Effective landside services keep items safe from local to global addresses. Instead of storing inventory and managing all your shipping processes, the picking and packing process in warehousing simplifies the process while keeping things local.
Order fulfilment is a time-consuming task for businesses of any size or in any industry. When you have complete control of your cargo with real-time information, you can know where and when it goes to each customer.
Third-party pick-and-pack services let you focus on what you do best. If you haven’t considered this opportunity yet, now is the perfect time to learn more about it – and if it can help your business.
The Picking and Packing Process in Warehousing
Order fulfilment requires more than neat stacking or empty warehouse space. With proper inventory management techniques, your business can ship its orders with speed and accuracy.
The standard pick-and-pack process is essentially the same for each partnership. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect with this service.
- Order Reception. Your sales channel reports the transaction to the selected warehouse system. This step generates a packing slip.
- Picking the Order. A worker takes the slip, finds the items for the transaction, and takes them off the shelves. Different methods are available for this step based on your sales volume.
- Packing the Order. Once the products are picked, the items go to a packing station. The order gets secured, sealed, and labelled for shipping.
- Order Shipment. Orders get sorted by carrier at the dock, ensuring they’re ready for pickup at the prescribed time.
Although picking and packing orders seem simple, there is a science behind their efficient implementation. Working with an experienced provider and cloud-based software to manage these tasks ensures that any business can run better.
Pick and Pack in Warehousing Methods
When businesses start the order fulfilment process, they often pick, pack, and send items individually. Products get placed on shelves or in drawers based on the individual’s preferences for grabbing and mailing packages.
As a company grows, this process must become more efficient to keep costs low. Greater efficiencies can improve speed while reducing mistakes. That equates to happier customers!
The Challenges of Warehousing Picking and Packing
Inaccurate information is a significant challenge for all warehouses. Without a complete record of what inventory is available, longer lead times and incorrect scheduling occur.
Several factors can also increase the turnaround time for the pick-and-pack process. Incorrect shelf placement, inefficient methods, and disorganisation create significant efficiency obstacles.
Missing product data leads to inefficient processes. Some data points that require tracking include total SKUs, items sold together, and product specifications.
Pick and Pack Warehouse Setup
Four different pick and pack methods are typically used.
- Piece packing is where most businesses start. Individuals pick and pack each order separately.
- Batch packing allows for similar orders to be mailed out simultaneously.
- Zone packing allows workers to pick and pack partial orders in their area before passing the boxes to another fulfilment specialist to do the same.
- Wave picking focuses on batches within a zone before passing along the slip to the next area.
Additional picking and packing options include working in clusters and hybrid approaches that use some or all of these techniques.
The best method for a business depends on its size and what it sells. As a company grows, it might need to change how it fulfils orders to ensure costs stay under control.
Tips for Optimising Your Picking and Packing Process
The best investment a business can make for the picking and packing process is to design a warehouse to operate efficiently. Items that get packed together should be stored nearby to reduce time and labour needs. Top-selling products should have a space near packing stations since they get picked often.
Each warehouse area should stay organised to ensure the picking and packing process can be quick and efficient. The items should be placed in their exact location when inventory is received.
It also helps to invest in picking and packing software. This resource makes it easier to double-check each order to ensure items are available.
Pick and Pack Software Does It Help?
Even when a business uses accurate pick-and-pack software, each order should receive individualised attention before shipping. That quality control technique reduces errors.
Pick and pack software simplifies inventory controls while streamlining the packing slip. The items in each transaction can be listed in the order they’ll be found, which is effective for zone and wave processes.
Without this asset, pickers must calculate the order manually. That results in a lot of unnecessary wasted time.
Arch Logistics’ Offering
How a customer receives an order is the last thing they’ll remember about a business. When accurate and prompt deliveries occur, it says something about the service level of Arch International Logistics.
When orders aren’t delivered on time or as promised, it creates a negative blemish on a brand’s perception that can be difficult for consumers to ignore.
Our landside services provide warehousing solutions so that your businesses don’t have to own and operate them. We offer access to one cloud-based cargo management system that allows your operations to remain flexible and remote.
With cost-competitive pricing and accurate tracking, we deliver the transparency and visibility customers want today. That outcome leads to higher satisfaction levels and more repeat transactions from consumer
