{"id":13115,"date":"2024-03-11T17:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T17:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/hybrid-order-picking\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T15:06:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T15:06:41","slug":"hybrid-order-picking","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/hybrid-order-picking\/","title":{"rendered":"Hybrid Order Picking: Exploring the Future of Warehouse Logistics with ShipBob\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

** Minutes<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

What is hybrid order picking? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of hybrid order picking for warehouses <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementing hybrid order picking in your warehouse <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will the future of warehouse picking look like? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob\u2019s dynamic picking and packing methods <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybird order picking FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Picking is at the heart of any ecommerce fulfilment strategy. When orders are picked efficiently and accurately, it allows you to seamlessly move on to other fulfilment processes (such as packing and shipping), and minimise lead times<\/a> to get orders to customers faster.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, many ecommerce businesses constantly seek to optimise their picking processes and figure out the optimal picking strategies. While some brands rely on manual picking processes and others fully automate picking, many brands opt for a hybrid order picking strategy to get the best of both worlds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll dive deep into what hybrid order picking is, its benefits, and how brands can implement it for their warehouses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is hybrid order picking? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid order picking is a picking strategy where human workers work together with automated systems and tools to pick customer orders. This strategy leverages both manual and automated order picking processes to optimise picking efficiency without sacrificing accuracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid picking is a fairly new concept that is gradually gaining ground in the world of ecommerce fulfilment \u2013 especially as picking technology and robotics continues to advance and evolve. Besides autonomous robots, hybrid order picking can involve picking technologies such as pick-to-light systems, handheld picking devices, and voice picking systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evolution from traditional to hybrid systems <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, the warehouse order picking<\/a> process relied completely\u00a0on human pickers and manual methods of identifying and retrieving items. This meant that pick lists<\/a> were printed on paper and distributed to pickers, who then had to manually search for item locations within the warehouse. Upon locating items, these pickers will then check them against their pick list, cross off items that have been picked, and physically pick up and transport items to the packing station.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although this strategy has its benefits, it can also be cumbersome and prone to errors. For instance, if there were to be a printing mistake on the pick list, pickers may pick the wrong items or the wrong quantity. Similarly, a picker might make an error while cross-checking, and accidentally mix up the quantities of items that are right after each other on the pick list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fully manual picking is also time-consuming. It requires pickers to walk across warehouses and between aisles to locate shelves and bins where items on their picking list are stored. If they needed to retrieve items from higher up on the shelf, they must rely on ladders or step stools to retrieve them. This tends to hamper productivity and create inefficiencies in order picking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As warehouse technology evolved, businesses started to address some of these downsides with technology. Some of the most popular solutions include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n