Pick and Pack
Definition
Pick and pack is the warehouse fulfillment process of retrieving individual items for an order from storage locations and packing them into cartons for shipment. It is the core labor activity in most order fulfillment operations.
In Practice
Picking begins when orders drop to the floor as pick tasks directing workers, or robots, to specific locations and quantities. Picked items travel to pack stations where they are verified against the order, boxed with appropriate dunnage, labeled, and staged for carrier pickup. Methods range from single-order picking to batch, zone, and wave approaches that cut travel time.
Pick and pack matters daily because it is usually the largest labor cost in a fulfillment operation and the last chance to catch errors before the customer does. Pick accuracy, units per labor hour, and order cycle time are the standard health metrics, and carton-size selection at pack directly drives dimensional-weight shipping charges.
As an example, an e-commerce 3PL might batch-pick 40 single-line orders into a cart in one pass through the pick zone, then sort and pack them at a putwall, tripling picker productivity versus one order at a time.
Related Calculators
Related Terms
Putaway is the warehouse process of moving received goods from the dock to their assigned storage locations and confirming the placement in the inventory system. It closes the receiving process and makes stock available for picking.
Distribution CenterA distribution center (DC) is a facility designed to receive goods in bulk and rapidly redistribute them to stores, customers, or other facilities. Unlike a long-term storage warehouse, a DC is optimized for throughput and order fulfillment.
Dimensional WeightDimensional weight is a pricing method that converts a package's volume into an equivalent weight using a divisor, so carriers can charge for the space light, bulky shipments occupy. Carriers bill the greater of actual weight and dimensional weight.