The everyday expansion of e-commerce is driving up the demand for quick, exact, scalable order fulfillment. In a world where customers want same-day or even one-hour deliveries, warehouse operations efficiency holds the power to assist or hinder a retailer’s business. But how are these orders fulfilled behind the scenes?
Traditionally, warehouse workers walk miles merely to pick goods from multiple shelves, pack items, and send them off. Errors in this long and labor-intensive procedure are prone to cause delays, wrong shipments, and unhappy consumers.
With the help of Cartesian Kinetics Carte+, an advanced robotic automation system designed to revolutionize warehouse operations. Instead of workers running from one aisle to another, robots bring the items directly to ergonomic pick stations, significantly reducing fulfillment time, improving accuracy, and cutting operational costs.
By the end of this blog, you will see how automation shapes the future of e-commerce and why retailers must adapt to stay ahead.
Traditional Manual Order Fulfillment Process
An online order starts with the fulfillment process behind the scenes in a retailer’s warehouse. Although retail logistics has been built on the traditional manual procedure for decades, it comes with major inefficiencies and problems.
1. Order Receipt: The Starting Point
Once a customer orders a few packaged food items, the order enters the warehouse management system (WMS). The system generates a picking list detailing the items, their locations, and the order priority.
- The list is sent to a warehouse associate, who must navigate the facility to locate the products.
- The worker uses a handheld scanner or printed list to track items.
- Time starts ticking the moment they receive the order and every second counts in high-volume fulfillment centers.
2. Picking Process: Walking Miles to Gather Items
This is where the real challenge begins. The worker must:
- Walk through multiple aisles and shelves, following a picking path that may not always be optimized.
- Retrieve the correct SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) while ensuring no mix-ups or missing items.
- Repeat this process for hundreds or thousands of orders daily, covering long distances across the warehouse.
Did you know?
A warehouse picker walks an average of 12-15 miles per shift, adding significant physical strain and slowing down order processing.
This inefficiency leads to:
- Longer fulfillment times, especially during peak sales periods like Black Friday.
- Higher error rates and a simple mix-up can result in costly returns and poor customer experience.
- Increased labor costs, as demand grows, warehouses must hire and train more workers to keep up.
3. Packing and Shipping: Preparing for Dispatch
Once all items are collected, the worker:
- Bring it to a packing station where another team member verifies the order.
- Packages the products securely, ensuring they meet shipping requirements.
- Labels the package and moves it to the dispatch area for carrier pickup.
Key Challenges:
- Manual errors can lead to incorrect shipments.
- Delays in locating items extend delivery timelines.
- High operational costs due to increased reliance on labor.
The Verdict on Manual Fulfillment
While this approach has worked for years, it is becoming unsustainable as e-commerce grows. Consumers expect speed, accuracy, and real-time tracking, which manual picking struggles to deliver efficiently.
Let’s see how the same order is fulfilled in a warehouse powered by the Cartesian Kinetics Carte+ system. Here is where automation takes over.
Automated Order Fulfillment with Carte+
In contrast to the time-consuming, error-prone manual process, warehouses equipped with Cartesian Kinetics Carte+ system leverage automation to streamline order fulfillment. Instead of warehouse workers spending hours walking through aisles, Carte+ grants you the ability to robotically access items and present them to human operators, significantly improving speed, accuracy, and productivity.
1. Order Receipt: Seamless Processing
The moment a customer places an order, the warehouse management system (WMS) seamlessly integrates with Carte+, triggering an automated workflow.
- Robots receive picking instructions and begin retrieving items which is way faster than any manual pick-up process.
- The system prioritizes order fulfillment, ensuring high-priority and time-sensitive orders are processed first.
- The picking path is automatically optimized, reducing unnecessary movements.
2. Automated Picking Process: Goods Come to the Picker
Rather than having workers walk miles across the warehouse, Carte+ robots do the heavy lifting:
- Autonomous robots navigate storage areas, picking up totes that contain the required items.
- These totes are transported to an ergonomic pick station via a high-speed conveyor system.
- A human operator at the pick station retrieves the item from the tote and places it into the customer’s order bin.
- The system confirms each pick in real time, reducing errors.
3. Packing and Shipping: A Faster, More Accurate Process
Once items are picked, they are automatically routed to the packing station, where:
- The system verifies the order contents before packaging.
- Packaging is optimized based on item dimensions, reducing wasted materials.
- The order is sealed, labeled, and moved to the shipping dock for final dispatch.
Comparative Analysis: Manual vs Automated Order Fulfillment
Now that we have examined both methods let’s compare manual order fulfillment and automated fulfillment with Carte+ across key performance metrics. This analysis will showcase automation’s efficiency, accuracy, and scalability benefits over traditional processes.
| Factor | Manual Order Fulfillment | Automated Fulfillment with Carte+ |
| Order Processing Speed | Slower due to manual picking and travel time. | Faster with automated item retrieval and optimized workflows. |
| Labor Effort | Workers walk long distances, leading to fatigue and inefficiencies. | Robots bring items to ergonomic pick stations, reducing physical strain. |
| Picking Accuracy | Higher risk of human errors, leading to incorrect shipments. | Automated barcode verification ensures near-perfect accuracy. |
| Scalability | Limited by workforce availability and training needs. | Easily scales to handle increased order volumes without additional labor. |
| Fulfillment Cost | High due to wages, training, and inefficiencies. | Lower operational costs with optimized labor and automation. |
| Customer Satisfaction | Slower deliveries and higher error rates can impact the experience. | Faster, more accurate orders improve customer trust and retention. |
Case Study: Implementation of Carte+ in a Retail Warehouse
Working under limited low-ceiling mezzanines, a top apparel retailer aimed to improve its manual fulfillment processes. The difficulty was introducing automated pickup without disturbing the current systems to guarantee a scalable, reasonably priced solution that is capable of handling growing order volumes.
1. The Challenge: Manual Labor Bottlenecks
- The warehouse had four-level mezzanines with an 8-foot ceiling, limiting traditional automation options.
- The retailer wanted to reduce manual picking efforts using the existing racking structure.
- The solution needed to be modular, allowing for gradual scaling without major infrastructure overhauls.
2. The Solution: Automating with Carte+
- Carte+ was seamlessly retrofitted into the existing warehouse setup, eliminating the need for costly modifications.
- 16 autonomous robots were deployed for batch picking, dramatically reducing human walking time.
- The system integrated directly with the warehouse management system (WMS), allowing real-time order streaming.
- The solution started with a small-scale implementation and expanded over 18 months through its modular approach.
3. The Business Impact: Efficiency & Cost Savings
- 85% reduction in manual labor, significantly decreasing workforce dependency.
- 1100 units picked per hour, boosting throughput and meeting higher demand.
- Projected annual cost savings of 65%, delivering a strong return on investment.
- ROI was achieved in just 1.5 years, making it a financially viable automation solution.
Conclusion: The Future of Order Fulfillment is Here
Order fulfillment is about speed, accuracy, and efficiency which is not just about delivering items from shelves to consumers. Although years of manual processes have been sufficient, they cannot meet the rising e-commerce needs. High prices, workforce fatigue, and long picking routes slow down operations and complicate retail competitiveness.
Carte+ flips the game by introducing automation into the warehouse. It greatly lowers running costs, increases accuracy, and removes pointless movement. Automation is the future solution for stores trying to grow without increasing overhead. Are you ready to proceed to the next level? Explore how Carte+ might transform your current fulfillment processes.
