Cart Picking

Cart Picking

Cart picking is a method of order fulfillment in which a person, or “picker,” uses a cart to collect the items listed on an order from various locations within a warehouse or distribution center. This process is called “pick to cart.”

Cart picking is common, particularly in order fulfillment operations with high order volumes. It is typically more efficient than paper-based or manual picking, as it allows the picker to move quickly through the warehouse and collect multiple items simultaneously. Because workers can pick multiple orders simultaneously, the pick-to-cart method eliminates redundant steps and minimizes walking distance — resulting in shorter order fulfillment times.

Blog: Select a Picking Technology to Drive Productivity Gains

To begin the process, the picking worker loads a cart with multiple containers representing orders that will be picked. The picker typically walks through the warehouse following a predetermined route, picking multiple items for multiple orders off shelves, and placing them in their containers on the cart.

Once picking is complete, the cart is transported to the packing station to be prepared for shipment. The process can be managed manually or streamlined by adding technologies such as handheld devices, pick-by-voice technology, mobile wearable computers, and barcode scanners, to guide workers’ activities and confirm that correct items and quantities are picked.

Pick-by-Voice Technology to Boost Productivity by 30 to 50% or More

Numina Group’s Victory Voice™ Suite can be added to cart picking to increase efficiency, accuracy, and throughput. Victory Voice, a next-generation multi-modal voice solution, offers end-to-end hands-free, eyes-forward picking guidance that includes scan validation, visual messages, images, touch, and vibration guidance. It directs and scan-validates pick, pack, and ship operations, eliminates paper, and automates manual processes to reduce labor, increases accuracy to 99.9%, and boosts productivity by 30-50% or more.

Double Cart Picking Productivity with Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)

Numina’s RDS™ Batchbot™ solution combines picking carts with warehouse voice-picking technology and AMRs, uniting people and robots working as guided vehicles to reduce labor costs and double order fulfillment productivity.

In this solution, order picking is coordinated by Numina Group’s RDS™ warehouse execution system (WES). The system releases the picking lists to warehouse workers who move from location to location, pick items, place them into an AMR cart or tote, and update the WES system as tasks are complete.

By synchronizing AMRs to manage the cart movement, workers are freed from manual cart movement and physically moving heavy products, resulting in increased efficiency, lower worker fatigue, and much higher overall productivity. Batchbot AMRs are configurable for automated order start and cart pickup and drop-off without human guidance, ensuring 90% utilization and a higher ROI.

Learn More

The Numina Group can help you determine your warehouse’s most efficient order fulfillment solution. Numina Group provides comprehensive warehouse design and layout services, which have helped clients double and even triple their productivity per employee.

Numina’s comprehensive warehouse automation solutions include:

• Design and implementation of turnkey automated distribution centers
• Warehouse execution and control systems (WES-WCS) for picking, packing and shipping
• Multimodal voice picking systems for hands-free, eyes-forward picking
• Labor management tracking and reporting tools
• Print-and-apply labeling of packing slips, shipping labels and compliance labels.
• Bombay, cross-belt & tilt-tray sorters for order fulfillment, returns and shipping
• Scan-weigh-dimension systems with in-motion vision pack and ship verification