Among the functions or tasks that you can find in the logistics sector, one of the most important, especially if you have an eCommerce, is picking. But, what is picking in logistics?
If you are not clear about this term and want to know what we are referring to to see if you are applying it correctly in your business, take a look at what we have prepared for you.
What is picking in logistics?
Before moving forward, you need to know exactly what we are referring to with picking. It is about the order preparation, a fundamental part of logistics to ensure that everything goes well.
For example, imagine that you have an online store. You receive an order and you look for the product, package it and send it. Now, that product may or may not be in good condition, so the customer experience will not be satisfactory because you have not taken care of the details beforehand.
In this case, picking is the process where the order is prepared and care is taken when selecting it, collecting it from the warehouse, organizing it and packaging it to send it to the final destination. If any of these fail, the rest of the process may be compromised. For example, because a bad product is sent, because it is not in good condition, etc.
What phases does picking have?
Within logistics, there are several phases of picking. Specifically:
- Planning and preparation. It is perhaps the most important. If your eCommerce is large, it is something like a order that would be sent to the operators with the data and products that the client has ordered to take charge of preparing the order and having it ready to ship.
- Tours and movements. This phase will depend on what you sell and how big your warehouse is. It involves workers moving through the appropriate aisles to find the products that have been requested. If your eCommerce store is not very large, it will be enough to know where you have stored the products they are looking for and pick them up in the next phase.
- Collection of products. This phase requires machinery if the warehouse is large and the products are placed in areas that are difficult to access. However, if this is not the case, it could be merged with the previous phase.
- Product verification. Once the product is selected, before sending it, you must verify that it is in good condition and that it does not have anything that could cause the customer to return it, or have a bad experience. Checking the expiration date, if it has broken parts, if it is discolored or a strange color, can be some examples of what you have to look for.
- Packaging. The last phase to consider in picking is packaging, although in many companies this would be carried out by another different team that is in charge of it. Even so, it may be the case that picking is also responsible for this.
Manual or automatic picking
Depending on the type of business and the investment you can make, you might consider having manual or automatic (i.e. automated) picking in logistics.
For example, imagine you have a pharmacy. You know that there are lots of medicines in it.
If picking is done manually, the person would have to search through the drawers until they found the drug to sell it. However, if it is automated, It would be enough to give the order on the computer of these medications so that a robot can send you (usually through a tube) the requested medications.
However, in these cases it is common that the verification would not be carried out by the robot, but rather it would be the person who dispatched the order who would have to review it before selling or sending it.
Another type of picking that exists would be a mixed one, which combines the advantages of both and avoids the disadvantages of these. However, this requires a greater investment.
Other types of picking
Apart from the above, depending on the load units required, you may encounter:
- Low level picking, When the products and the warehouse are at a comfortable height so that you do not need stairs or any other resource to access the products. For small eCommerces, this would be the type.
- At medium level, when the products can be found at heights of up to 3,5 – 4 metres. In this case, some tools and accessories will be required to access them.
- At a high level, where products are at different heights and vehicles or machinery may be needed to access them.
- On pallets, usually for carpentry, masonry and similar products.
- Pick to light. This is a technology where orders are prepared through screens so that the workers are always collecting the products that are being requested for the orders. It is something like restaurants where waiters carry small devices to “order the dishes that are requested so that they can be prepared”.
Picking and packing
As we have told you before, the last phase of picking, packaging, is not carried out by the same operators in large companies, but is the responsibility of the packing team.
These are responsible for the packaging and containers that will be used to protect the product and ensure that it reaches the customer with a good user experience.
Although it is often thought to be part of picking, the truth is that it is separate. To help you understand:
- Picking: locating the requested products and verifying their status. Once this is guaranteed, they move on to the next process.
- Packing: packaging products so that they are ready to be shipped.
Now you know what picking is in logistics. The next step is to think about how you do it and see if there is any way you can improve it to be more efficient when shipping products. Do you have any questions? Leave them in the comments.