Pick and pack is a part of a complete supply chain management process that is commonly used in, but not limited to, the retail distribution of goods. It entails processing small to large quantities of product, often truck or train loads and disassembling them, picking the relevant product for each destination and re-packaging with shipping label affixed and invoice included. Usual service includes obtaining a fair rate of shipping from common as well as expediting truck carriers.
Pick and Pack services are offered by many businesses that specialize in supply chain management solutions. Business owners may not be aware that companies such as FedEx[1], UPS and Amazon.com[2] also offer pick and pack services for large scale projects.
Case picking is the gathering of full cartons or boxes of product. This is often done on a pallet. In the consumer products industry, case picking large quantities of cartons is often an entry level employee's task. There is, however, significant skill required to make a good pallet load of product. Key requirements are that cartons not be damaged, they make good use of the available cube (space) and be quick to assemble.
A full Pick and Pack Glossary[3] associated with the Pick and Pack industry can be found on Pick and pack[4]
Warehouse management system products create pick paths to minimize the travel distance of an order selector, but often neglect the need to maximize the use of cube, segregate products that should not touch or minimize damage.