What is batch picking and how does it work?
Batch picking is an order-picking method where an operator or robot collects products for multiple orders at once in a single pick tour, instead of walking the warehouse per order. The goal: less walking, more picks per hour.
How does batch picking work?
The process in four steps:
- Form the batch. The WMS bundles a set of orders, for example orders with overlapping items or the same shipping wave, into one batch.
- One pick tour. The picker walks the route once and takes the total quantity of each item for the whole batch.
- Collect. All picked products end up in one cart or tote, not yet separated per order.
- Sort to order. The mixed batch is split out: every product goes to the right order. This is the put or sort step.
Step 4 is where many operations get stuck. More on that below.
When does batch picking pay off?
Batch picking works best with:
- Many small orders with few lines per order, typical of e-commerce.
- Overlapping items across orders, so one pick serves multiple orders.
- Peak volumes where walking distance is the bottleneck.
With single-order picking, a large share of pick time is spent walking. Batch picking cuts that walking sharply, because each tour serves many more orders.
The flip side: the sort step
The gain from batch picking comes at a price: at the end of the tour everything is mixed together. That mixed batch still has to be sorted per order. Done by hand, that is slow, error-prone and labor-intensive, exactly the bottleneck that eats the time gain back up.
This is where automation comes in. A batchpick sorter takes over the sort step: every product is scanned and automatically sent to the right order. That way the speed gain of batch picking is preserved.
Batch picking and the MicroSorter
The MicroSorter sorts up to 1500 products per hour to more than 40 order destinations, with 99.9% accuracy. The mixed batch goes in one side and comes out as complete, verified orders, ready to ship.
Want to know whether batch picking with automated sorting fits your volume? Read more about the batchpick sorter or schedule a call.