Pick list waves

A wave is a group of pick lists that were released together from a pick list plan of type Wave. Each order in the wave has its own pick list, so every order is picked into its own tote, but the wave as a whole is planned, picked and followed up as one batch of work: for example "all express orders before the 11:00 pickup".

Find waves under Pick lists › Waves.

How a wave is created

A wave is created when you release a plan of type Wave:

1. Boxture selects the orders that match the plan's rules (see Releasing a plan).
2. It creates a wave named after the plan, followed by a dash and the date and time of the release in the location's time zone.
3. Each order is put on its own pick list in that wave, named "Order" followed by the order number. With the release policy Isolate, only the matching items of each order are put on its pick list.
4. Each pick list is reallocated right away, so the best inventory is used and lines that need replenishment are marked.

Every release of the plan creates a new wave. The plans overview shows per plan how many waves (# Waves) and pick lists (# Pick Lists) it has produced.

The waves overview

The overview lists waves with the columns Account (when you manage several accounts), Name, Pick list plan, # Pick Lists and Created at. The newest waves are on top.

The By state filter in the card menu has two options:

Filter	Shows waves that have
Active (default)	at least one pick list that still needs work (pending, assigned, picking) or is on hold.
Completed	at least one pick list that is completed or cancelled.

A wave that is partly done therefore appears under both filters. A wave is finished when it no longer appears under Active.

The wave page

Click a wave to see its pick lists, with the same columns and filters as the pick lists overview: state, orders, picker, quantity to pick, ship at and so on. Unlike the pick lists overview, this table shows all pick lists of the wave regardless of their state, so you can see completed and open pick lists side by side.

From here you can open each pick list to assign, unassign or cancel it.

Picking a wave

Wave pick lists are picked with the mobile picking app (see Mobile picking). Waves behave differently from single pick lists in two ways:

• Continuing in the wave. When a picker completes a pick list of a wave, the app opens the next pick list of the same wave: first one already assigned to that picker, otherwise a pending one. Of those, it chooses the pick list whose next bin location is closest to the bin location the picker just picked from. So the picker keeps working through the wave with as little walking as possible, until no pick list is left.
• No assignment needed. Wave pick lists can be started even when Pending picking allowed is off. To hand a wave to a picker, it is enough to assign one of its pick lists to them; after finishing it, the next pick lists of the wave follow automatically.

Lines that wait for replenishment are skipped. When a picker has finished everything else on a pick list, the app reports "Pick completed, revisit picklist once inventory is replenished" and continues with the next pick list.

Following up a wave

Use the wave page to see which orders are still open:

• Pick lists in pending have not been started. Assign them to free pickers if the wave needs to be done faster.
• Pick lists on hold have a picking problem. Resolve the problem ticket to continue.
• Pick lists in completed are ready for packing. With Auto pack they have been packed already.

TIP

Combine a wave plan with a Ship at time rule (for example Ship at time <= 17:00, which compares with 17:00 on the current day) and release it a few times a day. Each release then forms a wave of the orders that must leave with the next carrier pickup. See Cutoff time and SLA.