Pick lists

A pick list tells a picker what to take from which bin location. It contains the allocated items of one or more orders, grouped into lines: one line per product, bin location, status, lot and expiry date. Pickers work through the lines in route order with the mobile picking app; the web application is used to create, follow up, assign and cancel pick lists.

How pick lists are created

A pick list is always created from allocated order items in one location. There are three ways:

How	Result
Order › Pick	The order (or the items you select) is put on a new pick list named "Order" followed by the order number.
Orders table, batch action Pick	Same as above, for every selected order. Each order gets its own pick list.
Release of a pick list plan	Depending on the plan type: one pick list for all matching orders (bulk and batch), or a wave with one pick list per order.

Putting orders on pick lists requires the role Admin, Warehouse associate or Pick list planner, and the order must have allocated items.

Picking an order from the order page

1. Open the order and choose Pick in the order menu.
2. Either click Pick straight away to put all allocated items of the order on a pick list, or fill in one or more item lines (Product, Quantity, Location and, for serialized products, Serial number) to put only those items on a pick list.
3. You get a notification "Order ... has been put on pick list #..." with a link to the pick list.

When an order is allocated from several locations, a separate pick list is created for each location. Items in a container that is on hold are skipped.

INFO

Putting an order on a pick list changes the order to processing and the order line items to picking. The inventory items stay reserved for the order.

Reallocation after creation

Right after a pick list is created, Boxture optimises which inventory items will be picked. During this the pick list has state reallocating. Boxture chooses inventory in this order of preference:

1. the product's standard bin location for the location,
2. other bin locations with purpose picking,
3. bin locations with purpose bulk.

Within each group it follows FIFO: earliest expiry date first, then earliest received date. Loose items are preferred over items in open containers, and open containers over closed ones; from bulk bin locations a container with exactly the required quantity is preferred. If the chosen inventory is in a different bin location, the line is split per bin location.

Reallocation only applies to products that have a standard bin location in the location and to items without an allocated serial number. When a line has to be picked from a container in bulk storage that also holds other stock, the line gets the state replenish: the container should be brought to the pick location first. See Replenishment.

When reallocation is done the pick list returns to pending, and you get the notification "PickList #... has been reallocated successfully" if anything changed.

Pick list states

State	Meaning
Pending	Waiting to be picked, not assigned to anyone.
Reallocating	Boxture is choosing the best inventory for the lines. Returns to pending automatically.
Assigned	Assigned to a picker, who has not started yet.
Picking	A picker is picking it.
Hold	Put on hold because of a picking problem.
Completed	Everything on it has been picked.
Cancelled	Cancelled; the items went back to allocated.

The transitions:

• Pending → Assigned: Assign (or the picking app claims it).
• Assigned → Pending: Unassign; the picker is removed.
• Assigned → Picking: the picker starts. Pending → Picking directly is possible only when Pending picking allowed is on for the location.
• Picking → Completed: automatically, when the last item has been picked.
• Completed → Picking (or Pending/Assigned): when picked items are unpicked again.
• Any open state → Hold: when a picker reports a problem; back when the problem is resolved.
• Any state except hold, completed and cancelled → Cancelled: Cancel.

Line states

Each line has its own state: pending (to pick), picking (picking has started), completed (all items picked), skipped (the picker skipped it; it is offered again at the end of the route), replenish (wait for replenishment) and cancelled.

The pick lists overview

Pick lists in the sidebar shows the pick lists of all locations you have access to. By default it shows pick lists that still need work (pending, assigned, picking) and pick lists on hold. Use the State filter to see other states, for example completed pick lists.

The columns include Account (when you manage several accounts), Location, Name, State, Orders, Channels, Shipping Methods, Customer References, Wave, Pick list plan, Picker, Quantity to pick, Quantity, Ship at and Created at.

Ship at is the earliest ship at of the orders on the pick list, so you can sort pick lists by urgency.

The pick list page

Clicking a pick list opens its page, which updates live while it is being picked:

• Header: number of orders, state, Quantity picked (picked / total), created at, the wave, plan and pick list type (bulk, batch or wave) it came from.
• Picker: when assigned, the picker and how many pick lists are assigned to them.
• Lines: position (route order), bin location, product number and name, status, state, lot, expires on, quantity picked and quantity.
• Others: the Orders on the pick list and any Papers generated for it, such as a pre-pack list (see Labels and documents).

The menu of the pick list page contains Assign, Unassign and Cancel when they are possible.

Assigning pick lists

Assigning reserves a pick list for one picker.

1. Open the pick list and choose Assign.
2. Select the user and click Assign.

The list only shows active users that are marked available, have access to the current location and have the role Admin, Pick list planner, Picker or Warehouse associate. If nobody qualifies you see "There are no users available".

Assigning is possible for pending pick lists (role Admin, Warehouse associate or Pick list planner). Unassign puts an assigned pick list back to pending (role Admin or Warehouse associate).

Whether assigning is required depends on Pending picking allowed:

• On (default): pickers can pick any pending pick list. When they open one, it is assigned to them so no one else can pick it at the same time.
• Off: pickers can only pick pick lists assigned to them. Pick lists in a wave are the exception: these can always be picked once a picker works on the wave.

When a picker finishes a pick list, the picking app automatically opens the next one: first one already assigned to them, otherwise (if allowed) a pending one, in both cases the one whose next bin location is nearest to where the picker is. Within a wave, the next pick list comes from the same wave.

The pick route

Lines are sorted into a walking route whenever a picker opens a pick list. Boxture calculates the travel cost between bin locations from their address parts, in this order of importance: zone (very expensive to change), walkway (two opposite aisles form one walkway), rack, shelf, section and bin. It then builds the route by always going to the nearest unvisited bin location.

The route starts at the picker's current bin location, or else at the location's Pick start bin location (set in Locations). Skipped lines are moved to the end of the route. See Bin locations for how bin location names and address parts are set up.

Cancelling a pick list

Choose Cancel in the pick list menu (role Admin or Warehouse associate). Items that were still to be picked go back to allocated, so the orders can be put on a new pick list. Items already picked stay picked; unpick them if needed. Pick lists on hold, completed or cancelled cannot be cancelled.

Unpicking

To return picked items to a bin location, use Unpick on the order (role Admin or Warehouse associate):

1. Open the order and choose Unpick.
2. Choose the Bin location to put the items on (bin locations with purpose problem are listed; the location's default problem bin location is preselected), and the Tote or Container the items are in.
3. Select a picked container to unpick it completely, or enter Product, Quantity and, when relevant, serial number, status, lot and expiry date.
4. Click Unpick.

The items are placed on that bin location, still reserved for the order: the order line items and inventory items go back to allocated, so the order can be put on a pick list again. If you no longer want to ship them, unallocate the order afterwards.

Settings that affect picking

• Pending picking allowed: whether pick lists must be assigned before they can be picked.
• Auto pack: pack orders automatically when a pick list is completed. See Packing.
• Auto retire containers: retire containers that are emptied during picking.
• Display product description and Mobile picking options: what the picking app shows.