Strategies And Methods Of Warehouse Order Picking

Picking is one of the most labour-intensive and time-consuming parts of order fulfilment for any Global Logistics Services. Through intelligently leveraging labour and other material handling technologies, the Logistic Services in Dubai can optimize the picking process. Before investing in technology or automation to support picking processes, the Best International Logistics needs to ensure that you are utilizing the right picking strategy for your company.

It is unfortunate that there is no one picking strategy that will work for every Global Logistics Services. Choosing a picking strategy will involve considering your order profile, material flow, facility layout, number of items in an order, and labour availability, as well as how/when orders are released by your management system. There may be differences in what works best for different operations.

This blog examines some of the effective strategies to help you remove some of the confusion and select the best option for your business and operations. Some of the major order packing methods include the following,

Wave Picking

Wave picking is a combination of both zone picking and batch picking. The process of wave picking involves grouping orders into batches that are released for picking in a single wave. The whole process works in a motion similar to the wave and the name wave picking. In this method, the pickers continuously work from one end to the other end of the facility.

The batch in a wave picking system is static. This means once the wave begins there will not be any change or distortions. Following one pick, the worker moves on to the next, and so on until the wave is complete. After they have picked the items, they are sorted, consolidated, packed, and then shipped to their respective final destinations.

Benefits of Wave Picking

The most important benefit of wave picking and one of the most popular reasons for the wide acceptance of this method is the fact that within a single walkthrough a heavy workload can be completed. In this way, travel times for Global Logistics Services can be significantly reduced. Business-to-business (B2B) operations and other organizations that receive high volumes of orders on a daily basis can benefit from wave picking.

Waveless Picking

A waveless picking strategy makes incoming orders available for picking as they are received. Even a 2 pm order can almost immediately be released for picking because the order pool is continually updated with this method. One challenge it creates for Global Logistics Services is that wave-based WMSs may be incapable of handling many of the functions associated with this.

The complex nature of waveless systems necessitates dynamic rules for prioritizing orders, sequencing work, and designing optimized picking assignments across zones.

Benefits Of Waveless Picking

Many e-commerce operations use waveless picking in order to meet the high demand for same- and next-day shipping from their customers. The reason for this is that waveless picking batches are continually refreshed to include new orders, with priority being given to orders with the most aggressive shipping needs. Waveless picking is well known for this dynamic refresh.

Overlapping Waves Order Picking

Similar to regular wave picking, overlapping waves are done as batches of pickers pick inventory. It is important to note, however, that in wave picking the first wave must have been completed before the second can begin. This is not the case with overlapping waves. In its place, the second wave is released once the first wave reaches its peak and starts to become less productive. As a result, when the first wave is done, the next wave is nearing its peak, and the following wave will be released shortly thereafter.

Benefits of Overlapping Waves

For Global Logistics Services, the main benefit of overlapping waves is that they are extremely effective for levelling out productivity peaks and valleys. Such things are commonly observed in facilities that use wave and waveless picking methods. Consequently, the throughput can be more consistent and predictable, as well as the equipment and labour can be better utilized.

Order Picking Strategies

Depending on many factors like technologies, order profiles and business requirements, any of the said picking methods can be used. These picking methods are combined with the appropriate picking strategy. The respective zones involved must be taken into consideration for effective functioning. Here are some of the top picking strategies that most of the Best International Logistics companies use widely.

Discrete Picking

In discrete picking, a picker picks a single order SKU by SKU from start to finish before moving on to the next order. This is by far among the simplest of all picking strategies. Because it is labour intensive, time-consuming and inefficient, it is not well-suited for most operations. It is not uncommon for organizations to start with this methodology and then add intelligent pick lists and RF picking later.

Benefits of Discrete Picking

This is clearly not the best option for complex or large operations. Even though this method has some demerits it can be one of the good options for smaller operations with only a handful of orders. Since it is completely manual, one of the major benefits this strategy possess is that there is no investment needed for automation technology. When compared with the other options it is really cost-effective.

Batch Order Picking

Here multiple orders are processed at the same time by skilled pickers. The orders are generally grouped together according to the similarity of the Stock Keeping Units in each order. Pickers arrange orders with the same SKUs together. This helps in reducing the whole travel time within the warehouse and thereby increases efficiency.

Benefits of Batch Order Picking

The first and foremost advantage of this strategy is the fact that it helps in reducing the travel time in a big way. This eventually helps in the overall efficiency as well as the overall operation speed. This is by far the best option for processing similar orders.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the ideal picking method and strategy are completely related to the requirements and needs of each of the businesses. If you are unsure of the whole process, it is always best to trust and seek guidance from an experienced logistics company. DDU Express is one of the leading Logistic Services in Dubai with a long run of successful journeys. They offer services in almost all processes of import, export and delivery. Moreover, their expert team guarantees great quality in all of their services.