After the NCAS has allocated inventory to incoming orders, the warehouse staff must physically gather the desired inventory so that it can be shipped to the appropriate location. This is referred to as picking inventory.

In order to help warehouse staff pick the correct items in the most efficient way possible, the NCAS generates order pick lists each night during production. Pick lists give organized picking instructions for each order that has been allocated or reallocated during the production cycle. A pick list tells the warehouse staff the sequence in which to pick the items for the order. A separate pick list is automatically generated at the appropriate warehouse for each incoming order.

The following is an example of a pick list generated by the NCAS:

The pick list shows the quantities of the items that have been allocated to an order. These are the quantities of the items that should be physically picked. For items with a limited shelf life, the pick list also gives the expiration date and location of the oldest inventory available so that this inventory can be picked first. If items picked are to be taken to separate staging areas, a separate page is printed for each staging area.

Items are separated on the pick list according to the warehouse areas in which they are stored. Recall from the Establishing Access Paths section of this course that pick paths can be established to define the order in which warehouse areas are listed on a pick list. If a specific pick path is established for your warehouse, the warehouse areas are listed on the pick list in the order defined on the pick path. If a specific pick path is not set up for a warehouse, the warehouse areas are listed on the pick list in alphanumeric order. Items within each area are then listed numerically by item number. (For more information on establishing pick paths, refer to the Establishing Access Paths section of this course.)

Pick lists are generated automatically by the NCAS and are stored in RMDS as the Pick List (rplst) report. Once you access the Pick List (rplst) report in RMDS, you can then print the pick lists at your warehouse.

The Pick List report is located in RMDS in the report group IN 260-2. The report ID is rplst. For more information on accessing RMDS reports, refer to Viewing and Printing RMDS Reports Step-by-Step.

Pick lists can also be printed at the warehouse real-time if the requester releases the order real-time. The requester can instruct the NCAS to print the order real-time via the Usage Order Release and Allocate (UOR) screen at the time of release. If the requester does not use the Usage Order Release and Allocate (UOR) screen to print the pick list, he or she can later request real-time printing on the Pick List and Exception Release (RPE) screen.