Top E-commerce Picking Methods for Efficient Order Fulfillment: Best Practices and Technologies

With customer expectations higher than ever, choosing the right picking method is essential to ensuring fast and accurate deliveries. As a key part of the e-commerce order preparation process, the way products are picked from the warehouse can significantly enhance your fulfillment operations. Whether you’re handling large order volumes or managing complex product assortments, optimizing your picking strategy is a direct path to improving customer satisfaction and boosting your revenue growth.

Streamline and Enhance your Picking Operations with myFulfillment to Achieve Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction

BOOK A FREE DEMO NOW

Summary

What is Order picking?
Why is choosing an Order Picking strategy so important?
Key Challenges of the Order Picking Process
Criteria for Choosing the Best Picking Method
Different Types of Order Picking
Types of Picking Techniques
Picking Assistance Technologies
How MyFulfillment Optimizes Picking?

What is Order picking?

Order picking is the process of selecting a specific quantity of products from a fulfillment center to prepare for a customer’s order. As a key component of the order fulfillment process—alongside shipping, storage, and receiving—picking plays a vital role in any e-commerce company’s supply chain and inventory management.

Why is choosing an order picking strategy so important?

As a critical component of warehouse management, the speed and accuracy of order picking are vital for ensuring a seamless workflow. This process directly contributes to achieving key business objectives, including enhanced productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and ultimately, increased profitability.

What are the key challenges of order picking in warehouse management?

Improving Picker Efficiency: Reducing unnecessary movement for pickers is crucial for both their health and overall process efficiency. Implementing efficient picking routes and optimizing warehouse layouts can help alleviate this challenge.

Accelerating Order Collection: Delays in retrieving items can lead to longer order fulfillment times, which negatively affects customer satisfaction. Strategies such as batch picking or wave picking can streamline operations and reduce time spent on each order.

Minimizing Picking Errors: Errors in product selection can result in significant delays in order preparation and customer dissatisfaction due to incorrect shipments. Implementing technologies like barcode scanners or voice picking systems can help minimize mistakes, ensuring effective picking.

Managing Seasonal Demand Fluctuations: Effectively managing increased demand without compromising efficiency or accuracy requires adaptable picking strategies and proper staffing to handle the workload.

Maintaining Inventory Accuracy: Tracking inventory levels can be challenging, especially in fast-paced environments. Discrepancies between actual stock and inventory records can lead to stockouts or overstock situations, complicating the picking process and affecting overall operational efficiency.

What are the Criteria for Choosing the Best Picking Method?

The method you choose will depend on factors such as the size of your warehouse, the volume of inventory, the number of order pickers available, the daily order volume, and the average number of items per order (picks per order). By considering these aspects, you can identify the most suitable picking method for your company, ensuring maximum efficiency and success in your order fulfillment operations.

Order Volume: A high volume of orders may necessitate batch picking to enhance efficiency.

Items per Order: For orders containing multiple product lines, individual order picking may be more effective.

Product Size and Weight: For bulky items, such as large appliances, it is often impractical to pick multiple items at once.

Picking Complexity: Processes that involve product customization or kitting (assembling multiple products) require careful consideration of the picking method.

Identical Product Orders: When handling several orders for the same product, batch picking allows for the simultaneous preparation of multiple single-item orders.

What are the different types of Order Picking?

Single Order Picking: In this method, a picker retrieves items for one specific order at a time. However, it can be time-consuming for high-volume operations.

Batch Picking: This technique involves picking items for multiple orders simultaneously. The picker collects all the items needed for several orders in a single trip through the warehouse.

Zone Picking: In zone picking, the warehouse is divided into distinct zones and each picker is responsible for a specific zone. As orders come in, they are divided into zones, and each picker collects items from their designated area.

Wave Picking: As mentioned earlier, wave picking combines elements of batch picking and zone picking. Orders are grouped into waves, allowing pickers to collect items for multiple orders at once while optimizing travel routes.

Types of Picking Techniques

Different picking techniques cater to various operational needs, allowing businesses to enhance productivity, reduce errors, and improve customer satisfaction. Below are the most commonly used picking techniques in warehouse operations:

Order Picking: Best for large or custom orders. Operators follow an optimized path to retrieve items one order at a time.

Global Picking: For smaller orders, multiple orders are picked in one run using a master list, which improves efficiency.

Picking by Bin: Suitable for small items, this method uses bins or carts, separating items by order for easier packing.

Hive Picking: For incomplete orders, this method assigns specific locations to orders and groups items as they become available.

Mechanized Picking: Utilizes automated vertical storage systems like Kardex or Modula, ideal for dense storage environments.

Cross Dock Picking: Direct shipment of products without storing them in the warehouse, bypassing the traditional inventory process.

Picking Assistance Technologies

Picking assistance technologies play a vital role in optimizing the picking process, enhancing productivity, and minimizing errors in warehouses. By integrating advanced tools and systems, businesses can streamline their operations and improve overall efficiency. Below are some of the most effective picking assistance technologies currently in use:

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant): A common tool guiding operators through the warehouse with real-time data and scanning capabilities to reduce errors.

Pick to Light: Uses light indicators to show operators where to pick items, reducing search time.

Voice Picking: A hands-free method where operators receive voice instructions for picking, which they confirm verbally.

Vertical Storage Systems: These automated systems, like Kardex or Modula, optimize storage and retrieval by automatically presenting trays of items to the operator.

How MyFulfillment Optimizes Picking?

Optimizing the picking process is essential for achieving efficiency and customer satisfaction. MyFulfillment is designed to streamline and enhance picking operations, helping businesses reduce errors and improve order fulfillment speed. With advanced features and integrations, MyFulfillment provides tailored solutions that address the unique challenges of the picking process.

Here are some ways MyFulfillment optimizes picking:

Reducing Movement: Optimized paths shorten the distance operators need to travel in the warehouse.

Supporting Multiple Picking Methods: Whether you use order picking, global picking, or bin picking, MyFulfillment adapts to your needs.

Mobile BMS App: Offering PDA device support, MyFulfillment provides real-time instructions and data validation to operators.

Integrations with Storage Systems: MyFulfillment integrates with advanced storage systems like Kardex and Modula, further automating and streamlining warehouse operations.

Optimize Your Picking Process

Discover how myFulfillment can streamline your order picking process, enhancing your productivity, improve your customer satisfaction and ultimately, increased profitability

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE DEMO NOW