What is Pick and Pack – The Basics
Pick & pack service in a fulfillment center involve selecting items from a warehouse inventory and packing them into boxes, ready for shipping. Picking and packing is a labor-intensive job that requires attention to detail, speed, accuracy, and physical fitness. Warehouse workers may be expected to pick and pack a certain number of boxes or cases per hour, so they must work quickly and precisely. Packing managers are typically responsible for overseeing the accuracy of picking and packing employees.
Picking and packing are the essential elements in running an efficient fulfillment center. A fulfillment center worker responsible for picking and packing might be expected to complete this task using a handheld device such as a scanner or iPhone. This handheld device can help the worker keep track of the number of items selected from inventory and the number of items packed into each box. Picking and packing can also be done by hand using paper order lists, but this method is falling out of favor due to its inaccuracy.
Where it all begins- The Pick and Pack Process in a Nutshell
To understand what pick and pack fulfillment are, it’s essential to understand the basic logistics of order fulfillment. As soon as an order is placed, it goes through these processes: receiving goods, storage of goods, picking, packing, distribution of goods and confirmation of order handling.
Receiving of goods
The receiving process is just as simple as it sounds. When you receive a shipment of products, you take them out of their packaging and put them into storage. You might do this for individual orders or large shipments from your manufacturer. Once the products have been received, they’re ready to be stored until they need to be picked and packed.
Storage of goods
Storage might seem like a small part of the pick and pack fulfillment services, but it’s a significant piece of this puzzle. Inventory management is necessary to track where each product is stored and how much of each item you have on hand. This can be done manually by keeping track of an Excel spreadsheet, but if you want to save time and make sure there are no errors, investing in an inventory management system will make a significant difference in your eCommerce business.
Picking
Your pick-and-pack provider will have an ample warehouse space with plenty of room for your inventory. When an order is placed, a staff member will go into the warehouse and pick out the items from the shelves as specified in the order. They’ll then take it over to the packing station for packaging.
Packing
During the packing process, items are placed into shipping boxes or envelopes and prepared for shipment to a destination warehouse or directly to a customer. This can include adding packaging materials around or inside the box or envelope, putting labels on the outside of packages, labelling products within a package, and placing address information on packages. This step is crucial when sending delicate items or items susceptible to damage during transport. The packing stage can also include bundling several items together to create one complete package that contains multiple parts of an order.
Distribution
Once you have your pick and pack process down pat, it’s time to get your products into customers’ hands! Outsourced distribution is the fastest way to go about this. You outsource some or all of these tasks to a third-party logistics (3PL) provider like NextSmartShip, who will handle them on your behalf—leaving your team free to focus on other business areas like marketing or product development.
Order Tracking
Once the package is sent out for delivery, the customer will receive an email with tracking information and other valuable details about their order. The entire process is seamless and straightforward, leaving you more time to focus on other things.
The Pick and Pack Methods Involved
Used correctly, pick and pack methods can dramatically improve efficiency, reduce operational expenses and increase productivity. Learn how they work and when each one should be used. The purpose is to have the least amount of unit inventory at the beginning, the highest flexibility with the resource and the workforce, and the most efficient use of time.
Piece picking
Picking products as they’re ordered is called “piece picking,” and it usually takes place in a single warehouse area. It’s the most common pick method but not the most efficient.
Batch picking
Batch picking combines orders into “batches,” making each picker responsible for more than one order at a time. This can cut down on travel time between picks significantly.
Zone picking
Zone picking divides the fulfillment center into different zones (e.g., product type or SKU). All orders that include items from a particular zone are sent to that zone for picking, then combined into batches or picked individually. Zone picking can be used with piece or batch picking.
Wave picking
Wave picking is similar to zone picking in that separate zones are set up within the fulfillment center. A “wave” of orders moves through the fulfillment center like a snake winding its way through the grass. Wave picking requires you to group items together based on factors such as their size and shape.
Why Choose a Pick and Pack Fulfillment Center?
A well-established pick and pack fulfillment center is your secret weapon to a successful business. When it comes to e-commerce, a pick and pack fulfillment center could be the answer to your biggest problem: effective order fulfillment.
Your customers want their orders delivered fast and on time, but you can’t do that if you don’t have the proper infrastructure. A pick and pack fulfillment center is the perfect solution for businesses of all sizes.
If you’re still not convinced about the benefits of using a pick and pack fulfillment center, here are some reasons why you should consider them for your business:
They are customizable to suit your needs
The great thing about these fulfillment centers is that they can be customized to suit your needs. If you need more space, then you can get it. If you need employees, plenty of staffing companies will sort out your needs.
They save time
If you want to save on time, this is the best option for your business. You don’t have to worry about unpacking boxes or sorting items because it has already been done for you.
Less administrative work
A pick and pack fulfillment center will take care of the administrative tasks required for shipping orders on your behalf. This means that you don’t have to keep track of inventory or spend time doing repetitive tasks like printing labels.
Less workforce
Hiring more staff is an expensive option as you will be responsible for their salaries, benefits, and training costs. However, when you outsource your warehousing needs to a pick and pack company, you will no longer need to hire more employees or worry about training them.
Improve order accuracy
The primary benefit of using a pick and pack fulfillment centre is improving order accuracy, which leads to satisfied customers. Since this type of 3PL facility performs all the tasks involved in fulfilling your orders manually, they can ensure that every order is accurate before leaving their facility.
Why choose NextSmartShip as Your Pick and Pack Fulfillment Centre?
We have reduced the pain points of online retailers to a single click. Our smart inventory system and simple pick and pack process ensures that your orders are processed in the shortest time possible. As an online retailer, you’re constantly changing, growing and adapting to meet your customer’s needs. You need a pick and pack fulfillment center that can keep up with your pace to do this effectively. At NextSmartShip, we have the technology, experience, and knowledge to help you do just that. We’ve helped countless businesses grow from one product to thousands, from selling locally to selling nationally—and internationally.
AI integrated robotic automation fulfillment center
NextSmartShip’s automated guided vehicles (AGV) robots are A.I driven that helps you scale up your fulfillment process. AGV robots automate fulfillment using advanced AI routing technology, reducing the need for labor and boosting fulfillment speed exponentially. This technology increases productivity by 300%, boosts fulfillment speed exponentially and has picking accuracy up to 99.99% due to reduced human errors.
An optimized process
With NextSmartShip, you can avoid the hassle of managing a warehouse. We operate out of an efficient facility that has been optimized for the pick and pack process. We have developed specialized equipment and processes to handle your products with care, keeping your customers happy and allowing you to focus on what makes your business extraordinary.
Efficiency guaranteed
When you choose NextSmartShip as your pick and pack fulfillment center, you’ll access our comprehensive range of services designed to help your business. Our warehousing services include fulfillment, order processing, storage, packing and distribution of goods. We offer a complete end-to-end service for all of our clients in addition to our pick and pack warehouse options.
Customizable packaging options
At NextSmartShip, we understand that every business is different. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all type of approach. That’s why we offer different packaging options to suit everyone.NextSmartShip also looks out for the environment. We offer a green packaging solution called PackGreen, and a carbon offset program that funds reforestation and preservation projects. All this helps play a role in contributing to a carbon-neutral future while keeping costs low for our customers.
Online tracking availability
If you are an online retailer, your customers want to know where their order is and when they will receive it. When you choose NextSmartShip as your pick and pack fulfillment centre, we can provide you with real-time tracking information to pass on to your customers.
Flexible
We’re flexible enough to work with you. As an experienced pick and pack fulfillment center, we understand how important flexibility is for fulfillment services. With NextSmartShip, you can start small and scale up as needed.
Fast and Simple
It’s not hard to see why NextSmartShip is the best choice for your order fulfillment needs. NextSmartship’s proprietary software automates many of the steps in the fulfillment process, including receiving shipments, inventory control and tracking, order processing, packing and shipping. Easy to install, learn and use, by streamlining these tasks, NextSmartship gives you more time to make sales and improve your customer relationships.
Competitive Pricing
When you choose NextSmartShip as your pick and pack fulfillment center for shipping your goods from China, you’ll get world-class service at the lowest prices in the industry. Our handling fee is only $0.99 per order, including pick and pack and standard packing material. It’s lower than the other pick and pack companies out there! Lower than the average pick and pack costs. A rate that’s hard to beat! If you’re looking to save money on your fulfillment needs and pass those savings down to your customers, it’ll be hard to find a better deal than at NextSmartShip.
