Overview of picking methods

There are a variety of picking methods available in PVX to suit different types of orders and order fulfilment processes. These have been designed so that, when used in a warehouse with a carefully designed sequence of locations, the picking efficiency of your operators will be optimised. As part of the configuration process for your WMS, it is sensible to consider the various picking method options and decide which are best suited to your business. These can then be set up on your account by raising a ticket with the PVX helpdesk. You can find more details of the steps in each method in the picking user's guide.

1 person picks 1 order

This is the traditional way of picking items for orders, where an operator follows a pre-determined path through the warehouse that passes the locations of all the items in the order and then returns the picked items to the despatch area.

For most e-commerce businesses, which handle orders of only a few items, this is not an efficient picking method as most of the operator's time is spent walking to and from despatch carrying quite small numbers of items. It might be useful for larger orders (such as when picking groceries for home deliveries), but in general this method is not recommended by PVX.

Single-item batch picking

This method is designed specifically for rapidly picking large numbers of orders which each contain a single item - a common scenario in e-commerce businesses. You can set up picking actions that direct operators to specific areas of the warehouse where items are clustered, and take full advantage of the capacity of their picking trolleys by picking as many items/orders as the trolleys will accommodate. The items are not sorted during the pick but simply scanned to the trolley, which is designated as a despatch location. Once the trolley is full, it is returned to the packing benches where each item is scanned to identify its associated sales order before being packed and despatched.

Using this method, a large number of orders can be picked in a single action, which means you can wait until the optimum time during a shift to start picking; this prevents operators making less productive trips around the warehouse.

Multi-item batch picking

Another common scenario in e-commerce is to receive orders for several items, all of which are different (although some may look similar, such as different sizes or colours of the same garment). The multi-item batch picking method handles this type of order using a similar workflow to the single-item batch pick.

Picking actions are set up which allow the operator to fill their trolley completely during their journey through the warehouse. The batch can be based on either the total number of items or the number of sales orders. The Items option is useful if the number of items in your orders varies widely, as you can then make sure that the full capacity of the trolley is used for each action.

Any item picked for any order can be put in any location on the trolley, as long as the location is scanned each time an item is placed there. When the trolley is returned to despatch, the despatcher simply scans an item, and PVX tells them which other items are needed for that order and where on the trolley to find them.

The only prerequisite when planning a pick using this method is to make sure that all the items can fit somewhere on the trolley. The flexibility of the method means that it doesn't matter if a particular location becomes full due to a couple of bulky items. Most importantly, it ensures that each picking operation picks as many orders as possible with the trolleys available.

Pick and sort to trolley

If your warehouse handles lots of items that are small and similar to each other in size and appearance, such as jewellery or make-up, then it might be better to sort the items as you pick them to avoid a time-consuming task during despatch. You can do this using the pick and sort to trolley method, which allows you to create actions where multiple multi-item orders are picked in a different way to the multi-item batch pick.

The first item on the picking route is scanned and PVX tells the operator how many are needed for the first order, the second order, etc. They are then placed in separate locations on the trolley (of the operator's choosing). The second item on the route is then scanned and the process is repeated, except that this time PVX will only allow you to put each item in the correct location for that order, to make sure that orders do not become mixed up. The only exception to this is if a location becomes full, in which case another empty location can be scanned and used to complete the pick.

This method gives maximum flexibility to the picker to choose convenient locations on their trolley; the only requirement is that orders can't be mixed in a single location. However, be aware that this can reduce the number of orders that can be picked in a single operation as the trolley is unlikely to be completely filled with items (as would be the case for a multi-item batch pick).

Pick by zone

This is an advanced picking method in which the inventory locations are divided into zones, with each picker only picking from a designated zone. This method is especially suitable for warehouses which lend themselves naturally to being divided into zones, perhaps because of security access restrictions or because specialist equipment is required to reach them. It does require careful configuring (as described in this article) but once implemented it can significantly reduce picking times due to the much smaller distances being walked by the operators.

Other configuration options

There are a number of configurable options within the Pick function that you can use to customise your company's workflow. Refer to the picking user's guide for more details on the standard picking process.

• You can direct the mobile app to prefill the From Location prompt in the pick screen of the mobile app, and even hide it completely, if you are happy to assume that a picker always picks items from the locations specified in the action. You can also prefill the To Location prompt in the same way.

• Similarly, you can prefill the Quantity prompt if you are willing to assume that the picker always picks the correct number of items.

• You can configure the content of the item details screen that you can view by swiping right in the mobile app during picking, or you can remove the screen from the app completely.

• You can set a global Auto Pick option to be ON for all picking methods; this avoids the user having to tap the PICK button when completing a pick. Alternatively, individual operators can set this option themselves on their devices.

There are several other options that change the picking workflow more significantly; these can be helpful in certain circumstances but should be used with caution:

• You can allow your pickers to change the picking location without using Skip or creating a failed action by clicking the icon that appears in their mobile app pick screens; this can allow them to find another pick location for that item if the pick location is blocked by equipment, for example.

• PVX can be set up to automatically handle failed actions if you want to avoid your operators having to follow up every failed picking action immediately; instead, they can use reports to identify locations where failed picks have occurred and handle them later, if your warehouse operation allows this flexibility.

• You can also choose to automatically release sales orders to create '1 person picks 1 order' actions; this can be useful if you want PVX to immediately respond to specific sales orders that must be picked as soon as possible after receipt of the order.

Raise a ticket with the PVX helpdesk to add any of these options to your account.

You should also be aware that an operator can configure the order of the steps in a particular picking workflow on their own mobile device to suit their way of working.

Picking trolleys

The two essential pieces of equipment for pickers are the barcode scanner and the picking trolley. PVX recommends that trolleys have the following features to help make picking as effective and efficient as possible:

PVX can recommend Norseman picking trolleys equipped with Corex boxes; contact the helpdesk for further details.

Setting up skip reasons

During picking, there may be occasions when your pickers will not be able to pick an item shown in an action. At this point, they may skip that pick but they must provide a reason for doing so, to allow problems with picking to be understood and addressed. Therefore, you must set up skip reasons in the web app.

The following skip reasons are provided with PVX:

• Need forklift truck for picking

• Item not in indicated location

• Unable to reach item

• Unable to scan item barcode

You can add further reasons as follows:

1. Go to the Skip Reasons tab in the Setup module of the PVX web app.

2. Click Add new.

3. Enter a name for the new reason which clearly describes the situation to which it applies.

4. Enter a further description if required (this is not mandatory).

5. Enter a barcode for the new reason.

6. Select the type of action for the new reason (Pick in this case).

7. Click Save. The new skip reason is displayed in the tab and will be available for selecting in the mobile app when picking.

Use the software that you use for printing your item and location labels to print out the barcodes for your skip reasons and attach them to the picking trolley so that they can quickly be selected by scanning the barcode.

You can edit an existing skip reason by clicking the reason in the tab, then clicking View and Edit. You can also delete a reason by clicking Delete in the tab.

Setting up unpick reasons

The unpick process allows the user to remove an incorrectly picked, damaged or unwanted item from the despatch location. To use this feature you need to set up unpick reasons in the web app. These are parameters that give information why an item was removed from the despatch location and whether or not it is reusable. If the item is reusable, then it can be returned to a pick location; if not, then it should be placed in a quarantine location.

The following unpick reasons are provided with PVX:

• Item incorrectly picked

• Item damaged

You can add further reasons as follows:

1. Go to the Unpick Reasons tab in the Setup module of the PVX web app.

2. Click Add new.

3. Enter a name for the new reason which clearly describes the situation to which it applies.

4. If an item unpicked for this reason is reusable (that is, can be resold), tick the Is reusable checkbox.

5. Select the site on which this unpick reason will apply from the drop-down list of sites on your account.

6. Click Save. The new unpick reason is displayed in the tab and will be available for selecting in the mobile app when picking.

You can edit an existing unpick reason by clicking the reason in the tab, then clicking View and Edit. You can also delete a reason by clicking Delete in the tab.

Capture serial numbers during pick

It is possible to capture product serial numbers of items as you pick them. This can be used for better stock traceability for supplier and product recalls, and customer service queries.

However, we recommend that this is only used when absolutely necessary, as it increases the administrative burden of the warehouse operation and can reduce picking efficiency.

Read more about setting up this feature here.

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