Warehouse Management

Zone Picking

Divide your warehouse into zones with dedicated pickers. Reduce travel time, eliminate congestion, and let pickers specialize in their area.

See How It Works

Why Large Warehouses Need Zone Picking

Excessive Travel

In a 50,000+ sqft warehouse, pickers can walk miles per day. Crossing the entire warehouse for each order wastes time.

Aisle Congestion

Multiple pickers in popular aisles create traffic jams. Workers wait for each other, throughput drops.

No Specialization

Pickers navigating unfamiliar areas make errors. Knowing your zone means faster picks and fewer mistakes.

How Zone Picking Works in Fulfil

Define warehouse zones, assign pickers, and automatically split orders for parallel processing.

Key Capabilities

Zone definition
Group bin locations into logical zones. Define by aisle, product category, or physical area.
Dedicated zone pickers
Assign workers to specific zones. They learn their area and pick faster over time.
Automatic order splitting
Multi-zone orders split automatically. Each zone picks their items in parallel.
Consolidation points
Define where zone picks merge. Items from multiple zones combine for packing.
Zone productivity metrics
Track picks per hour by zone. Identify bottleneck zones and optimize staffing.

Example Zone Layout

A

Zone A: Fast Movers

Aisles 1-10, High-velocity SKUs

4 pickers

B

Zone B: Medium Movers

Aisles 11-25, Standard SKUs

3 pickers

C

Zone C: Slow Movers

Aisles 26-40, Long-tail SKUs

2 pickers

D

Zone D: Bulk/Oversized

Bulk storage area, Large items

1 picker

Zone Picking Strategies

Sequential Zone Picking

Order moves from zone to zone. Zone A picks, passes to Zone B, then Zone C. Best when zones follow a logical flow.

Zone A Zone B Zone C

Parallel Zone Picking

All zones pick simultaneously. Items consolidate at pack station. Faster for large orders spanning many zones.

Zone A Zone B Zone C

Consolidation

Common Questions

How big should my warehouse be for zone picking?

Zone picking typically makes sense at 20,000+ square feet or 5,000+ SKUs. Smaller warehouses may not benefit from the added complexity. The key indicator is picker travel time—if pickers spend more than 40% of their time walking, zones can help.

How do single-zone orders work?

Single-zone orders stay in that zone from pick to pack. No consolidation needed. These are your fastest orders. Good slotting strategy means most orders only touch 1-2 zones.

Can zones change based on demand?

Yes. Review zone productivity metrics regularly. If Zone A is constantly backed up while Zone C idles, consider reassigning pickers or moving products. Some operations adjust zone staffing daily based on expected order mix.

How does consolidation work for multi-zone orders?

Each zone places picked items in a tote labeled with the order number. Totes flow to a consolidation area where items from all zones merge. The packer scans each item to verify the complete order before packing.

Operations

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