Pick-and-ship fulfilment flows
Pick-and-ship flows turn a sales order into picked, packed and dispatched stock, and determine which lots leave the building.
Lot selection at pick time affects traceability as much as logistics.
Key facts
- Allocation rules decide which stock is picked: FIFO, FEFO, lot-specific or a recorded manual override.
- Discrete picking suits an order-centric list. Batch picking suits a route through locations.
- A short pick should be recorded, with another location suggested and a count discrepancy flagged.
- Overrides preserve the trace only if each one is recorded.
What it covers
| Rule | Used when |
|---|---|
| FIFO | Age matters for cost or rotation |
| FEFO | Products have a shelf life |
| Lot-specific | A customer requires lot consistency |
| Manual override | An exception, recorded with a reason |
The flow runs from allocation through picking, packing and dispatch, and ends with a shipment record that links the order to the lots that left.
Who uses it
Pickers and packers in the warehouse, shipping clerks who prepare documents and labels, and customer service, which answers what was shipped and when. In a recall, the quality team reads the same shipment records to find which customers received the affected lots.
What makes it hard to design
Discrete and batch picking. Discrete picking handles one order at a time. Batch picking collects stock for many orders and sorts it afterwards. The first suits an order-centric list, the second a route through locations.
Short picks. When a location is empty or holds less than expected, the flow records the shortage, suggests another location and flags a count discrepancy. Taking stock from elsewhere without a record breaks both the count and the trace.
Lot at pick time. Record the identity of the lot actually picked, using scanning or a validated manual entry. An order-level confirmation without lot identity cannot support lot-level shipment tracing.
Packing slips and shipping labels are generated from the pick. Long line lists overflow the page when templates were tested with short orders.
Trade-offs
- Enforcing the suggested lot keeps FEFO accurate, even when the pallet sits behind others and the picker has to reach it. Overrides keep work moving, and the trace survives only if each one is recorded.
Common mistakes
- Picks confirmed without recording the actual lot. The shipment record shows which order left, and the forward trace stops at the dock.
- Stock taken from another location without a record
- Overrides without a reason
- Packing slips tested only with short orders
Related experience