Different criteria exist for approaching a packing station for shipping goods. The criteria may be order-related, but may depend also on the customers or articles. There is not only a packing station for conveyors, but also in manual warehouses which also require dispatch preparation.
Criteria for packing station control and selection
Examples for the criteria-based selection of a packing station:
· The order volume decides whether packaging is done in the package department or in the freight department · Certain packaging stations process mixed orders that require consolidation
· Prescribed dispatch types can be processed only at certain packing stations, since only at these stations the necessary vouchers and labels are available
· During certain actions for a customer group material shall be added which is available at certain packing stations only
· Only defined packaging stations feature scales
· Only certain packaging stations are allowed to handle hazardous material as these stations are equipped with the corresponding packaging material
Besides these characteristic criteria the capacity of a packaging station (stations on the feeding conveyor) is of relevant importance. In most cases, packing stations have to be approached by a single order, i.e. orders must not mix, but follow each other. Equally important is the accessibility from the order picking area which must be ensured by direct supply or routing. Hence, a loop or an automatic consolidation buffer can be located downstream. The packing station control can be used as component of the warehouse management software (Riegler, AKF) or also only as part of the MFC (as realized at Winkler, Hoffmann, Gödde and Perschmann).
