Kommissionierung
Also: Picken, Auftragskommissionierung
AI-generated
Order picking is the process of assembling individual items from warehouse stock to fulfill a specific customer order — the most labor-intensive step in the warehouse.
Key facts
- Order picking often accounts for more than half of warehouse operating costs.
- Person-to-goods and goods-to-person are the two fundamental principles.
- The order structure determines which method is the right fit.
What order picking means
From a stock of thousands of items, a single order is assembled: three screws, one housing, two cables. Every pick takes time, and the sum of these picks accounts for more than half of operating costs in many warehouses.
Methods compared
With the person-to-goods principle, the operator travels to the shelf. With goods-to-person, the technology brings the container to the workstation. Batch picking consolidates multiple orders into a single tour and sorts them afterward.
Which method is the right fit depends on the order structure: many small orders favor batch picking, while few large orders favor individual picking tours.
Related terms
- Hochregallager
A high-bay warehouse is an automated storage facility with racking from approximately twelve meters in height, where stacker cranes automatically store and retrieve pallets.
- Palette
A pallet is a standardized load carrier made of wood, plastic, or metal that consolidates goods so that forklifts and conveyor systems can move them as a single unit.