Four ways pick and pack processes can transform your transit warehouse operations

Ecommerce has transformed shopping behaviors and the way in which warehousing and distribution centers handle orders, thanks to increased volumes, smaller order sizes and reduced cycle times. On top of this, end-consumers now expect their orders within days – not weeks or months – and they have little patience for errors or slower than expected delivery timelines. 

With so many more packages passing through your warehouses, failure to automate or control processes can result in misplaced packages, delayed shipments, and ultimately, frustrated customers. Logistics companies need to have the right technology in place, to make sure they don’t fall behind.

Streamline your transit warehouse operations from goods-in to goods-out

With picking and packing often accounting for up to 70 percent of warehouse labor costs, you need to carefully consider these processes if you want to succeed in this new ecommerce landscape.

Integrated outbound pick, pack, and dispatch management is a popular way to optimize warehouse operations, helping to enhance the way goods move from the inventory shelf to the pack out station and into the hands of customers.

CargoWise Transit Warehouse is a barcode-based warehouse solution that is ideal for anyone requiring real-time visibility and control of package movements through their transit network. Whether you’re handling ten boxes a month or 10,000 packages a week, here are four ways CargoWise Transit Warehouse can improve your pick, pack, and dispatch management.

1. Prioritize your pick and load 

You can release picks to warehouse staff based on priority and the earliest CTO cut-off date on the outbound routing of the load list. With order fulfillment prioritized by customer delivery expectations, this helps minimize potential delays and late deliveries, while improving your customer experience.

What's more, each package label is barcoded using a globally unique ID that is recorded as packages are scanned in for faster turnaround times or generated on the spot as a blind receipt. This gives you a digital log and full visibility of each package at each of its touchpoints - which is particularly helpful for tracking down stray or lost packages as well as giving you a better idea of where to begin looking if any other exceptions arise.

2. Prevent picking packages that cannot be loaded

With CargoWise, packages are validated at the time of picking for both ‘cross dock to load’ and ‘pick to load’ functions, eliminating the unnecessary picking of packages that cannot be loaded. This prevents goods being loaded that did not pass screening, are not secured, or have not yet been cleared by customs.

Once packages are ready for the next leg of their journey, the system will ensure they are correctly picked and scanned onto the appropriate outbound truck where the driver’s signature can be captured as a final security check.

3. Efficiently return picked packages

By allowing warehouse operators to quickly return the last picked package to the warehouse (or even the entire last set of picked items), CargoWise removes the need for office staff to make an entry for the item to come back into the warehouse, and be set down back to the original location.

Staff can also enjoy increased visibility with our desktop dashboard, which displays information for receive consignments, advance shipping notices, receive transportation units, dispatch consignments, load lists, dispatch transportation units, and transfers. What’s more, the mobile dashboard display includes some additional handy data points, including gate-in times, transfer types, and cycle count tasks.

4. Swiftly return loaded packages

RF operators can easily receive packages that have been loaded and shipped back to the transit warehouse, especially in instances where the freight leaves but needs to be returned to the warehouse due to unforeseen circumstances – such as a missed flight or rejected dangerous goods.

Combining web-based deployment, mobility device barcode scanning, and flexible process and automation controls, CargoWise Transit Warehouse is built for warehouses requiring real-time visibility of goods with fast and accurate handling of barcoded packages. The optimization of your outbound pick, pack and dispatch management will allow your operators and facilities to easily handle increased parcel volumes and seize new growth opportunities.

Our global CargoWise Partner network helps customers of all sizes implement and configure CargoWise to suit your business needs.