Achieve Greater Order Picking Productivity

3 Key Types of Order Picking:

Pallet Picking (Partial or Full)
Pallet picking is when you use forklifts or other material handling equipment to pick full or partial pallets directly out of the rack and then take the pallet to either a staging area or load it directly into an outbound trailer or container. Full or partial pallet picking involves just one single pick per trip, so it is a much simpler process than either case or piece picking. However, the storage and retrieval equipment associated with pallet picking, like lift trucks and racking to name a few, can be very different depending on the design or layout of the warehouse.

Case Picking
Case picking is the gathering of full cartons or boxes of product. This is usually done with a pallet, including the use of an electric walkie or end-rider if picking at floor level locations, or, using an order picker or turret truck at mid- to high-level locations. Case picking operations tend to have less diversity in product characteristics than piece picking operations, with fewer stock keeping units (SKUs) and higher picks per SKU.

Piece Picking (“Pick/Pack”)
Piece picking is also known as broken case picking or “pick/pack,” because the order picker is picking more than one product and packing them into a single box. Piece pick operations usually have a large SKU base in the thousands or tens of thousands of items, small quantities per pick and short cycle times. Mail order catalog companies and repair parts distributors are great examples of piece pick operations.

Finding The Right Order Picker For Your Operation Just Got Easier
When you think about order picking, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a traditional “order picker” – but in reality all warehouse products or lift trucks are actually “picking orders.” The type of forklift required will depend on the type of picking being done, as well as the aisle width.

To help you gain a better understanding of the type of order picker suitable for your specific application, Jungheinrich has created an interactive product selector guide that walks you through questions about your specific application. While this interactive guide is not meant to be a substitute for working with your local Jungheinrich lift truck dealer, it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with some of the factors you’ll need to think about in choosing the right forklift for your needs.