Pick to tote

Here's how you can use SKUSavvy to pick batches of orders and segment products picked into totes on a pick cart. This is your most efficient way to pick orders.

What is Pick to Tote?

In the context of order fulfillment operations, "pick to tote" is a picking method used in warehouses or distribution centers to efficiently pick multiple orders at once then assigning those items to a tote which represents a customer order. Here's how it works in SKUSavvy:
  1. Tote Selection: In a pick to tote system, each batch is created by selecting the number of totes on a pick cart. Each tote is designated for a specific order in the batch and the orders are curated by the system then a batch is generated

  2. Pick Cart Label: With a batch created and selected a picker scans their pick cart, or creates and assigns a label to the cart they will pick the batch with. This matches the system to the cart which will contain orders

  3. Order Information: Order pickers receive information about the items they need to pick, location of the items, and the quantities required for each order

  4. Picking Process: Order pickers move through the warehouse to locate the items required for their assigned orders. Once an item is marked picked, the system indicates what quantity should be placed in each of the corresponding totes assigned to the batch. Pickers can optionally scan the item, then scan the tote directly

  5. Efficiency: Pick to tote is designed to be an efficient picking method. It reduces the need for order pickers to constantly return to a central packing area to place items into individual orders. Instead, they pick items directly into the totes, and these totes can be scanned during fulfillment to bring up the order information for each package

  6. Sorting and Packing: Once the order picker has completed picking for their assigned orders, the totes are often sorted or moved to a packing area. Here, the totes are scanned or selected with the system showing the appropriate customer order cartons or packages for shipping and items are emptied from the tote

The pick to tote method is particularly useful in high-volume order fulfillment environments where efficiency and accuracy are essential. It reduces travel time for order pickers and minimizes the risk of errors during order assembly. This method is commonly used in e-commerce warehouses and distribution centers to streamline the picking and packing process.
pick to tote in skusavvy

Video: Pick to Tote

Initiate a Pick to Tote Batch

To kick off the pick to tote process, simply head into your order fulfillments, scroll to the batch creation (must have >1 open shipments) and click on 'Batch Shipments' similar to the existing batching workflow in SKUSavvy.
Once you've clicked into Batch Shipments you'll see an option at the top to 'Pick to Tote' which should be turned on, then you'll select the number of totes you are going to use in the batch.
  • 1) Select 'Pick to Tote' as the batching option

  • 2) Enter the number of totes you plan to use (this will be one order per tote)

  • 3) Click 'Batch' and SKUSavvy will auto-select the orders for the batch

pick to tote batch options

Cart & Tote Barcode Setup

The first time you use pick to tote you will want to label the cart and your totes with barcodes if you plan on using barcode scanning functionality with this pick method.
pick cart with totes for shopify merchants

Click into a Pick to Tote Fulfillment Batch

When you click into a batch created with pick to tote the first screen you'll see is the cart barcode creation or assignment screen. Your pick carts only need to be assigned a barcode once, then you can reuse them.

Print Tote Batch (Cart) Barcode

  • 1) Generate a barcode for carts that don't already have one assigned

  • 2) Assign this cart barcode to an existing cart barcode via scan (no need to generate a barcode if you reuse an existing cart barcode)

  • 3) Print the cart barcode (must be done to proceed if you do not reassign an existing cart barcode)

  • 4) Assign a name to the barcode

  • 5) Barcode for the cart

pick cart barcode setup in skusavvy
You must either A) Generate and print a cart barcode or B) Assign the tote batch to an existing cart barcode

Print Tote Barcodes

Once you click into a tote batch you can print all your tote barcodes for the batch. Tote barcodes are reusable and detected by the system then automatically assigned to the batch if you have them physically printed out on the tote already. Otherwise you will want to print tote barcodes out.
  • 1) Indicates you are in a tote batch

  • 2) Pull up the totes, their contents, and printing of tote labels

pick to tote interface
Pull up the 'Tote Contents' to print your generated tote labels
  • 3) Print an individual tote barcode

  • 4) Adjust how many columns of totes your pick cart has

  • 5) Print all tote barcodes for the batch - once tote barcodes are printed and stuck to your totes, they can be reused for any future tote batch

In this stage there has not been any product allocated to the totes so tote contents are empty
print tote barcodes in skusavvy
Click the 3-dot batch menu to indicate how many columns your pick cart has
adjust-pick-tote-columns-from-batch-settings

Pick to a Tote

Next up is to begin picking product and letting SKUSavvy work its magic to indicate which tote you should place product into. To start, go back into the pick screen for your pick to tote batch and pick as normal. You can of course also use barcode scanning for this.
pick product to scan to totes
1) Pick or scan your products from the pick list as usual
2) Allocate items to your totes by tapping or simply scan the product, then scan the tote to allocate automatically
The tote screen is shown as if you were looking straight at your pick cart and each
3) Shows where products has already been allocated to a tote via scan or tap
4) Indicates a different order/new tote to allocate additional quantity to
5) Commit what has already been placed in totes ignoring the rest of the currently picked quantity - this will allocate some quantity to the tote and take you back to the pick screen
If you are using hardware barcode scanners, you can simply continue scanning items, then scan tote bins to allocate the quantity

View Pick Tote Contents

After you have started picking and allocating items to totes, SKUSavvy will provide a display of each tote and each of the contents in that tote. This can be viewed by clicking on the 'Tote Contents' button from the main pick screen.
pick to tote contents button
The tote contents will show you each tote, and all current items that have been allocated to the tote. Remember, each tote is an order.
  • 1) Order number, which is also the tote ID (barcode is separate

  • 2) Print tote barcode

  • 3) Contents of the tote

view tote contents

Unpick Tote Contents

Removing contents from a tote and placing back into a bin position is similar to the workflow of how you currently unpick, only now you will select which tote the contents are coming out of for any given item. 

To start, simply select 'Unpick' on any of the contents you have already picked to a tote.
unpick to bin
Next, you'll see that SKUSavvy highlights each of the tote locations the quantity was originally placed in. You can select which tote and what quantity you want to remove and put back into a bin location from here.
  • 1) Select or scan the bin location to unpick back to - the bin you originally picked from is already selected by default

  • 2) Quantity to unpick

  • 3) Tote you are unpicking from, select one of the totes with quantity of this item to remove that totes quantity

unpick inventory from a tote

Fulfill From a Tote

Once you have picked the items in a batch and allocated them to totes it's time to fulfill your orders from the totes. SKUSavvy will guide you through each order in the batch and understands which tote contains each order so you can simply scan the tote to begin fulfilling.
Fulfillment from a tote is identical to normal fulfillment without the tote system in place
1) Indicates which tote is being fulfilled, click on a tote to go to that fulfillment
2) Scan or tap the items in a tote to pack them

Understand Batching

This guide will help you understand how to batch your orders up based on your criteria

Understand Fulfillment

Here you can go through the picking and packing process outside of pick to tote functionality