A comparison of order picking methods augmented with weight checking error detection

Abstract

Order picking accounts for over 50% of the annual $150 billion spent in warehouse operations in the United States. 80% of order picking is performed manually. We compare the industry default of unassisted paper-list picking and three techniques augmented with weight checking: pick-by-light, pick-by-HUD (head-up display), and a combination of light and HUD. HUD+light had the fastest picking (19% faster than paper) and a low number of errors (67% fewer than paper).