Industry News

At Komar Distribution Services, we specialize in handling the diverse needs of our clients including their detailed pick and pack requirements.   A recent article in the Seattle Times outlined some of the challenges that Amazon.com’s pick and pack processes have to handle:

At Amazon.com’s largest fulfillment center, one of the foulest four-letter words is spelled p-i-l-e.

These are the places where workers put damaged, duplicate and inaccurately picked items, all of which slow down shipments to customers during the busiest three months of the year.

That’s why one Amazon employee looks into a red rework bin with dismay. The book “Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation” sits inside, its white jacket slightly scuffed.

It’s the online retailer’s fixation with refining the way it picks, packs and ships items that has enabled it to challenge one of the largest barriers to e-commerce: shipping fees.

Custom Pick and Pack Services

Companies looking for a competent partner for pick and pack services should know that KDS creates custom solutions to integrate into your existing supply chain management infrastructure.  Our technology team integrates seamlessly into your current data exchange processes to deliver consistent savings due to our volume and infrastructure.

If you are looking to increase throughput and decrease damaged goods and theft of merchandise, contact the executive team at KDS to discuss a custom pick and pack solution.  Our inventory warehousing and distribution warehouse services provide our business partners with turnkey solutions and savings due to our economies of scale.

If you would like to speak with the KDS team, call our executives at the numbers below:

Jay Harris, CEO
Komar Distribution Services
jharris@komar-ny.com
O: 212 725 1500 xt 107

Tony Pechenik, Senior Vice President
Komar Distribution Services
tpechenik@komar-ny.com
O: 212 725 1500 xt 326
M: 917 584 9027

Ron Weissbrod, Vice President
Komar Distribution Services
rweissbrod@komar-ny.com
M: 917-836-6810

We have compiled a list of common industry terms involved in Pick and Pack services and the supply chain management industry.

Advanced shipment notification -  advanced shipment notifications are used to notify a customer of a shipment. An ASN will often include purchase order (PO) numbers, stock keeping unit (SKU) numbers, lot numbers, quantity, carton number, and pallet or container number.

An ASN can be on paper, but most are via electronic notification, principally via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). Advanced shipment notification (ASN) systems are often combined with bar-coded compliance labeling which allows the customer to receive the shipment into inventory through the use of bar-code scanners and automated data collection (ADC) systems.

Break Bulk - is a term used to describe a fulfillment center or carrier facility that is designed to take large shipments and break them into smaller shipments.

Batch picking - A method of order picking in which all orders are grouped into small batches. All the orders in the batch are then picked in one pass. [See zone picking and wave picking].

Club store packaging -  Club store packaging is a fulfillment option used for volume shippers such as the ‘club store’ or large quantity discount retailers. Pick and pack is adjusted to larger scale pallet pulls.

Clamshell - is an option of packaging used by pick and pack services. The container, usually made of plastic, resembles a clam in that it snaps open and shut to safely contain a product.

Palletizing – the placement of shipments on pallets for easier and safer handling for light items, and a means to transfer heavier items by forklift.  Pallets can be shrink wrapped if requested.

Perpetual inventory system- a system for inventory management that uses transactions to adjust on-hand balances to match the demands of the ongoing fulfillment activity

Pick list – a list generated by a computer of what items need to be picked to fulfill and order.

Polybag -  A polyethylene bag for storing or packaging a product ; a wrap that acts as and envelope into which a mailing piece be inserted and addressed according to USPS requirements.

Skin packaging – Skin packaging is a process in which a machine seals your item between a layer of plastic and paper. The sealing machine creates an airtight barrier leaving your product sealed between the plastic cover and cardboard or paper backing.

Shipping order – inventory control document that is used to identify what should be shipped from the warehouse and to whom and where it should be shipped. The shipping order usually accompanies the shipment, so that the recipient can verify that the items listed were received. The shipping order can then be used to prepare an invoice or, in the case of a collect on delivery (COD) order, can serve as the invoice.

Supply chain management – the management of a supply chain of goods as a process from supplier of raw materials or components to the manufacturer, to the distributor to the wholesale buyer to the end consumer. Supply chain management involves the actual products moving through the chain, but also the management of all the information (data) about the product, such as its origin, its destination, payment status, client ordering history, and information about all parties that handle the product in all links of the supply chain.

Question on Pick and Pack Services

KDS offers a complete supply chain management and back office solution that includes pick and pack services.

If you would like to speak with the KDS team, call our executives at the numbers below:

Jay Harris, CEO
Komar Distribution Services
jharris@komar-ny.com
O: 212 725 1500 xt 107

Tony Pechenik, Senior Vice President
Komar Distribution Services
tpechenik@komar-ny.com
O: 212 725 1500 xt 326
M: 917 584 9027

Ron Weissbrod, Vice President
Komar Distribution Services
rweissbrod@komar-ny.com
M: 917-836-6810