Mobile Picking Terminals and Barcode Order Picking

A mobile picking terminal is a system that scans and verifies items with a phone or handheld device while picking orders in the warehouse. The goal is not primarily to speed picking up but to prevent shipping the wrong item. A wrong shipment produces three costs from a single error: return shipping, reshipment and a negative review.

Where do errors happen in manual picking?

At three points. Similar variants: two sizes or two colours of the same product sit side by side; distinguishing them by eye is unreliable late in a shift. Memory: the picker memorises the list, walks to the shelf and assumes on the way back that the right item was taken. Ordering: if the list follows platform order, the same aisle is walked several times, and each pass is a fresh opportunity for error.

Barcode scanning closes all three: verification is done by the system rather than the eye, memory is taken out of the loop, and the pick list can be ordered by shelf.

How should the pick list be ordered?

Not by platform but by warehouse location. Items in the same aisle should appear consecutively so the picker crosses the warehouse once.

This is unimportant when picking a single order; it becomes decisive when picking several orders in one pass (batch picking). With the items of five orders ordered by shelf, one pass replaces five.

The distinction is this: order-based picking is simple and fine at low volume; batch picking shortens walking distance but needs a second step to separate items back into orders. Your order density decides which fits.

Phone or handheld terminal?

Buying a dedicated handheld is not necessary for every business. A modern phone camera reads fast enough in good light with a legible barcode.

A handheld makes sense in three situations: very high scan volume (camera focusing slows as it accumulates), harsh warehouse conditions (dust, drop risk) and long shifts (battery and ergonomics). If none of these is your situation, starting with a phone is a reasonable way to defer the investment.

What matters is not the device but barcode quality. A faded, creased or too-small label lengthens read time on any device.

What about products without barcodes?

Not every product carries a manufacturer barcode. In that case you need to print labels with your own internal SKU and attach them to the item or the shelf position.

Two rules: the code must be unique (giving the same code to two different products breaks every system, shared stock and synchronisation included) and permanent (even if the product changes, the code must keep pointing to the same item).

Products with variants need a separate code per variant. "Same product, different size" cannot be tracked on one code; this is the most common and most expensive shortcut.

How do you measure the gain yourself?

We are not offering a ready-made "error rate drops by X" figure; the gain depends on your current error rate and warehouse layout. Build your own measurement:

1. For one month, tag returns caused by wrong item shipped separately.
2. Calculate their share of total orders.
3. Add up the cost of each: return shipping + reshipment + any handling charge.
4. Repeat the same measurement after moving to barcode picking.

These four steps show the return on investment with your own data, and are far more reliable than generic percentages.

Setup order

1. Establish barcode/SKU consistency. Every product and every variant needs a unique code.
2. Define shelf codes. A scheme at aisle–shelf–bin level is enough.
3. Order the pick list by shelf.
4. Make scanning mandatory. Verification left optional gets skipped on a busy day — exactly when it is needed most.
5. Scan on return intake too. A returned item should not go back on the shelf before it is verified as the expected item.

Step five is usually skipped and is one of the main reasons system stock and the shelf drift apart.

For using barcode scanning inside the product, see the advanced barcode scanning guide; for the counting side, see the barcode physical stock counting article.