Order Fulfillment and Distribution Flashcards

What is order picking in a warehouse or distribution center?

Answer: The process of selecting and retrieving items from storage to fulfill a customer order

Order picking is the warehouse activity of locating and collecting specific items from storage locations to fill a customer's order.

What is the difference between a distribution center (DC) and a warehouse?

Answer: A DC is focused on moving products quickly to customers, while a warehouse is primarily for long-term storage

A distribution center is designed for rapid throughput and order fulfillment, while a traditional warehouse focuses on longer-term product storage.

What does 'pick, pack, and ship' describe?

Answer: The three sequential steps of retrieving items, packaging them, and sending them to the customer

Pick, pack, and ship describes the standard order fulfillment workflow: selecting items from storage, packaging them appropriately, and handing them off to a carrier.

What is a pick list?

Answer: A document or system-generated instruction telling a picker which items to retrieve and where to find them

A pick list is an instruction document (paper or digital) that guides a warehouse associate through the storage locations and quantities needed to fill an order.

What is the purpose of a packing slip included in an outbound shipment?

Answer: To list the contents of the shipment so the receiver can verify the order

A packing slip lists the items and quantities included in a shipment, allowing the recipient to verify that the correct products were received.

What is 'wave picking' in order fulfillment?

Answer: Grouping and releasing multiple orders to the warehouse floor at scheduled intervals throughout the day

Wave picking releases batches of orders to the warehouse floor at set times, allowing supervisors to balance workload and coordinate picking with shipping schedules.