Many of the wholesale distributors with whom we work have common characteristics when we first become acquainted with each other. Many are selling items which can be packed and shipped via small package delivery services. And, most of these distributors are performing their picking operations via paper-based print tickets on a one-to-one ratio – one sales order equals one pick ticket. Read More…
Some of the biggest operational efficiencies these distributors can gain from wholesale distribution software solutions like TGI’s Enterprise 21 come from combining and performing picking for multiple orders concurrently. Within Enterprise 21, this functionality is called cart picking.
Enterprise 21 collects a series of picks for various sales orders based on the business rules a given organization defines within the system. Once a pick is generated, Enterprise 21 leads the given warehouse operations person through the facility in an optimized path to minimize transit time between picks. This can be done with either paper-based or paperless picking.
When cart picking is combined with barcode scanning, the Enterprise 21 system prompts the picker to pick a given quantity of an item from a specified bin location and to place that item in a specific tote or location on their picking cart. When the first item is being picked, the picker scans the item and an associated tote location on the picking cart. At this point, the system knows that a given order’s picks are associated with that specific cart location. When the picker is prompted to pick the next item, if it is associated with this same order, they are prompted to place it in this same tote location. Should they be picking an item for a second order, however, they would be prompted to scan a second cart location to be associated with the second order.
The system will continue to prompt the picker to place items into an associated tote location or to select a new location for the next order being picked. Should the picker attempt to scan and place an item associated with one order into a cart location associated with a different order, the system will alert them that this is not the correct location for this order and once again prompt them with the correct cart location. Once all the associated picks for the given picker-cart combination are finished, the picker would take the cart to the packing location.
Next, Enterprise 21 would prompt the packer as to which specific standard carton sizes should be selected for use for a given sales order shipment and which items should be placed in each given box. The system would generate a carton label for each box. As the packer scans the items into the given cartons, the system would confirm that the items were in fact associated with the specific order shipment being created. As part of the packing process, Enterprise 21 also generates the desired shipping paperwork including packing slips and pro forma invoices.
Once the packing process has been completed and the cartons are sealed, the boxes would then be handed off to the shipping department. Shipping would then run the boxes through the appropriate shipment manifesting systems (i.e., UPS, FedEx, etc.) and ship the various boxes. Enterprise 21 is fully-integrated with these shipment manifesting systems, so the order status would be updated immediately upon shipment. Enterprise 21 also generates all appropriate customer transactions resulting from the shipping process including delivery of an advanced shipping notification (ASN) in the customer’s preferred format and method of delivery (fax, email, or EDI).
The combination of Enterprise 21’s fully-integrated warehouse management system functionality when used in conjunction with RF/barcode-enabled scanning technology, including cart picking and wireless warehouse management capabilities, can lead to substantial improvements in warehouse operational efficiencies while minimizing shipping errors.