Every day, as a warehouse or operations manager, supply chain manager, or logistics coordinator, you’re up against the clock. Orders pile up, pressure mounts, and any inefficiency in your picking process starts to affect your warehouse KPIs.
You start asking yourself and your team ‘ How can we pick faster, how can you become a faster picker, how do we pick faster and keep our accuracy?’
You know firsthand how important it is to optimize warehouse operations. The challenge often lies in finding the right picking strategy for your operation that balances accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, especially during peak seasons.
Here’s the good news: there’s a better way. Whether you want to reduce travel time between picks, cut down human error, or introduce automation technologies, there are strategies that can help. In this blog, we’ll explore six tried-and-tested warehouse picking strategies that can transform your warehouse operations.
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What is Warehouse Picking
Warehouse picking is the process of selecting items from storage to fulfill customer orders. If executed well, it leads to faster order processing, fewer errors, and ultimately, happier customers. But for many warehouse managers, issues such as inaccurate picking, inefficient layouts, and seasonal order fluctuations create challenges that hurt the bottom line.
Luckily, with the right strategies, you can tackle these common issues and significantly improve your warehouse’s efficiency. Let’s dive into the six key picking strategies and how they can transform your operations.
Warehouse Picking Strategies
1. Batch Picking
How It Works: Batch picking typically involves grouping orders that contain the same items, allowing pickers to collect all of these items in one trip to a location. One variation of this is ‘single item batch picking,’ where pickers gather all orders that consist of just one item at a time. This method reduces repeated travel and can improve efficiency by streamlining the picking process.
Benefits:
- Batch picking helps save time by reducing the number of trips required to pick items.
- It is also ideal for large warehouses with long travel distances between picking zones.
Example: Imagine your warehouse, filled with bustling activity and a steady flow of orders to fulfill. Many of these orders contain the same high-demand items, like gym shorts or gym leggings. Instead of having your picker make multiple trips back and forth for each individual order, batch picking allows them to gather everything in one efficient run.
2. Zone Picking
How It Works: Zone picking divides the warehouse into specific zones, with each picker assigned to handle all items in their zone for multiple orders. This approach minimizes travel time across the warehouse and also allows for workers to become highly specialized within their zones.
Benefits:
- Zone picking reduces travel time for pickers and increases efficiency.
- It is also ideal for businesses regularly shipping similar items and brilliant for larger warehouses or set-ups with split-level floors and multiple rooms.
Example: Imagine your warehouse stocks a variety of products such as electronics, clothing, and home goods. With zone picking, each picker only navigates within their assigned zone, saving time by avoiding trips across the warehouse for different product types.
3. Wave Picking
How It Works: Wave picking organizes orders into batches that are picked at specific times, helping to manage workflow and prevent bottlenecks during peak periods. This strategy is great for warehouses with fluctuating order volumes, coming into its own when you are managing busy periods of sales like Black Friday and Q4.
Benefits:
- Wave picking balances workloads by scheduling specific picking times.
- It helps prevent bottlenecks and ensures orders are fulfilled on time.
Example: During peak seasons, wave picking can help your teams massively by avoiding the chaos of random orders through grouping them into waves that are processed at scheduled times. This keeps your team organized and on track, even when order volumes surge.
4. Multi-Order Tote Picking
How It Works: This method is similar to the multi-order picking method, but the process of end consolidation is performed within one step. A warehouse worker would place orders of a similar size and shape onto a mobile cart during the picking process. This allows them to be separated out into individual totes with the consolidated orders going through to the packing and shipping process.
- Multi-order tote picking streamlines the picking process by eliminating the need for separate consolidation steps.
- Orders are efficiently organized into individual totes, reducing handling time and increasing picking accuracy.
Example: In a high-volume warehouse, multi-order tote picking allows workers to collect items for several orders at once which can then be allocated to individual totes.
This ensures orders are ready for packing and shipping immediately, speeding up fulfillment. It’s especially useful during peak times like Q4, where efficiency is crucial for handling large volumes.
5. Zone-Batch-Wave Picking
How It Works: Combining zone, batch, and wave picking strategies can offer maximum efficiency. In this method, pickers work within designated zones, handle batches of orders, and process them in scheduled waves to optimize productivity. This approach combines the benefits of the individual picking systems into one, and is often used within large warehouses with multiple SKUs.
Benefits:
- It is ideal for large, complex warehouses with many SKUs and order types.
- Zone-bath-wave picking balances workloads and maximizes travel efficiency.
Example: For a warehouse dealing with high volumes and frequent order overlaps, zone-batch-wave picking can reduce travel time and improve productivity by blending the best features of these strategies.
FAQs:
How do I choose the best picking strategy for my warehouse?
The right picking strategy depends on your warehouse size, order volume, and product complexity. Batch picking is great for large warehouses with similar orders, while discrete picking ensures accuracy in smaller operations. For high volumes and diverse products, combining strategies like zone-batch-wave picking may offer the best efficiency.
Is robotic picking worth the investment?
While the upfront cost can be high, robotic picking can significantly reduce manual labor, increase accuracy, and speed up the picking process, especially for repetitive tasks. It allows human workers to focus on more complex, value-added tasks, improving overall productivity in the long term.
Can I combine different warehouse picking strategies?
Yes, many warehouses combine strategies to maximize efficiency. For example, zone-batch-wave picking blends the best features of zone, batch, and wave picking, offering optimized travel time, workload balance, and increased productivity—ideal for large, complex operations.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways:
- Batch Picking: Reduces picker travel and improves time management, especially for large orders.
- Zone Picking: Minimizes travel time by assigning pickers to specific zones, improving efficiency.
- Discrete Picking: Ensures accuracy but may be slower for high-volume orders.
- Wave Picking: Organizes orders into manageable batches to streamline operations during peak periods.
- Robotic Picking: Uses automation to speed up repetitive tasks and reduce errors.
- Zone-Batch-Wave Picking: Combines the strengths of multiple strategies for maximum efficiency.
