Logistics order picking plays a crucial role in the pharmaceutical, veterinary, cosmetics, fine chemicals, medical devices, and food supplements industries. These industries require efficient and accurate logistics to ensure timely delivery of products that meet quality and safety standards.

Order preparation involves a series of steps that must be carried out effectively to ensure customer satisfaction and compliance with regulatory requirements. So, what are the keys to success in this process?

• Inventory control and management: It is important to ensure the availability of products in the warehouse. This involves keeping an updated record of stock, tracking expiration dates, and replenishing in a timely manner to avoid product shortages.
• Regulatory compliance: The pharmaceutical, veterinary, cosmetics, fine chemicals, medical devices, and food supplements sectors are subject to strict regulations. Order preparation must comply with industry-specific regulations, such as storage under specific temperature and humidity conditions, proper handling of sensitive products, correct labelling and compliance with safety and quality standards. This involves storage, distribution, and transportation processes.
• Quality control: Verification of product quality during order preparation is essential. This involves visual inspections, personalised monitoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and ensuring that products are properly packaged to avoid damage during transport.
• Organisation of space and picking routes: Efficient warehouse design and logical product distribution facilitate the picking process. Defining optimised picking routes and using warehouse management systems can help minimise errors and speed up picking time for the logistics company’s professionals.
• Technology and automation: The use of technology such as tablets or PDAs, and automated systems such as bar code scanners, order tracking systems and warehouse robots that assist warehouse workers, improves accuracy and efficiency in order picking, reducing lead times and human error.

Types of picking in logistics. What is it and what is it for?

Within order preparation we have to mention picking which, to define it in terms of logistics and inventory management, is the process of gathering and assembling the specific products requested in an order. It involves the selection and collection of the right items in the right quantities from designated storage locations. It helps to ensure accuracy and efficiency in the handling of products prior to shipment or delivery to the customer.

Effective picking will help us optimise the entire logistics chain in the pharmaceutical, veterinary, cosmetics, fine chemicals, medical devices, and food supplements sectors.

There are different types such as Batch Picking, organised in batches; Zone Picking, organised by the different zones in the warehouse; Wave Picking, which is done in waves; and Voice Picking, in which operators receive instructions for preparing an order through headphones and microphones.

At Airpharm, every day we prepare orders to meet the demands of our customers around the world. We offer a wide range of services from order picking to individual picking, including packaging adaptation, order handling and specific sorting based on the nature of the product.

If you need full pallet picking, cross docking, unit order management or any other type of value-added handling, contact Airpharm now and we will assist you in the process by providing customised warehousing services, based on the nature of your goods.