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AWC picking process

To give you an understanding of when what stock of an article is picked and shipped.

While picking an order, we take the following into account: First Expired First Out (FEFO) for articles with a Best Before Date (BBD), First In First Out (FIFO) for articles without one, the stock level per location, fixed pick locations, and — if enabled for your account — full pallet priority.

On the customer portal, stock can be requested for an order in two ways:

  • Per batch/lot — you decide exactly which batch is shipped
  • Per article — AWC selects the batch for you, following the rules below

This article describes two picking flows. The standard picking flow applies to all customers. The full pallet priority flow is an optional setting that can be enabled on request.

1. Standard picking flow

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Per batch/lot

If stock is requested per batch/lot, that batch/lot will be picked. The location is selected as follows:

  1. If a full pallet quantity is requested and a full pallet of this batch is in stock, the full pallet is picked. This minimizes pick costs for you.
  2. Otherwise, AWC picks from the location with the least amount of stock. This keeps your storage costs as low as possible, because fewer pallet spaces remain occupied.
  3. If multiple pallets hold the same quantity, the pallet at the lowest location in our warehouse is picked.

Per article — with BBD registration

For articles with BBD registration, the batch with the shortest BBD is always selected first (FEFO). The location is then determined as follows:

  1. If the article has a (fixed) pick location and there is enough stock of the selected batch on that location, we pick from the pick location.
  2. If there is not enough stock on the pick location, the pick location is replenished: a relocation moves the batch with the shortest BBD to the pick location, after which picking takes place from there.
  3. If there is no pick location, we pick from the location with the least inventory. If multiple locations hold the same quantity, the pallet at the lowest location is picked.

Note: the BBD always determines which batch is picked. The fixed pick location only determines where that batch is picked from. A fixed pick location never overrules the shortest BBD.

Per article — without BBD registration

For articles without BBD registration, the order of picking is as follows:

  1. If the article has a fixed pick location, picking is always done from this location.
  2. If the article does not have a fixed pick location, the oldest batch/lot is picked based on FIFO.

Fixed pick locations and replenishment

If an article has a fixed pick location, this location is automatically replenished when the stock level becomes too low:

  1. A relocation order is created to refill the fixed pick location.
  2. This relocation again respects FEFO/FIFO: the batch with the shortest BBD (or, without BBD registration, the oldest batch) is moved to the fixed pick location.

For this mechanism to work, a minimum pick stock must be registered on the article. Without it, no automatic replenishment is triggered.

Full pallets

For all of the above: if a full pallet quantity is requested and a full pallet is in stock at AWC, the full pallet is picked. This minimizes pick costs for you.

2. Full pallet priority flow (optional setting)

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For customers who frequently order in full pallet quantities, AWC offers an optional full pallet priority setting. When this setting is active and the ordered quantity of an article equals a full pallet, the batch selection for BBD articles works slightly differently:

  1. We select the batch with the shortest BBD that has a full pallet on location.
  2. The location containing a full pallet of that batch is selected. If multiple locations hold a full pallet of this batch, the pallet at the lowest location is picked.
  3. If no batch has a full pallet on location, we fall back to the standard picking flow described above (shortest BBD, picked or replenished via the pick location).

In other words: FEFO remains leading, but within the condition that a full pallet is available. This prevents full pallets from being broken unnecessarily, which keeps both pick costs and storage costs low.

Would you like full pallet priority enabled for your account? Please contact our customer service; they will check the setup together with you and activate the setting.

Good to know

  • BBD registration — Would you like the BBD of an article to be registered? Please let our customer service know. They will indicate per article that the BBD has to be checked and registered when the article arrives at AWC.
  • Ordering per batch/lot — If you want to request per batch/lot, send an e-mail to our customer service. They will arrange this for you. The additional cost is € 2.76 per order pick line for ordering per batch/lot, if picking is not done from the fixed pick location.
  • Fixed pick location — Do you want a fixed pick location and/or a minimum pick stock registered for an article? Our customer service can set this up for you.

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