Discrete picking (or: single-order picking) is a classic approach in warehouse logistics. In this approach, an employee collects the items required for each sales order separately at their various locations in the warehouse. With the help of a delivery note that contains the warehouse locations of the items, the employee moves through the warehouse to pick the required items. At the packing table, it is possible to carry out a quality control check by scanning items once again, or to register serial numbers via scan.
Tip
To summarize: During discrete picking, individual items are picked per delivery note.
The following images give you an overview of the discrete picking process in a typical warehouse, as well as of the order in which the respective process steps take place in Xentral.
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Reduced possibility of errors: Sales orders are processed one after the other. With each new delivery note, the warehouse staff starts moving through the warehouse once again. This enables your staff to focus on one sales order at a time, which encourages concentration and might minimize errors.
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Warehouse knowledge of your employees: Discrete picking is especially efficient if your employees have comprehensive knowledge of the warehouse structure and the products. Less time is required for finding items, which improves efficiency.
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Quality assurance and serial number scan: You can carry out an optional quality scan or scan serial numbers at the packing table to make sure that the correct items have been picked for the sales order. This leads to less errors and assures quality.
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Use for bulky products: Discrete picking is an optimal choice if you are dealing with big or bulky products that require particular attention and care.
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Small warehouse: This method is efficient in small warehouses with short walking distances. For bigger warehouses with longer walking distances, discrete picking might not be an efficient choice.
Tip
This is the concrete procedure for the discrete picking process: Print all delivery notes of a picking run using a printer in the warehouse.
For each sales order, use the delivery note to identify the warehouse locations of the required items. Collect the items for each sales order one after the other and place it in a box that you reserve for this particular sales order. Make sure to clearly separate the items to avoid confusion.
At the packing table, you can carry out an optional quality assurance scan or scan serial numbers to make sure that all items are the correct ones. Alternatively, you can scan the delivery note and immediately continue with creating a shipping label to speed up the shipping process.
Before using the discrete picking process, you need to carry out a few settings in Xentral to set up the process and to add your desired individual settings. The necessary steps are described in the following.
Proceed as described below to carry out the settings necessary for using discrete picking in the project whose orders you wish to process with this method.
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Use the Smart Search to open the Projects module.
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Open the project whose orders should be processed using discrete picking.
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Open the Settings tab.
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Click on Logistics/Shipping.
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In the Shipping process and picking section, carry out the following settings:
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Picking process: Select the option Delivery note with storage location, Automatic stock retrieval from warehouse and scan in the dispatch centerif you wish to carry out a quality scan or to register serial numbers via scan before ultimately packing your products. If you do not require this step, select the option Delivery note with storage location and Automatic stock retrieval instead.
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Document printer level 1 (picking): Select the printer that should be used for printing the delivery notes needed for discrete picking in the warehouse.
Important
Only printers that you have already set up in Xentral are available for selection. More information on setting up printers is available in this article.
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Carry out the following settings in the Stage 2 (pack) at dispatch station section:
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Delivery note: Activate the option Printer if you wish to print an additional copy of the delivery note at the packing station so that you can add this copy to the package.
Important
In this case, do not forget to select a Document printer level 2 (shipping) in the Shipping process and picking section.
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Finally, click on Save.
After you have carried out the settings described above, you are ready to process your first sales orders using discrete picking. The following diagram shows you the workflow of discrete order picking along with the optional steps that you could carry out. Refer to the following chapters to find step-by-step descriptions of the workflow.
The transfer to the dispatch center is the step in which you make sure that all sales orders are handed over to logistics and have received green light on all of its order status indicator symbols.
You can transfer these sales orders individually or in groups, manually or with the help of defined processes. Take a look at this article to learn more on the possibilities for handing over sales orders to the dispatch center.
If you are dealing with a high sales order volume, you can also automatically create pick lists at fixed time intervals and forward the corresponding sales orders to logistics automatically. To do so, use the pick list profiles in Xentral.
Note
As soon as you have started the transfer to logistics, the selected orders are transferred to the Dispatch center in Xentral. During this transfer, sales orders are processed automatically in the system background. The orders are sorted into groups and pick lists are created. Afterwards, the sales orders are ready to be processed by the picking process.
After you have started the transfer to the dispatch center and printed the required delivery notes, you can proceed with the next step of discrete picking. The picture shows a sample delivery note, which is used to retrieve the required items from the respective warehouse locations.
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Start the picking process for an individual sales order by using the delivery note or a pick list. Scan al items that are needed for this sales order.
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Delivery note: The delivery note contains the following information for each item/position: Product number, Product name, Warehouse location and Quantity of the ordered items.
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Pick list: The pick list contains the following additional information for each item/position: Delivery note number, EAN, Customer name, Available stock at your warehouse location. For pick lists, you can determine a custom sorting, either according to Delivery note sorting or Optimized warehouse route.
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As soon as you have picked all items, you can either proceed by packing the sales order or starting a picking run for the next sales order.
Note
Information on best before dates, batches and EAN are maintained for each product in the item master data. In the Projects > Open project > Tab: Settings > Logistics/Shipping > Options menu, you can make detailed decisions on how you want to process these types of data during discrete picking.
The packing process typically consists of several specific steps such as the combination of products at the packing table, packaging the products in cartons, adding filler material, closing the package and ultimately attaching the shipping labels.
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Transfer your fully stocked picking container (this can be a cart, a palette or a box) including the picked items to the packing table for further processing.
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You can then register the delivery note using a scanner via the dispatch center in Xentral. This way, the sales order that needs to be packed is directly opened and displayed.
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Finally, an additional quality assurance scan or a serial number scan takes place, depending on the picking process that you have selected in the project settings. Depending on the project settings, you can also print receipts such as delivery notes or invoices, or send them via email.
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Close the packages and attach the shipping label. Then, the tracking number is communicated to your customers and your shipping service provider picks up the packages.
Tip
Detailed information on the various possibilities for setting up the packing process in the dispatch center is available in the following article: