Order Picking and Despatch Procedure

Purpose. This procedure describes how customer orders are released, picked, checked, packed and despatched so that the right stock reaches the right customer on time.

1.Order release

Customer service will release confirmed orders to the pick queue by 7:00 am for same-day metropolitan despatch and by 1:00 pm for next-day regional despatch. The warehouse team leader will sequence the queue by despatch cut-off and by vehicle allocation shown on the consignment board.

2.Picking

Pickers will follow the pick path on the scanner, scanning the bay and the product for every line. First expiring stock must be picked first for food and pharmaceutical products. A picker who finds an empty bay or a wrong product must not substitute stock; they must raise a pick exception in the stock register and continue with the next line.

• Scan bay, then product, then confirm quantity
• Pick oldest use-by date first
• Never mix customers on a pallet
• Raise exceptions rather than substituting

3.Checking and packing

A second person will check each completed order against the pick list before it is wrapped, checking carton counts and product codes. Pallets must be built to the customer's height limit, wrapped with at least three turns at the base, and labelled with the consignment label showing the customer, delivery address suburb, pallet number and total pallets.

4.Staging and loading

Checked pallets will be staged in the lane for the allocated vehicle shown on the consignment board. The loader must load pallets in reverse delivery order, confirm the count against the manifest, and record the restraint method on the pre-departure checklist.

5.Despatch records

The despatch officer will update the consignment record to Despatched with the vehicle, driver and departure time, print the manifest and consignment notes, and hand them to the driver. Proof of delivery must be captured on the driver's device and attached to the consignment record before the record is closed.

6.Quality checks

The team leader will audit at least five picked orders per shift and record the result. Pick errors will be recorded against the picker in the quality log and discussed at the weekly warehouse meeting.