Introduction
Third party logistics providers require a dynamic 3PL Warehouse Management System that enables them to use a comprehensive variety of picking strategies to handle many clients, in various industry, over multiple locations while also being able to quickly adapt to changing demands.
There are many types of picking techniques you can deploy in a 3PL Warehouse. The technique and strategy used would depend if you are serving B2B or B2C customers, the configuration of products you are managing, the volume of orders, the pattern and trends of the orders, your warehouse layout, and the promised service level.
What is Picking Strategy
Picking strategy comprises of the picking processes and location assignment applied in waves for the picking of inventory in a warehouse.
Commonly used Picking Strategies
- Individual order picking
An order picker will perform a complete and individual order picking from a set of group orders through the storage/pick area.
- Batch picking
An order picker would pick products for many orders at the same time from a set of grouped orders from the storage/pick area and then sorts them by customer order. In this case, the sorting would take place immediately.
For example, the picker may be using a trolley/cart with separate compartments/boxes and each compartment/box would be designated for one order, or the sorting may take place in a separate sorting area after the picking has been completed.
- Zone picking
This technique is typically used in warehouses that have a large inventory range (fashion) and where the throughput is high. Each picker is responsible and would be stationed in a dedicated assigned zone or area (which can be a few rows or an aisle depending on the area covered) and orders would flow from zone to zone through multiple pickers, until the entire order has been completed.
- Goods to Person (GTP)
In this picking technique, the principle is to keep the:
- Picker in a fixed (or limited area) location and to deliver the goods to the picker by
- Means of using automation. The travel time, in this case, is for the automation device/robot
- To bring the items and not for the picker to get them.
The advantage of this type of technique is that it eliminates travel time for the picker entirely, but it would mean an investment in automation technology (e.g. autonomous mobile robots, automatic guided vehicles, automated storage and retrieval systems, conveyors, carousels, vertical lean lifts, etc.)
- Wave picking
This is a variation of zone picking and batch picking in which zones are:
- Picked at the same time and the items are later sorted and consolidated into individual
- Orders/shipments, rather than orders moving from one zone to the next for picking.
Although wave picking may be the quickest method for picking multi-item orders, the sorting and consolidating aspects of the orders can be complex.
This technique benefits operations with a high total number of SKUs and moderate to high picks per order, and it can also be used to isolate orders by specific carriers, routes, priorities, or zones.
A dynamic 3PL WMS will provide third party logistics providers a competitive advantage with a comprehensive variety of picking strategies for accurate and efficient order fulfilment to serve and win the market’s top clients.
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