Picking and packing services have become quite the necessity for many ecommerce businesses today; the service, after all, allows them to have a better and more efficient order fulfillment process for their enterprise, which, in turn, increases customer satisfaction and lets them save money and resources as well. If you have a pick and pack partner – one which can fulfill all your orders in the best possible time and with the least possible cost – then your business can definitely get more profit and grow in the process. You can easily deal with an increase (or decrease) in orders, and you have the chance to store your products and goods in a proper facility which will ensure their longevity. There are other benefits, besides. But if you are thinking of enlisting a pick and pack service, you should also have a good idea of the kinds of picking and packing methods or strategies you can take advantage of; strategies or methods which can work best for your requirements. Here, then, is a review of the most common picking and packing strategies you can use for your business.
The most common (and useful) picking and packing strategies/methods:
There are many challenges that come with picking and packing, and a good pick and pack partner will know this. This is why it’s essential that you have a partner such as http://cannonpacking.co.uk that can utilise different strategies as the need arises. You need a partner which can provide you with various methods depending on what it is you really need. The most common and useful methods include piece picking, batch picking, zone picking and wave picking.
Piece picking
Piece picking is the most common strategy for picking and packing, and it involves picking an item as an order comes through and then packing it as well. The procedure is quite straightforward, as workers can simply take the order as it comes from the warehouse and then fill the order by picking the specific item from the shelves to complete the order. The piece picking strategy, however, may not be sufficient for large orders; it is best used for small warehouse facilities and small orders.
Batch picking
If a warehouse has more orders and more traffic, it will probably make use of batch picking. This strategy involves the picking of various items for each order as well, just like piece picking, but the difference is that with batch picking, more than one order can be filled at the same time.
Zone picking
With zone picking, the warehouse is divided into different areas, referred to as zones. The staff or workers who pick the orders can only pick or pull items from the zones to which they are assigned. Workers can then pass different boxes from a particular zone to another for orders which require products or items from several zones. They can either pass the boxes manually or with the use of conveyor belts. Needless to say, zone picking is a lot more efficient compared to piece or batch picking.
Wave picking
Wave picking is essentially a combination of batch and zone picking, and workers who make use of this strategy can be assigned to different zones, and they will then pick the orders in precise batches and make sure at the same time that they pick the orders only within their specific zones.
