A warehouse order selector is the foundation of modern distribution centers, making sure that the right product is in the right place at the right time. Their primary role is to fulfill orders from warehouse inventory, but they can work in different environments using different equipment to fulfill this role.
The primary duties of an order selector heavily factor into custom demand fulfillment and the distributor or chain’s ability to meet demand. The distinct challenges and pain points faced by people in this role can therefore impact efficiency across the whole order fulfillment process.
This article details the role of warehouse order selectors, including the challenges they face, to help stores, chains, distribution centers, and other businesses assemble and deploy their workforce more effectively.
What is Warehouse Order Selecting?
Warehouse order selecting involves several essential tasks in the modern warehouse setting. Once an order has been taken, warehouse order selectors are in charge of fulfilling it. Their duties include:
- Scanning warehouse items
- Gathering the correct type and number of products
- Checking and managing stock space
- Using heavy machinery to organize products
- Maintaining warehouse efficiency
- Replacing inventory
By combining these tasks, warehouse order selectors make sure that warehouse operations go smoothly and hit their targets. The main metrics of the job are efficiency and accuracy. To use an example of a product distribution center, an order that comes from the point of sale to the warehouse needs to be pulled from the shelves from a detailed list known as a “pick list,” followed by stacking, wrapping, and preparing the items for shipment.
This explanation of the job is straightforward, but the individual tasks can become complicated in a modern warehouse setting. The amount of different products, including different quantities, colors, and sizes, and the accuracy involved to keep the fulfillment process running smoothly can lead to many more responsibilities.
What Tools Do Order Selectors Use?
One of the complicated aspects of order selecting is the equipment needed to handle these tasks in many modern warehouse situations. Heavy pallets of items may need to be moved using powered equipment like forklifts, for which most facilities will require certification. Order selectors, in addition to operating this machinery, must interface with digital purchase record tools, scan items in and out of the warehouses, and communicate by headset. Today, the order fulfillment speed and accuracy hinges partly on the selector’s proficiency with these tools.
In addition to using machinery, order selectors also perform a large amount of physical labor, for which they will need safety training. They often lift, stack, and transport heavy products through diverse environments, including hot storage areas and freezer rooms. This requires stamina and safe-lifting procedures to run the job efficiently, which often calls for late, overnight, and weekend shifts.
What Skills Do Order Selectors Need?
The skills needed to fulfill the role of order selector are in high-demand for modern fulfillment-focused businesses. Grocery stores and food distributors, for example, rely on timely shipments with accurate counts of exactly what was ordered. Order selectors make sure the warehouse fulfills the order as written so that when the trucks depart from the dock, everyone along the supply chain can be sure that they contain the right items in each order.
How can order selectors make sure this happens? These are the skills they need to develop and hone to become a successful link between the orders being made and the products being shipped out to the people who need them:
- Precision record-keeping and identification, even under pressure, to make sure the right SKUs are procured, packed, and shipped, including the right size, color, and quantity
- Equipment proficiency, potentially including forklifts, pallet jacks, scanners, inventory management systems, and more
- Team communication and awareness over loaders, warehouse staff, supervisors, and more to maintain efficient operations
- Organizational skills, including keeping shelves arranged accurately, organizing packing supplies for speedy fulfillment, arranging reorders, and more
The role of order selector can require more or fewer skills depending on the expectations of the warehouse operator. For example, not all order selectors are in charge of restocking inventory, though some warehouse managers combine these roles for a more seamless transition between shipping inventory and replenishing it.
Warehouse Workforce Solutions Can Provide Experienced Order Selectors When They’re Needed Most
With such an essential role to play in the fulfillment process, certified and experienced warehouse order selectors can save distributors from costly interruptions in their fulfillment process. At NVT Staffing Warehouse Division, we provide distributors, stores, distribution centers, and other businesses with rapid workforce deployment to help them maintain productivity amidst high turnover rates, labor strikes, and other staffing issues. Our order selectors can be deployed at short notice with no long-term contract requirements to help managers find qualified staff and recover their fulfillment process without letting their operations suffer in the meantime.
Contact our experienced team of warehouse professionals for fast and reliable deployment of this all-important position within 72 hours of selection.