Automated Order Picking Solutions
Automate your order picking operations with solutions designed around your products, order profiles and throughput requirements.
Automated Order Picking Solutions
Automate your order picking operations with solutions designed around your products, order profiles and throughput requirements.
Efficient order picking systems
From high-volume layer picking to mixed case picking, Alstef Group designs automated order picking solutions around your products, order profiles and operational requirements. We combine the right picking technologies with automated storage, material handling and software to create a fully integrated process, from product availability to completed order pallets ready for shipping.
Design the picking process around required volumes, order profiles and operational peaks.
Build homogeneous or mixed pallets while taking into account product characteristics and order requirements.
Reduce repetitive movements, travel and manual load handling through automation and Goods-to-Person approaches.
Combine robotic and operator-assisted processes according to the level of automation required, with solutions that can evolve as operational needs change.
Layer Picking
For high-volume orders requiring full homogeneous layers.
Robotic layer picking transfers one or several complete layers from mother pallets to daughter pallets. It is particularly suited to high-volume and high-flow rates operations where products are ordered in significant quantities.
What are the benefits of automated layer picking?
- High throughput for large-volume orders
- Automated handling of mother and completed order pallets
- Pallet building according to product and order requirements
- Integration with conveyors, AGVs and automated storage
Case Picking
For mixed orders requiring individual cases, boxes or packs
When orders do not require complete homogenous layers, case picking enables mixed layers to be built from individual cases. Depending on volumes, product characteristics and operational requirements, the process can combine semi-automated Goods-to-Person workstations and robotic case picking.
- Mixed-pallet order preparation
- Handling of cases with different dimensions and weights
- Goods-to-Person order picking or robotic order picking
- Pallet building based on product weight and characteristics
- Ergonomic workstation design for operator-based processes
Prepare mixed orders case by case, with the right combination of automation and operator involvement. Alstef Group can design the process around Goods-to-Person picking stations, robotic case picking, or a combination of both.
Goods-to-Person Case Picking
Products are automatically brought to ergonomic order picking stations, allowing operators to prepare orders without travelling through the warehouse. Cases can be picked from source pallets and transferred to order pallets according to the preparation sequence.
Robotic Case Picking
For higher levels of automation, robotic case picking enables individual cases to be automatically picked and positioned on order pallets. Pallet-building rules can take into account product characteristics to determine the appropriate position and sequence.
Automated Pallet Building for Complex Orders
Order picking is not only about selecting the right products. Each completed order pallet must also be built according to product characteristics, customer requirements and downstream logistics constraints.
Alstef Group's solutions manage the complete pallet-building process, from product sequencing to the handling of the supporting pallet flows.
Pallet configuration
Homogeneous and mixed pallets, with different preparation patterns including rainbow, sandwich and chimney configurations.
Product constraints
Pallet-building rules can take into account product dimensions, weight, fragility and other handling constraints, such as non-mix of products.
Sequencing
Products are presented and picked in the appropriate sequence to build the required order pallet.
Pallet & ancillary handling
Integration of empty pallet stacks, interlayers and associated stripping operations where required.
Complete Order Picking System Integration
Picking performance depends on the entire flow around the picking operation.
Alstef Group integrates order picking into the complete warehouse process, coordinating product availability, storage, sequencing, transport, picking and the transfer of completed orders to shipping.
Depending on the application, pallet flows can be handled by conveyors, AGVs or a combination of technologies. This approach enables the picking system to be designed as part of the overall warehouse operation rather than as a standalone process.
Storage
Transport
Picking
Picking
Sequencing
Piece Picking Integration
For applications requiring individual item picking, Alstef Group can integrate suitable Goods-to-Person or Goods-to-Robot technologies within the overall automated system, including the associated storage, sequencing and material handling flows.
Loadstar: Flexible pallet flows with mobile robots
Combining Alstef Group’s mobile robot technology with the intelligence of the OPAL software suite, LOADSTAR dynamically manages pallet movements between picking positions, reducing the need for fixed conveying infrastructure and making the preparation area easier to adapt as operational needs evolve.
- Space optimization: thanks to the Loadstar's evolution compactness and the control rules, you can gain up to 20% of surface compared to a traditional system
- Flexibility: Reconfigure the picking area as operational requirements evolve, with limited costs and implementation time.
- Scalability: Adapt capacity to changes in activity by adding or removing LOADSTAR mobile robots as required.
- Adaptability to seasonal peaks: Temporarily add or reallocate picking positions to efficiently manage promotional campaigns, seasonal peaks or specific preparation requirements.
Order Picking Software and Control
OPAL WCS - WMS coordinates the entire order picking process, ensuring that products, pallets and equipment are available at the right place and at the right time.
From storage retrieval and picking sequence to pallet building, buffering and dispatch, our software manages and synchronizes the different operations according to order requirements and product constraints.
Coordinates product retrieval and presentation according to the required picking sequence.
Manages preparation constraints such as product characteristics, pallet configuration and order requirements.
Synchronizes storage systems, conveyors, AGVs, picking stations and robots throughout the process.
Ensures traceability of orders and pallets throughout the preparation process.
Our Order Picking Systems Projects
Watch Our Order Picking Systems Videos
XPO Logistics , Boigny-sur-Bionne, France
Brioche Pasquier, Châtelet-en-Brie, France
From Order Picking to Complete Warehouse Automation
Automated Order Picking is only one part of an efficient warehouse automation system. We design fully integrated solutions that combine storage, transport, order picking, mobile robotics and warehouse software to optimize every stage of your internal logistics.
FAQ - Automated Order Picking
An automated order picking system combines storage, material handling, robotics and software to automate all or part of the order preparation process within a warehouse or distribution center. It can manage product retrieval, transport, layer or case picking, pallet building, buffering and the transfer of completed orders to shipping.
The right automation approach depends on product characteristics, order profiles, volumes, throughput requirements and warehouse flows. A system can combine automated storage, conveyors or AGVs, picking robots, Goods-to-Person stations and WMS/WCS software to create an integrated process from product retrieval to completed order pallets ready for shipping.
The appropriate picking technology depends partly on the quantities required for each SKU. Layer picking transfers complete homogeneous layers and is particularly suited to orders requiring high volumes of the same product. Case picking handles individual cases, boxes or packs and can be used to build mixed pallets. Both approaches can be combined within the same automated order picking system.
In a Goods-to-Person system, products are automatically brought to a picking station where the operator performs the picking task, reducing travel within the warehouse. Robotic picking also automates the picking and order-building operation itself. The right approach depends on throughput, product characteristics, order profiles and the required level of automation. Both can be combined within the same system.
Order picking can be integrated into a complete warehouse automation system combining automated storage, pallet transport, picking and shipping. Pallet flows between these areas can be handled by conveyors, AGVs or a combination of technologies, while WMS/WCS software coordinates the different operations.
System design depends on factors such as order volumes and profiles, the number of SKUs, product characteristics, required throughput, activity peaks and building constraints. These parameters help determine the appropriate picking, storage and transport technologies, as well as the required level of automation.