Ultimate Guide: What Every Ecommerce Retailer Should Know About Piece Pick Technology

Investing in eaches order pick automation is justifiably undebatable in today’s market.  
The rapid advancement of these “less-than-full-case” automation systems has been propelled by … you guessed it, growing online shopping. In 2022 alone, 268 million Americans shopped online, and this number is anticipated to climb to 285 million by 2023. Remarkably, 70% of these shoppers purchased items that are ideal for piece picking.

WHAT IS PIECE PICKING?

Also known as “split case picking”, “broken case picking”, “less-than full case”, “eaches picking” or “loose picking”, piece picking technologies are automated systems used in distribution facilities to break down bulk quantities of products into smaller units to fulfill individual customer orders. 

Not all piece picking processes call for automation, yet the potential for the pick/pack idea is contingent upon:

• SKU volume
• SKU physical and pack characteristics
• Number of orders per customers
• Number of pieces per customer
• Pack stations 

MOST COMMON SPLIT CASE SYSTEMS

There are numerous types of split-case technologies, each with its own set of characteristics and applications. Therefore, determining the best solutions and finding a providing partner to guide you through the implementation process is important for the success of your project.   

Some of the most common pick technologies include:  

1. Pick-to-Tote warehouse A-Frame
2. Portable dispensing A-Frames
3. Piece-picking robotic arms
4. Floor robots
5. Horizontal carousels
6. Mini-loads ASRS
7. Pick-to-Light flow racks
8. Vertical carousels
9. Vertical Lift Modules

*Step 2: The Cost-To-Graph diagram illustrates the trade-off between the cost of retrieving an item from storage and the cost of storing it in a particular location. It is therefore an important application when evaluating split picking technologies based on their expected usage frequencies and the cost of retrieving them.

*Step 3: The most dramatic improvements in order fulfillment optimization come from applying solutions to entire categories or classifications of inventory, rather than just a few SKUs.  

• The system should maximize space utilization by integrating vertical pick locations. This frees ground level space for heavy-duty warehouse processes.
• It should have the capacity to pick SKUs of varied characteristics; small-to-medium, light-to-medium weight, medium-to-fast moving, different shapes, different levels of fragility and high-cost items.
• The system should have multiple storage zones with the capacity to store SKUs of various shapes and sizes of SKUs.
• The system should accommodate multi-profile orders for multi-channel fulfillment such as ecommerce, wholesale, and retail fulfillment.
• Broken case picking systems should be scalable and modular enough to easily adapt to seasonal volume fluctuations and introduction of new SKUs. 
• The ideal piece picking technology should provide value-added services such as pack stations and complementary technology to accommodate a variety of SKUs. For instance, the Pick to Light system is a perfect complement to the Pick to Tote eaches picking system.
• Lastly, we can’t stress enough the importance of speed, accuracy, and order integrity.