How to Create a Picking Plan for a Wholesale Order

The picking plan is the configuration step that prepares a wholesale order for your warehouse team to pick. From the ShipHero desktop, you will assign the inventory locations to pick from, choose how the order will be picked (mobile or manual), and optionally assign specific pickers to each location. Completing the picking plan and setting the order to Ready to Pick makes it available to your team on the ShipHero mobile app.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Assign Picking Locations to the Wholesale Order
  • Manually Assign Picking Locations
  • Auto-Assign Picking Locations
• Step 2: Choose a Picking Flow and Assign Pickers
  • Select a Picking Method for the Wholesale Order
  • Assign Pickers to Specific Picking Locations (Optional)

Step 1: Assign Picking Locations to the Wholesale Order

Assigning locations tells ShipHero which inventory locations in your warehouse pickers should pull from to fulfill the order. You can assign locations manually, use the auto-assign feature, or take a hybrid approach — using auto-assign first and then editing specific SKUs afterward. Review the limitations below before proceeding.

Manually Assign Picking Locations

Manual assignment lets you select specific inventory locations for each SKU in the wholesale order. To start, open the order from the Orders to Process page then follow the steps below.

1. Click on the Select button next to the location column.
2. Check the box next to the location(s) and the quantity to pick from that location.
3. Click Save.

Example of inventory still remaining to be assigned.	Example of inventory fully assigned to locations.

Quick Tips on the Assign Locations Module

• In the upper right corner of the modal, you can see the required amount that needs to be assigned to a location. A green check mark will be displayed once all pending inventory is assigned to a location.
• If a selected location does not have enough inventory, a red arrow and the quantity remaining to be assigned will be displayed next to the required amount.
• Locations can be sorted by Most Stock, Least Stock, First to Expire, and Last to Expire, or use the Search Bar to find a specific location.
• Each location displays the location name, the quantity of that SKU in the location, the UOM value (e.g., eaches, cases, or pallets), the Location Type (if applicable) and if that location currently has a Hospital status.
• You can assign multiple locations to a single SKU.
• Adjust the assigned quantity either by typing it in or using the up and down arrows.

Auto-Assign Picking Locations

Selecting the 'Auto-Assign Locations' option opens a modal where you are presented with five prioritization rules. These rules have priorities ranging from 1 to 5, with priority 1 having more weight than priority 5. The priority order is fixed and cannot be changed.

5 Auto-Assign Priority Rules

1. Prioritized locations: Search and select specific locations to prioritize them during the execution of the auto-assign algorithm.
2. Location Type: Choose whether to prioritize non-pickable or pickable locations. (In the event that there is no inventory in the selected location type, the algorithm will propose the other type of location.)
3. Unit of measure: When enabled, the algorithm will prioritize locations that contain larger units of measure.

4. Lots (4a): Location assignment is prioritized based on the selected lots method — FIFO (First In, First Out), LIFO (Last In, Last Out), FEFO (First Expired, First Out), or LEFO (Last Expired, First Out).

   Expires in X Days (4b): Only considers locations that meet this expiration date criteria. Only impacts Lot controlled SKUs.

5. Stock: Prioritize locations with the least or greatest amount of stock.

Step 2: Choose a Picking Flow and Assign Pickers

After assigning locations, choose how the order will be picked and who will complete the work. ShipHero supports three picking flows for wholesale orders.

1. Picking & Packing (Mobile): Pick lines and immediately pack them into one or more LPNs (License Plate Numbers — barcode labels applied to a container to identify and track its contents through fulfillment) on the device. Best for single-touch operations, small orders, or when you want to print/apply the LPN label as you go.
2. Picking (Mobile): Pick to a packing station directly. Ideal for wave/batch picking, multi-line orders, or when packing requires extra checks (dimensions, weight, compliance).
3. Manual (Paper Picking): Print the picking list and give it to a member of the team to pick from.

Assigning pickers to specific locations is optional but recommended depending on the size of your team and operations.

After completing the location assignments and assigning pickers (or choosing not to assign specific pickers), set the order status to Ready to Pick. When the order is moved to Ready to Pick, the Packing layout is displayed confirming that the order is available for picking on the mobile app.

Select a Picking Method for the Wholesale Order

Mobile Picking Options: To select one of the mobile picking options, the Mobile toggle must be enabled. This will display a dropdown to choose Picking and Packing or Picking.

Manual Picking: To select the Manual picking method, first disable the Mobile toggle. With this option, you do not have the ability to assign pickers to specific picking jobs.

Assign Pickers to Specific Picking Locations (Optional)

You have the option to assign specific pickers to each location on the wholesale order. This is useful when different locations require different equipment or qualifications — for example, assigning a forklift operator to pallet locations while another picker handles floor-loaded items.

Things to Consider:

• User Permissions: In the Wholesale process, granular permissions control which employees can be assigned as pickers. Pickers will need the following permissions assigned to their accounts. For more information please visit our Roles and Permissions article.

• Changing the Picker Assignment: You can change the picker up to the moment the picker begins work. Picking assignments cannot be modified once a user has begun picking from a location.
• Unassigned locations: Unassigned locations remain available to any authorized user accessing the order via the app. Upon scanning a location, the user is automatically assigned to it.

You can assign pickers two ways, individually or in bulk:

• Individually: Click the +Assign Picker button and select the employee from the list of eligible pickers. Here you also have the option to assign that user to all locations at once.
• In Bulk: Check the box next to the line items you want to assign, click Assign Picker from the bulk menu, and select the employee from the list of eligible pickers.

Individual Assignment Example	Bulk Assignment Example