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Pick & Pack Fulfilment

We get it right the first time, no need to worry. Our best services provide same day pick and pack services. We provide the packaging, we provide the freight, we provide the service.

Pick and Pack is a common term used in eCommerce fulfillment warehouses to describe the process of packing and shipping merchandise and inventory from warehouse shelves for merchants. This package may also include other packing materials requested by the merchant such as advertisements, invoices, and packaging slips. Overall this process may seem simple but can come with many complications if not done properly. This process is important for eCommerce businesses because if it is done effectively, can maximize how fast and accurate your orders are shipped. Pick and Pack consists of 4 major steps:

Receiving the Order:

The first step of Pick and Pack is receiving the order from the customer or the supplier of the product. Most businesses will decide to outsource order fulfillment, meaning a third-party service will be responsible for these tasks. When the order is received, these are some steps Nextgen 3PL takes to ensure accuracy:

  • Makes sure the number of the product ordered by the manufacturer matches the number of items received at the warehouse.
  • Checks the items for damages or inaccuracies. 
  • Checks merchandise for barcodes or a label to scan.
  • Checks quality and quantity of items to make sure it aligns with how much was ordered.

In this step, a packing slip is also created by the Nextgen 3PL’s software.

Order Picking:

After the order is received and the packing slip is created, a warehouse worker will then take the packing slip and pick the merchandise for the order from the shelves of the warehouse. This step is where the efficiency of the inventory strategy is shown. Quality warehouse inventory consists of:

  • An organized system so you know exactly where all inventory can be found throughout the warehouse. This is important because if whatever inventory you’re looking for isn’t where it is supposed to be, it can take a long time to find it, delaying how fast you are able to ship merchandise out.
  • Proper inspection of the merchandise before it is packed. If this step is done too quickly it may lead to damaged goods getting packed and shipped. This could result in negative feedback from businesses and customers.
Order Packing:

After your items are picked from the warehouse shelves and inspected for damage, they are then ready to be packed. They will be brought to a packing station where your merchandise will be packed securely and labeled correctly for its shipping destination.

Order Shipping:

When your items are packed securely and labeled for shipping, they are then taken to the loading dock to be picked up by the corresponding shipping carriers throughout the day. Shipping carriers then keep customers or businesses notified about the status of their order, including tracking information and estimated delivery time.

Not one of the main 4 steps that are involved with Pick and Pack but could also be provided depending on your fulfillment warehouse is order returns. If a customer decides to return their order for whatever reason, a very similar process is needed to be done to get these items back into warehouse inventory. Items’ mushes are checked for damages after they are received back from the customer before a return can be funded back. Then after the merchandise is checked, it can be put back into the systems and back onto warehouse shelves to be repurchased.

Order Fulfillment display

BENEFITS OF PICK AND PACK FULFILLMENT

  • Pick and Pack makes it easy for businesses to offer a variety of merchandise to their retailers. This can increase a business’s customer return rate as well as generating new customers as people tend to like a wide variety of products to choose from.

 

  • Pick and Pack is a fulfillment method that can increase customer satisfaction. Creating an efficient inventory system helps speedy delivery times and the quality of the packaging of orders. By having an effective Pick and Pack system, orders are able to be shipped out much quicker.

 

  • Pick and Pack is also cost-effective for your business. This is because Pick and Pack are typically designed for orders of all sizes, meaning there will be no minimum order charges. Pick and Pack also has all your inventory in a single warehouse, meaning there is no need to collect and ship merchandise to other storage facilities. This also limits the amount of packaging and re-labeling you will need to pay for.

WAREHOUSE SETUP

  • Although you may think of storing inventory that is similar to each other in the same area, this strategy may not actually be the most effective for your warehouse setup. A logical way of storing inventory may be okay for some warehouses, but when you are focusing on Pick and Pack, the logical organization isn’t necessarily key to an efficient pack and pick system. For example, if one of the items you store are shoes, and you keep them all in the same area, it would be very easy to grab the wrong size. This would mean you would need to go back and get the correct size, which takes time away from another order, or you wouldn’t catch your mistake and send the incorrect size to the customer.
  • In Pick and Pack, you may need to look to new ways of inventory management. Chaotic inventory management is one of the most effective styles of inventory management for Pick and Pack. In this, you randomly place your products on the warehouse shelves, meaning similar products will never be near each other. This limits the likelihood of workers picking the wrong product. A chaotic inventory management setup will contribute to your error rate going significantly down. To make this management style work effectively, your inventory software needs to be up to date and reliable. This means it should always be updated to where each product is located in the warehouse, and packing slips should always include the location when printed. Similarly, this software can help workers map out the quickest route to the items they are picking for orders.To add to chaotic inventory management, there are similar inventory storage strategies to help effectively find and send orders. One of these storage strategies is where you put items within the warehouse. Merchandise that sells more can be closer and more accessible, while merchandise that is less bought can be further away. This can help the warehouse quickly produce high-volume orders. Another storage strategy may include storing inventory together based on how it is packed. Larger items that require different packing may be grouped together while smaller merchandise that requires more elaborate packaging can be grouped together.Aside from inventory strategy, it is important to have the most effective ways to pack your items to limit extra costs. Here are some important strategies to follow in Pick and Pack to reduce errors, returns, and shipping charges:
    • Having software tells the workers how to correctly package certain merchandise. This can include the correct box sizes or mailers to put the items in. This is important so workers don’t need to guess or repack the items.
    • Scanning the products before they are packed to ensure it is the correct product going onto the packaging. This can limit merchandise from being miss packaged.
    • Including infill instructions that help workers improve Pick and Pack methods. This can contribute to how effectively merchandise is picked and packed and shipped to customers or businesses

PICK AND PACK FULFILLMENT THAT IS COMMITTED TO YOU

Pick and Pack can be a great option for your business’s eCommerce fulfillment. Nextgen 3PL offers an effective and reliable Pick and Pack for your business. We carefully review the order after receiving it, making sure we tell our workers to pick the correct quality of merchandise. Next, the order is picked from the warehouse shelves and inspected for damages. It is then packed securely and labeled with the proper shipping information. After the order is packed it is transported to the loading docs where it will be picked up by a shipping carrier to go to its final destination. Pick and Pack can increase customer satisfaction by contributing to speedy delivery, and lower costs in your business through effective warehouse management.

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