Pick & Pack

PrepFlow's Pick & Pack system guides warehouse staff through fulfilling outbound shipments — locating items on shelves, confirming quantities, and tracking every pick in real time.

Pick sessions are designed for iPad and mobile use on the warehouse floor. Staff scan item barcodes, confirm what they picked, and the session tracks progress automatically.

How It Works — Overview

Shipment (Requested/Working)
        ↓
  Create Pick Session
        ↓
  Start Picking (staff walks warehouse)
        ↓
  Scan item barcodes → Confirm quantities
        ↓
  Complete Session → Shipment marked as Picked

1. Creating a Pick Session

Pick sessions are created from an existing shipment.

1. Go to Worklist → Shipments and open a shipment that is ready to be picked.
2. Click Create Pick Session.
3. Select which shipments to include in this session — you can combine multiple shipments into a single session for efficiency.
4. Click Create.

The session is created in Open status. No picking has started yet.

Tip: Combining multiple small shipments into one session saves staff from making multiple warehouse walks for the same items.

2. The Pick Session Page

Once a session is created, opening it brings you to the session detail page — the primary interface staff use on the warehouse floor.

What You See

• Progress bar — shows how many units have been picked out of the total across all tasks
• Session status badge — Open, In Progress, Completed, or Cancelled
• Shipment names — all shipments included in this session
• Task list — one card per item/location, showing what to pick and where

Task Tabs

Tasks are always sorted alphabetically by warehouse location code — so staff can walk the warehouse in a straight path and pick in shelf order, minimising backtracking.

3. Starting a Session

When you're ready to begin picking, click Start Picking on the session page.

• Status changes to In Progress
• The barcode scan input activates at the top of the page
• Task cards show action buttons (Confirm, Partial, Skip)

Only sessions in In Progress status allow picks to be recorded.

4. Each Task Card

Every item in the session gets its own task card showing:

• Warehouse location — the shelf or bin where the item is stored (shown as a blue badge)
• Product image, name, color, size, and client
• Identifiers — ASIN, FNSKU, SKU, UPC, Brand SKU, and internal barcodes
• Quantity to pick — how many units are needed for this task

Multi-Pack Items

If an item is sold as a pack or bundle (e.g., a set of 5), the task card shows the pack breakdown alongside the unit count:

• 5 units (1 pack) — a full pack
• 8 units (1 pack + 3 units) — more than one full pack with a remainder
• 4 units (4/5 of a pack) — a partial pack, so staff know the item is a bundle even when picking fewer than a full set

5. Picking Methods

Method A — Scan Barcode (Recommended)

The fastest picking method for high-volume operations.

1. Scan the item's barcode using a scanner or the on-screen input at the top of the page.
2. PrepFlow matches the barcode to the correct pending task.
3. A confirmation modal appears showing the item's full details — image, name, location, identifiers, and quantity needed.
4. Verify the item in hand matches what is shown.
5. Adjust the Qty picked field if the actual count differs.
6. Press Enter or tap Confirm Pick.

If the same item is stored across multiple warehouse locations, each scan will resolve to the location that appears first in the task list — matching the order staff are walking through the warehouse. Once that location's task is picked, the next scan for the same barcode will resolve to the next location.

Important: Always verify the item details in the confirmation modal before confirming — especially when multiple similar SKUs are stored nearby.

Method B — Manual Confirmation

For situations where scanning is not practical (e.g., no mapped location, barcode damaged).

Each task card has three action buttons:

Use Partial when you can only find some of the required units — for example, if a location only has 3 units but the task requires 5. Record what you actually picked, then skip or handle the remainder separately.

6. Items Split Across Locations

When inventory for the same item is stored in more than one warehouse location, PrepFlow generates one task card per location, with quantities distributed based on available net inventory at each location.

For example, if 12 units of an item are needed and they're stored in two locations (A-02-3 with 8 units and C-07-1 with 4 units), you'll see:

• Task 1: Pick 8 units from A-02-3
• Task 2: Pick 4 units from C-07-1

The tasks are sorted by location code, so staff naturally encounter them in shelf order as they walk the warehouse. Scanning the same barcode twice will resolve each task in sequence.

Net-Aware Location Assignment

When a session is generated, PrepFlow accounts for inventory already picked in previous sessions. It deducts any prior picks from each location's available quantity so that subsequent shipments from the same order are routed to locations that still have stock — not locations that were already depleted.

How it works:

1. Pass 1 — use net-available locations first. For each location, net available = quantity checked in − quantity already picked in prior sessions. The system allocates quantity starting from the most recently checked-in location that still has net stock.
2. Pass 2 — fallback for unrecorded historical picks. If not all required units can be satisfied from locations with confirmed net stock (for example, picks that happened before the picking sessions feature was introduced), the system falls back to the raw check-in quantities as a best-guess guide for the picker.
3. No location found — if no location data exists at all, the task is created without a location and the picker must locate the item manually.

Note: If multiple check-in records point to the same physical shelf location, they are automatically combined into a single task so staff never see duplicate cards for the same bin.

7. Can't Find It Here?

If a picker arrives at an assigned location and can't find the expected stock — perhaps because it was picked without being recorded, moved, or the warehouse has pre-feature historical data — they can switch to an alternative location directly from the task card.

On any pending task card with multiple known locations, a "Can't find it here?" link appears below the location badge.

How to use it:

1. Tap "Can't find it here?" on the task card.
2. A list of alternative locations for the same item expands below, sorted by estimated available units (highest first).
3. Each entry shows the location code and an estimated unit count.
4. Tap "Pick from here" next to the correct location — the task's assigned location updates immediately.
5. Confirm the pick as normal.

Locations with an estimated 0 units are shown dimmed but are still selectable as a last resort, since estimates may not reflect unrecorded historical movements.

When the button does not appear:

• The task is already completed or skipped
• The session is not in In Progress status
• Only one location is known for this item (nothing to suggest)
• The item was checked in with a free-text location (no registered warehouse bins) — in this case the existing location hints are shown instead

8. Items With Free-Text Locations

If an item was checked in using a free-text location (a note rather than a registered warehouse bin), the task card will show the text location(s) recorded at check-in as reference hints for the picker.

Staff should use those text labels to find the item. These tasks can still be confirmed or skipped manually.

Note: The "Can't find it here?" alternative-location feature is not available for free-text locations — it requires registered warehouse bins to suggest meaningful alternatives.

9. Completing a Session

Once all tasks have been picked or skipped, a Complete Session button appears.

Clicking it:

• Marks the session as Completed
• Updates all included shipments to Picked status
• The shipments move to the picked view, ready for packing and dispatch

The Complete button only appears when every task has a recorded outcome — either picked or skipped.

10. After Picking — Packing & Dispatch

Once a session is completed and shipments are marked as Picked, the physical packing process begins.

Staff use the picked items to:

• Pack boxes according to the shipment's destination and integration (FBA, FBM, etc.)
• Generate or attach shipping labels
• Mark shipments as Shipped when boxes leave the warehouse

For dispatch details and outbound scanning, see the Shipments Guide.

Summary

PrepFlow's pick session system turns a shipment into an organised, location-sorted walk through your warehouse.

Key points:

• Sessions are created from shipments and can combine multiple shipments
• Tasks are sorted by warehouse location for efficient walking order
• Location assignment is net-aware — already-picked inventory is deducted so subsequent sessions route to locations that still have stock
• Multiple check-in records for the same physical shelf are combined into a single task (no duplicate cards)
• Staff can scan barcodes for fast confirmation or use manual buttons
• The "Can't find it here?" button lets pickers switch to an alternative location on the spot — keeping location data accurate without requiring them to leave the session
• Multi-location items generate one task per location, resolved in order during scanning
• Completing a session automatically updates all shipment statuses to Picked