Cart Picking to Carton

Cart Picking to Carton is a DVU feature that combines picking, packing, wave deconsolidation, and cartonization. By integrating these tasks into a single workflow, warehouse managers can enhance order fulfillment efficiency.

As shown in the image below, cart picking to carton generally involves multiple pack options (e.g. corrugated stock of assorted sizes and poly-mailers) on one cart, which is managed by a single employee.

Pros and cons

Below is an assessment of the cart picking to carton feature and a description of where it might make sense to deploy this pick and pack tool.

Advantages

• Consolidate picking - Floor staff can scan an item code once, take the quantities that fulfill multiple orders, and pack them into their respective cartons without having to scan the location and item code multiple times.

• Efficient workflow - A single employee can pick and pack because they sort items into shipping cartons (e.g. corrugated boxes, poly mailers, etc.). When the orders are complete, the employee closes the cartons/mailers and prepares the order for pick-up.

• Integrated deconsolidation - Separates items for orders at the time of picking. On DVU, typical wave deconsolidation occurs after all order items are picked. That process works well for high-quantity picking (e.g. pallets), but for e-commerce (e.g. low quantity orders), it is sometimes easier and smarter to separate orders before reaching the packing process.

• Labels - Carton contents labels can be printed and print out routing details at ScanPack.

Disadvantages

• Limitations of use - Some order types are not suited for this feature. For instance, orders with bulky items, which means the box cannot physically fit on the cart.

• Requires Manual Allocation - With manual allocation, orders are not reserved until the item is picked. This means that items may be available when an order status is set to In Process, but availability can change if other users pick items during the same timeframe. This could leave multiple orders pending replenishment and delay the pick.

• Room for Shipping Mistakes - Because wave deconsolidation happens during the pick, floor staff are ideally scanning the carton ID to verify they are placing each item into the correct box/mailer. However, because the picker is also packing, human errors made during deconsolidation are not caught in the normal workflow (i.e. a different employee verifies the final items during the packing process). The Cart Picking to Carton workflow can lead to shipping errors that aren’t noticed until the consumer receives the order. Proper training is vital.

Configuring the platform

Cart storage location

Create a storage location for the cart. Set the Location Type to Rack Storage/Putaway.

Account Configuration

• Enable Manual Allocation at the account level to allow cartons to be packed dynamically.

• Make sure all items have accurate dimensions and weight. This is a Cartonization requirement.

• Enable barcode scanning for picking.

Next step

Review the general standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the Cart Picking to Carton feature.