking but in batches. Warehouse workers pick and pack order batches in their zone, then move them to a different zone for additional picking.

The use of an Inventory management system makes all the processes in a warehouse very quick. Goods can be tracked easily, received, and well-recorded. Katpen INV can make all your inventory processes successful by providing you with the best Inventory management software. This will help to make your work effective and efficient for both the employees and the customers.

*Katpen INV is one of the products of KatPen InnoTech Solutions