Use Operations > Fulfillment > Pick Lists when you want to direct staff to the right bins in the right order before packing. A single-order pick list covers one order and is worked line by line on the screen. A wave groups many orders so one trip picks for all of them. Pick lists are an optional aid: picking does not gate packing, and a package can be packed and fulfilled without one.
Before You Start
- Permissions: opening the list and a pick list needs View Fulfillment. The server asks for more on the actions: creating a single-order pick list, marking lines picked or short, completing it and starting a wave’s picking need Pack Orders; building a wave, releasing it and closing it need Build Pick Waves; searching orders in New pick list needs View Orders. The buttons show either way, and Arcus refuses the action without the permission.
- Location: the list follows the location picked in the header. A single-order pick list shows at the location of its order, and waves and orders without a location show everywhere.
- Bins: a pick line names the bin to pick from when the product is stocked in a bin. How Arcus treats a product with no bin depends on Track inventory by warehouse bin at Settings > Shipping & Fulfillment > Warehouse. See Bin Setup.
- Orders: a pick list can only be built for a sales order that still has unfulfilled lines.
- Search for Pick Lists in the command palette.
- Build pick list from these orders on the Fulfillment Station opens Build a wave pick list with the visible products filled in.
- The older Wave Pick and Pick List Builder addresses open this screen, and the older batch pack address for a pick list opens that pick list.
Read the List
The list has three cards above it.- Active pick lists: pick lists that are open or in progress.
- Items to pick: lines still waiting across the active lists.
- Oldest active: the age in days of the longest-waiting active list. It turns red at three days or more.
Create a Single-Order Pick List
- Select New pick list.
- In Create Pick List, search Order by number. The search lists unfulfilled orders and needs at least two characters. Choose one; the dialog confirms “Selected (order). Generating this order’s pick list.”
- Optionally choose Assign to a team member.
- Select Generate Pick List.
Build a Wave
- Select Build wave (or open it from the Fulfillment Station).
- In Build a wave pick list, enter a Wave name. It starts as the current date and time.
- Choose a Strategy:
- By location: orders shipping from your header location.
- By carrier: orders whose default shipping method contains the carrier you pick or type.
- Same SKU: orders containing the SKU you enter.
- Custom (pick products): orders containing any of the products you add. Remove a product with the X beside it.
- Set the Order status filter (Unfulfilled, Partially fulfilled or Ready to pack) and Max orders (1 to 500, default 50).
- Optionally choose Assign to.
- Check the Preview. It lists up to 50 orders with account, carrier and open quantity, and says “Showing first 50 of (n); the wave includes all up to your Max Orders cap.” when there are more.
- Select Create wave.
Work a Single-Order Pick List
The top shows how many lines are picked, how many are short, and a progress bar. Each line shows the product, part number, bin (with zone and aisle when set), the quantity to pick and any note. Lines come in pick-path order.- Walk to the bin shown. A line with no bin shows No bin, a link to the product’s bin locations where someone can assign one.
- Select the circle at the left of the line to mark it fully picked.
- If you cannot pick the full quantity, select Short. In Mark item as short, choose a Reason (Out of stock at bin, Damaged unit(s), Cannot locate item, Bin holds wrong SKU, or Other (specify below)), enter the Quantity actually picked (0 means unavailable), add Notes, and select Confirm short. Other requires a note. Arcus confirms “Marked short: picked (n)”, or “Marked unavailable” when you picked 0.
- When every line is picked or short, Complete Pick appears. With shortages it reads Close with (n) short. Select it to finish; Arcus shows “Pick list completed.” and returns to the list.
Work a Wave
A wave moves through four steps shown in a status board: Draft, Released, Picking and Complete.- Release wave moves a draft to released and says “Wave released. Pickers can start.” Hovering the disabled button says “Already (status).”
- Start picking (it reads Picking in progress once started) marks it as being picked and says “Wave marked as in-picking.” Before release it says “Release the wave first.”
- Mark complete closes the wave and says “Wave closed.” It is disabled for a draft (“Release the wave first.”) and for a complete wave (“Already complete.”).
Statuses
The Open tab holds pending and draft lists. In progress holds released and picking waves. Completed holds completed pick lists and complete waves.
What Picking Changes
- Stock and the ledger: picking posts nothing to the ledger and does not change on-hand stock. Stock leaves inventory when the package is fulfilled on the Fulfillment Station.
- Bin counts: marking a line picked reduces the quantity recorded in that bin by the quantity you picked.
- Short picks: a short line raises the order line’s pending backorder to the shortfall (it never lowers one that is already larger) and, for a new backorder, emails the customer a backorder notice unless that notice is turned off. The short is logged as a pick variance in the activity log and shows on the order’s history, so purchasing can follow up.
- Activity and refresh: creating, releasing, starting and closing a wave, and every pick action, are recorded in the activity log. Everyone with the list open sees changes without reloading.
Messages You May See
Related Articles
Fulfillment Station
Operations > Fulfillment > Fulfillment Station: pack, label and fulfill the picked work.
Wave Picking
How waves group orders and hand them to batch packing.
Batch Packing
Use wave order cards to finish package work.
Bin Setup
Create bins and understand how stock reaches them.
Bin Locations
Assign a product to a bin so pick lines name where to go.
Email Configuration
Settings > Documents & Email > Email Configuration: turn the backorder notice on or off.

