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Overview

What automating the picking actually changes

Picking is where warehouses lose money. It is the single largest line in most warehouse operating budgets, and the bulk of it is not spent picking at all — it goes on walking, searching and confirming. Off-the-shelf warehouse software rarely fixes that, because it does not know your racking layout, your product mix or the order in which your team actually works.

We build the system around the operation instead. That means mapping your floor and your pick faces, building routes that suit the way stock is actually laid out, and putting a scanner in the picker’s hand so the right item is confirmed at the point it is lifted. Where automation earns its place we add it — and where it does not, we leave it out and say so.

An engineering company with twenty thousand part numbers has a completely different problem from a distributor shipping fifty lines in volume. We scope yours before we build, and you get a plan sized to the operation rather than a licence for features you will never switch on.

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Robotic warehouse management system operating alongside racked stock
Why It Matters

Where warehouses actually lose time

Published industry research, not our own figures — but it is the reason nearly every system we build starts with picking.

50–75% Of warehouse operating cost

Order picking is the single biggest line in most warehouse budgets, and around 55% of total labour time.

55% Of picking time is travel

Walking between pick faces, before you count searching (15%) and paperwork (20%). Actual extraction is about 10%.

15–20km Walked per picker, per shift

In a conventional layout, with only 15–20% of the shift spent actually picking.

40–60% Fewer picking errors

The reduction typically seen from barcode scanning alone, against manual paper-based picking.

Sources: Applied Sciences (2025) study on order-picking cost and labour share; industry benchmarking on barcode scanning accuracy and error rates. Figures describe the sector, not results guaranteed for any individual site.

Most Recent Project

Picking app and bespoke ERP, Belfast

Our most recent warehouse project was for a Belfast client in the textiles industry, storing and shipping clothing: an Android picking app used on the warehouse floor, built to work with a bespoke ERP system we developed alongside it, so stock, orders and despatch stay in step without anything being rekeyed.

  • Android picking app, used on rugged handhelds on the floor
  • Scan-confirmed picking so the item is verified as it is lifted
  • Bespoke ERP built alongside it rather than bolted on afterwards
  • Stock, orders and despatch shared between the two in real time
  • Built, deployed and still supported by the team that wrote it
Two warehouse floor plans compared: a conventional pick list crossing the aisles repeatedly, against the same eight picks sequenced by location into a single loop
Features

What the system does

Picking app

A scanner in the picker’s hand instead of a paper sheet. The item is confirmed as it is lifted, the route is ordered by your layout, and the pick is logged the moment it happens.

Floor & route mapping

Aisles, racking, zones and pick faces mapped so routes follow your building. Re-mapped when you move racking, rather than rebuilt from scratch.

ERP integration

Stock, goods in, orders, despatch and returns kept in step with your ERP or accounts system, so nothing is entered twice.

Stock & location control

Live stock by location, batch and serial tracking, and cycle counting that does not need the operation to stop.

Robotics, where it pays

Route planning and task allocation for autonomous units, introduced in stages alongside manual picking rather than in one disruptive switch.

Throughput reporting

Pick rates, bottlenecks, accuracy and dwell time, so you can see where the hours are going instead of guessing.

Benefits

What it changes day to day

  • Cut the walking, which is where most picking time actually goes.
  • Catch the wrong item at the pick face, not at the customer.
  • Stop rekeying stock and orders between the floor and the back office.
  • Scale from one store room to multiple sites on the same system.
  • Add automation in stages, without stopping the operation.
  • See where throughput is lost, with numbers rather than opinion.

Who uses it

  • Engineering & manufacturing
  • Textiles & clothing
  • Robotics & automation
  • Distribution & logistics
  • Ecommerce fulfilment
  • Builders’ merchants
  • Food & drink
  • Wholesale

Not on the list? The build is bespoke, so it is shaped around how your business works.

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FAQs

Questions we get asked

We are a small operation. Is this overkill?

No, and the scale is the point. A small store room with a few thousand lines gets a picking app, scanning and stock by location, and that alone usually pays for itself on accuracy. You are not buying a multi-site platform you will never use — we scope what your operation needs and price that.

We have thousands of part numbers. Can you handle that?

Yes. High part counts are where bespoke earns its keep, because search, sensible location logic and route ordering matter far more at twenty thousand lines than at two hundred. That is exactly the case off-the-shelf products handle worst.

Can you work with our existing system?

Usually, yes, and replacing a working system is rarely the right first move. We will look at what you have and tell you honestly whether it is worth extending or whether it is holding you back.

Do we have to use robotics?

No. Plenty of the operations we work with are entirely manual and the system pays for itself on picking accuracy and routing alone. Where automation does make sense it goes in alongside manual picking, in stages.

How long does it take?

It depends on the size of the operation and what it connects to. We scope it properly and give you a written quote and a timeline before anything starts, and go live in stages by area or process so the warehouse keeps running.

What happens after go-live?

We support it and keep developing it. New lines, new racking, new customers — the system has to change with the operation, and the people who built it are the people who make those changes.

More Solutions

Other software we build

Swipe through the projects

Next Step

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