In short: most delivery mistakes are born during picking, when the picker takes the neighbouring product, the wrong quantity or a newer batch. The working method (by order, by wave, by zone) decides how much walking there is. Scan verification decides how many mistakes reach the customer.
What picking is and why it matters
Picking is the stage where products are taken from the shelf for an order. In many warehouses it is most of the daily work, and walking between racks is most of picking. Two things can be improved: the route and the accuracy.
Picking methods
- By order: one person, one order, from start to finish. Simple and easy to track, good for large or few orders. It gets slow when you have many small orders.
- By wave: one person collects products for several orders at once, then splits them. Walking drops a lot for small orders, but the split must be checked, otherwise mistakes move from the shelf to the packing area.
- By zone: each person is responsible for a zone, and the order passes from hand to hand. It works in large warehouses or ones with different zones (cold, heavy goods, small parts) and needs coordination.
- By route: the order lines appear in the order the picker passes the racks, not in invoice order. It combines with any of the methods above and is usually the cheapest gain.
You do not need one method for the whole warehouse. Large orders can go by order, small ones by wave.
Where mistakes come from
- Similar products side by side: the same box, another size or variant.
- Quantities misread: a case instead of a piece, or the other way round.
- The wrong batch: the box at the front is taken, not the oldest batch or the one closest to expiry.
- Shortages found late: the gap on the shelf is discovered only at packing, when the order should already be on the truck.
- Orders changed on the fly: the customer changes the quantity after the order has gone into work.
What stops mistakes before the parcel
- Scanning every product: a product that is not on the order is refused on the spot, not at the complaint.
- Scanning the location: confirms the goods were taken from the right place, useful for batches and for stock counts.
- The quantity, not just the product: for items sold both by the case and by the piece, the program has to know the difference.
- The right batch: allocation in order of receipt (FIFO) or of expiry (FEFO) is done by the program, not by the picker’s memory.
- Shortages declared on the spot: the line closes at the quantity found, with a note, and the rest stays open for a later delivery.
- Kits broken down: a product sold as a set appears as a list of components to take from the shelf.
How to arrange the warehouse for picking
- Fast-selling products close to the shipping area and at hand height.
- Similar products on different racks.
- Rack codes that tell you where you are, for example R01-T2-E1: row 1, section 2, level 1.
- Labels readable from the distance they are actually read from.
What to measure
- delivery mistakes per thousand lines picked;
- lines picked per hour, per person;
- time from order entry to loading;
- orders closed incomplete and their reasons.
Measure before any change, even roughly, so you know what the change brought. If your stock counts often come out with differences, also look at counting by location: many differences start at picking.
Frequently asked questions
Does picking work on a phone?
Yes. An Android phone with a camera reads barcodes fast enough for most warehouses. At high volumes, terminals with a built-in scanner are faster and more robust.
What do you do when goods are missing from the shelf?
The picker closes the line at the quantity found and records the difference. The rest stays open, and the office sees immediately that an order is leaving incomplete, instead of hearing it from the customer.
Wave picking or order picking?
Waves when you have many small orders with common products. By order when orders are large or very different from each other. Many warehouses use both.
What does FEFO mean?
First expired, first out: the batch with the closest expiry date goes first. It is the right rule for products with a shelf life. FIFO, first in, first out, is used when expiry does not matter.
In DataFlows Depo, the order reaches the picker’s phone split by rack, in route order, and every scan is checked: a product that is not on the order does not get into the parcel. Write to us if you want to see it on your orders.
