From the consumer’s perspective, ecommerce is a simple, seamless experience. Once an order is placed with a retailer, it ships and then arrives at their door. However, meeting these types of expectations requires an efficient fulfillment strategy that removes bottlenecks around order management and warehouse operations. In a world where two-day delivery is now industry standard, traditional bulk shipping and manual order assembly are too slow to keep pace with demand. In order to minimize the time between order placement and shipping, ecommerce businesses have shifted to pick and pack fulfillment instead, allowing them to handle high order volumes without any interruption or delay.
Basic Pick & Pack Operations
Pick and pack is a straightforward process that offers fast, accurate, and reliable service at a low cost. Though some companies prepare their products in-house, outsourcing to a third-party logistics (3PL) provider is a popular, cost-effective alternative that maximizes turnaround for both small and large-scale operations. Outsourcing allows companies to adjust to fluctuations in demand without the staff and infrastructure costs required to house and package their products.
Regardless of which you prefer, the process at every pick and pack warehouse is the same, though the procedure may be organized differently depending on the number of shipping orders they’re expected to handle.
- Order Receiving. The customer order arrives at the fulfillment center through one of the company’s sales channels (e.g. website, mobile app). The warehouse management software automatically generates an order request and packing slip. If a company has multiple fulfillment centers, the order is assigned to the closest one to the customer with sufficient inventory, in order to minimize shipping costs and reduce delivery times.
- Order Picking. The slip is assigned to a worker, who locates and retrieves each item from the warehouse shelves.
- Order Packing. Once the picker has gathered all the items on the slip, they take them to a packing station where they’re boxed with appropriate packing materials before being sealed, weighed, and labeled.
- Order Shipping. Finally, the package is handed over to the parcel carrier, who delivers it to the customer.
But while processing a single order is easy, processing hundreds or thousands is daunting. To streamline the order fulfillment process, ecommerce businesses and 3PL providers implement a number of picking and packing strategies to make sure items reach customers on time.
Picking Methods
There are four ways of picking items from a warehouse. Though each has their merits, the right one depends on the size of your facility and the number of orders you receive every day.
- Piece Picking. A warehouse worker takes a picking list and pulls each item from the shelves individually until the order is fully assembled. It’s the simplest way of fulfilling orders, generally employed by small companies with a limited inventory.
- Batch Picking. Workers pick items for several orders at once, so they don’t have to revisit the same area multiple times. It’s normally used by companies with large order volumes and a tight collection of Stock Keeping Units (SKU).
- Zone Picking. Every worker is assigned to a zone inside the warehouse. When an order comes in, they pick the items in their zone and send them to a packing station where they’re organized and assembled. If an order contains items in multiple zones, it’s handed off to each one in turn until it’s complete. A solid tactic for large fulfillment centers, but requires a sophisticated warehouse management system to coordinate everyone’s efforts.
- Wave Picking. A combination of zone picking and batch picking, wave picking categorizes orders by zone, so workers can pull multiple items for multiple orders before sending them on. Because it requires high-level administration and communication, only the largest distribution centers can afford the tools to implement it.
A well-designed picking strategy creates efficient routes through your warehouse, minimizing travel times and labor costs. It also improves order accuracy and increases throughput, leading to greater customer satisfaction in the long-run.
Packing Methods
Packing is a small but critical part of the shipping process. Careful and efficient packing allows orders to move out the door as quickly as possible. It also eliminates waste, while ensuring products are sufficiently protected during transit. Packaging materials can even contribute to the customer experience as well by creating a sense of excitement around unboxing. Companies have three packing strategies to choose from.
- Cartonization. Helps you select the right box for each order. For large orders, several boxes may be required. While the process can be carried out manually, by trained packers, modern 3PL providers use software to optimize the use of packing supplies.
- Branded Packaging. Including your logo on boxes and shipping labels turns each delivery into a marketing opportunity. Incorporating branded materials into the packing process is a common practice, even when outsourced to 3PL providers.
- Kitting. Product kits are a group of items bundled together and sold as a single unit. Because they can be assembled in advance, kits reduce time spent picking and packing. By grouping complementary items together into a single box, they also save on shipping.
Consistent and professional packaging reflects well on your brand, instilling trust in your customers. What’s more, standardized packing is easy to scale, allowing you to handle a larger quantity of orders without increasing costs or time requirements.
3PL Pick & Pack Services
Outsourcing pick and pack operations allows retailers and online stores to reduce overhead, freeing resources for other critical tasks such as marketing, customer service, and product development. Because 3PL providers operate at scale, labor, warehousing, technology, and transportation expenditures are spread over a larger number of orders, reducing per-unit-costs.
By partnering with a 3PL provider, you also benefit from sophisticated order tracking, automation, and inventory management systems without the capital investment required to implement them independently. These tools facilitate the movement of goods between zones and direct items to their appropriate shipping lanes, decreasing the time and effort required to assemble and prepare orders. At the same time, barcode scanners and management software monitor inventory levels in real-time, ensuring enough products are on hand to meet customer demand without the risk of overstocking. ExpressTrac fulfillment services deliver cost-effective solutions to businesses across the country, no matter the size. Our comprehensive distribution network ensures your supply chain functions smoothly end-to-end, allowing goods to reach your customers without delay or interruption. Contact us today and discover the power of hassle-free logistics!