Goods-to-Person

Goods-to-Person is an automated order picking principle in which goods are actively transported to the worker instead of the worker moving through the warehouse. 

What is Goods-to-Person?

In contrast to traditional order picking, it is not the workers who move in the Goods-to-Person principle, but the items. These are brought to fixed workstations via automated systems such as robots, shuttles, or conveyor technology.

This is where the actual picking takes place.

How does Goods-to-Person work in practice?

The required items are identified by the system and automatically transported to a picking station. The worker retrieves the goods and assigns them to the corresponding order.

This process runs continuously and enables a very high throughput rate.

What role does a WMS play?

The Warehouse Management System (WMS) provides central control of all processes. It determines which items are made available when and in what sequence, and coordinates the movements of the automated systems.

Without this control, efficient operation would not be possible.

Advantages and challenges

The main advantage lies in the drastic reduction of travel distances and the high level of efficiency. At the same time, ergonomics for workers are improved.

On the other hand, there are high investment costs and complex implementation requirements.

Typical use cases

Goods-to-Person is primarily used in large, automated warehouses and in e-commerce, where high volumes need to be processed.

💡See also Bitergo glossary: order picking methods