Missions for Picking Orders: User Guide
Introduction
Missions are a task allocation and management system designed to organize your warehouse picking work into logical, manageable units. Instead of handling orders individually, missions group multiple picking tasks together based on your warehouse's specific rules and criteria—allowing supervisors to assign work efficiently and warehouse operators to progress through picks in a structured, organized workflow.
By using missions, your team can:
Receive clear, organized picking assignments
Track progress through assigned picks
Complete order fulfillment work systematically
Improve overall warehouse efficiency through intelligent task grouping
How Missions Work
Mission Creation and Assignment
Missions are created and assigned automatically through the system's allocation process, which runs every 10 minutes. This means that when orders meet the criteria defined in your allocation plan rules, they are automatically grouped into missions and assigned to warehouse operators.
The allocation system respects your warehouse's specific constraints, including warehouse location atomicity and picking constraints defined at the license plate (LPN) level. This ensures that missions are always organized in a way that matches your physical warehouse setup.
Allocation Plans and Rules
Missions are customized through a Rule Builder system that lets you create allocation plans. These plans determine how picking tasks are grouped into missions based on conditions you define, such as:
Warehouse location types
Order tags
Other fulfillment criteria
Your allocation plan rules are compiled into executable logic that evaluates each order during the allocation cycle. This allows the system to efficiently organize work according to your specifications.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I create a mission for orders that have uploaded labels but still need picking and quality control?
You can create manual missions for orders with uploaded labels using the Orders Table:
In the Orders Table, select the checkbox for the confirmed order you want to include in a mission
From the actions menu, choose Create Mission
This allows you to proceed with the picking flow even when shipping labels are already uploaded
This is useful when you need to handle orders that have been pre-labeled but still require picking and quality control steps before they leave the warehouse.
Why aren't orders pulling into missions for picking?
Orders will not automatically pull into missions if product weights are set to zero. When product weights are zero, the entire parcel becomes zero weight, which makes it impossible to ship—so the system prevents these orders from entering the picking workflow.
To resolve this:
Check your product weight settings in the system
Update any products with zero weight to their correct weight values
Once weights are corrected, orders should begin pulling into missions normally
Can I print shipping labels and packing slips before creating a mission?
Currently, you need to create the mission first. However, you can use batch processing to achieve a similar workflow that gets labels and slips ready for your picking team:
From the mission page, click Batch Buy
Select Print and choose Slips and Labels
Once labels and packing slips are generated, you can start picking
This workflow allows you to generate all necessary documentation upfront for your picking team, even though the mission must be created first.
Can I set up automation to hold orders for a specific period before releasing them for picking?
Yes. You can set up an automation rule to put orders on hold until a specified time period has passed. This gives you control over when orders are released for picking—for example, you could hold orders for a full day before they become available for fulfillment.
This is useful if you need to:
Batch orders together before picking
Allow time for additional order verification
Coordinate picking with other warehouse operations
Manage peak picking times
How can I mark B2B orders as fulfilled without picking them in the system?
You can manually mark B2B orders as fulfilled directly in the order view without going through the normal picking process. This allows you to update the fulfillment status for orders that bypass the picking workflow.
To do this:
Open the order in the order view
Manually update the fulfillment status to fulfilled
This is particularly useful while B2B functionality is still under development and you need to handle B2B orders outside the standard picking mission workflow.
Best Practices
Review allocation plan rules regularly to ensure missions are grouping orders in the way that makes sense for your warehouse operations
Monitor the 10-minute allocation cycle when expecting new missions to be created—changes to orders or allocation rules take effect at the next cycle
Check product weights if you notice orders aren't entering missions as expected
Use batch processing to prepare labels and slips for your picking team, improving efficiency
Leverage automation rules to control order release timing and coordinate picking with other warehouse activities