Picking

Introduction

The picking solution is based on two components:

1. An app to pick an order within a facility

2. A Backoffice to get an overview about all tasks (see Task Overview)

Description

Functionalities within Picking:

The App shows a list of all tasks and their states, primarily grouped by status. Within each group, tasks are secondarily sorted based on order date, oldest order date date first.

Order date vs order created date

The order date is the date when the customer placed the order within the shop of our tenant - it is not to be confused with the order create date, which is the date when we create the order in our platform.

Clicking on a task shows all ordered items of that task including the respective amount. Within the screen that shows all items as well as the one that shows the picking summary, a subtitle is generated based on available attributes for each item if no dedicated subtitle is present.

It is possible to configure scanning rules, like the validation of barcodes or usage of manual input picker. More can be found here scanning configuration.

It is possible to sort the pick lines in a picking sequence (number from 1 to n), which represent the physical location of the ordered item in the picking area. This enhances the picking speed of the picker since the items are presented to him/her in the correct running order. This can be done via the API-call of setting the listing information on facility level. If no listing information with a picking sequence is set, the user can also submit the picking sequence within the order. If this is the case the picking sequence is on tenant level.

If more than one listing / order line has the same picking sequence, the listings which have the same sequence number are sorted by their tenant article ID.

When are further attributes shown in the article view?

Apart from the “%%subtitle%%” key, only attributes which are delivered with they key “category” and the value “descriptive” are displayed in the article view.

If no such attributes are delivered (and no subtitle is provided either), the view remains empty.

Short-pick Setting	Current stock	Ordered Quantity	Picked Quantity	New Stock
ENABLED	10	5	3	0
DISABLED	10	5	3	7

Within the picking process itself, the user is able to pause picking a task. This is important to be flexible if an offline customer needs attention. Additionally, he is of course also able to resume a previously paused task so that he can continue picking from the point when the task was stopped.

In case so-called loadUnits (containers in which the picked items will be put, e.g. Bags, Boxes, Parcels, …) were defined within the tenant system via API, the amount of such LoadUnits that were used during the picking process can be specified before end of pick.

About the short identifier

In order to identify a task more easily, a so-called short identifier is added as well. This identifier is generated based on the first letter of the customers first & last name as well as an incrementing number for each other occurrence of such a customer. This number can have a maximum of two digits (e.g. 99). As soon as this number has been reached, it will start with 1 again. The generated identifier is facility-specified, e.g. it is not unique tenant-wide like an order id.

Example: The identifier for a task that belongs to an order of Jane Doe would be called JD1, assuming that no other customer in this facility that has a first name starting with a J as well as a last name starting with a D exists.

This identifier is also available within the labeling as well as the handover section. An exemplary use case would be that a fulfiller uses this identifier to locate a chosen parcel that belongs to a task by writing this identifier on that parcel using a pen.

For certain special characters, a mapping exists. For now, the following characters will be mapped:

Ą -> A

Ć -> C

Ę -> E

Ł -> L

Ń -> N

Ó -> O

Ś -> S

Ż -> Z

Ź -> Z

Note: in case either the first or the last name starts with a character that is not convertable (e.g., an emoticon), the letter X is used instead.

Notifications in the Android App

When a new pickjob is incoming the user gets a notification so that the app must not be checked within certain timespans.

The notification is related to the chosen facility the user has currently chosen in the app. If no facility is chosen, no notification will be sent. Furthermore the user must be logged in into our app to receive a notification. The mobile phone however can be screenlocked. Clicking on the notification leads the user to the list of pickjobs.

With this we make sure, that one gets not flooded by notification.

The notification feature is configurable within the App-Settings. The sound notification as well as the banner notification can be turned on and off. The settings are saved on the device for now.

How to pick?

Open Pick section

Select Order that you would like to pick, by clicking on it

Search for articles and collect these

Pick each collected item item by either scanning or manually adding the picked amount

Scanning

Scan the Barcodes of each item by pressing the Scan button on the display of your smartphone or by using the scan button on the side of your scanner.

Adding the quantities manually

In case you can not scan a barcode or don´t want to do so, you can also select one item by clicking on it and add the quantity manually with the amount handler and saving the amount.

After having picked all available items you can finish the Order/ Pickjob by sliding the complete button to the right.

How to pick in case of forced barcode scanning?

If forced barcode scanning is configured it means, that it is mandatory to scan the items, that have to be picked.

The picking process its self is similar to the normal picking. (Look: Android App & Web App: How to pick articles)

The only difference is, that in case of an non scanned barcode, the app sends you a warning:

How can a picking task be aborted/cancelled?

In case a picking task must be aborted because it can’t be fulfilled in any facility, this can be directly done in the picking task.

1. Open the picking task which must be aborted. Do not pick any items so that every line item has picked amount of 0/0.

   Now click “Complete”.

1. The “Picking finished?” dialog asks you to confirm that you complete the task with 0 picked items. Tick off the checkbox to confirm and click “Yes, complete picking”.

1. You will be informed that the picking task has been aborted and now you can proceed to the next task.

How to pick tasks in batch?

All orders that can be picked in a batch-pick are - marked with a checkbox. This needs to be activated via API first. Click on all the orders that you would like to pick in one batch-run.

• Click on “Tasks selected” to jump into the Picking UI

• You can now pick by scanning or manually inserting the picked quantities. In the webapp you can additionally press “Print List” if you are picking e.g. with a POS device to print out the picking List, pick the items and enter or scan the amounts in the web app

• Click on an item to enter the picked amount. Its possible to click on the “+” sign or enter the picked amount manually

• When you are done with picking click on “complete and to packing” to move to the packing steps

• Select the orders for packing

How to pick from storage locations with forced scanning (location first, item second)?

1. Open Pick section

2. Select Order that you would like to pick, by clicking on it

1. Search for articles based on the displayed storage location. Depending on your configuration either first scan the item or the storage location. The following example will be based on storage location first and items second.

1. Scan the Barcodes of each location by pressing the Scan button on the display of your smartphone or by using the scan button on the side of your scanner and wait for green confirmation "Location scanned successfully"

1. Scanning is mandatory means you need to scan all items! Scan the Barcodes of each item by pressing the Scan button on the display of your smartphone or by using the scan button on the side of your scanner

1. Move to next item of the orderline and repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have completed the pick

1. After having picked all available items you can finish the pick by pressing the finish button

1. After finishing you will be lead to the pickjob overview, where the status of your picked order is shown as done (green), or to the packjob overview - depending on your selection

When are further attributes shown in the item view?

Apart from the “%%subtitle%%” key, only attributes which are defined with they key “category” and the value “descriptive” are displayed in the item view.

If no such attributes are defined (and no subtitle is provided either), the view remains empty.

How can a dedicated subtitle for an article be specified?

Each attribute has a “key” parameter. In order to define a dedicated subtitle, the “key” parameter has to be set to “%%subtitle%%”.