Pick-to-light

Small lights or displays fixed at each shelf location show the picker where to take items from and how many. The picker takes them, presses a button to confirm, and the next light comes on, so there is no list to read and no location to hunt for. This kind of guided picking is called pick-to-light.

It is fast and accurate for high volumes of small items picked from a fixed set of locations, which is why it is common in e-commerce and spare-parts picking. A variant, put-to-light, works in reverse: lights show where to put an item when sorting a batch into orders.

It needs fixed hardware at every location, so it suits busy, stable pick faces more than a changing range. Many small warehouses reach good accuracy with handheld scanners first and consider lights only when volume justifies the installation.

When it pays off

It pays off for high volumes of small items picked from a stable set of locations, where picker speed and accuracy matter, as in e-commerce, spare parts and pharmacy. It pays off less for a range that keeps changing, for large items, and at low volumes, where handheld scanners already give good accuracy. Hardware at every location also means it works best on busy, stable pick faces rather than across the whole warehouse.

What the warehouse system does with it

The WMS releases an order or a batch to the zone, and the pick-to-light controller lights the locations to pick from, with the quantity. The picker takes the items and presses the button at each light; the controller reports each confirmed quantity back to the WMS, which updates the stock and the order. If a picker finds a shortage, the button or a screen lets them report it, and the WMS decides whether to substitute or backorder.

Who makes it

Aioi Systems, Captron, Kardex, KBS Industrieelektronik, Lightning Pick, Signature One

In alphabetical order. Not a ranking or a recommendation.