Order fulfillment is changing. It’s becoming faster, smarter, and more efficient.
Part of this is the move from a conventional person-to-goods model to the time and money-saving modern alternative: goods-to-person. Manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and distribution sectors are all making the transition. In this guide, the experts at BoxLogix will explain why, looking at the goods-to-person system value and the distinct benefits it delivers.
A goods-to-person (or G2P) system is an order fulfillment system that transports products to people, not the other way around.
So, instead of having warehouse workers trudging around the warehouse space, wasting hours of their time, they can mostly stand in place and get products sent right to their station. Because this system transforms the entire dynamic of warehouse operations, it is rising in popularity. Warehouses and distribution centers worldwide are choosing to elevate their logistics with a high-quality goods-to-person system.
Goods-to-person solutions are built on technology. They typically involve autonomous mobile robots that scour the warehouse environment to track down products and deliver them to workers, as well as fixed robotic systems, such as Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, which pull and deliver relevant items on trays or in totes to workers.
Powering all of these goods-to-person technologies is advanced software that can often integrate with or replace existing warehouse management systems. The software integrates with robots and other devices on the warehouse floor to gather data and provide instructions to facilitate the fast, fluid movement of products from point A to point B.
There’s no singular, fixed way that all G2P systems work, since they can vary quite a lot from warehouse to warehouse.
With that said, they do tend to follow a familiar format and comprise the same core components, like an entry point, where products/orders first enter the system, storage locations where orders are stored, and robots/conveyor systems that move them about. There are also exit points where the products leave the storage and sorting area, plus picking stations where human workers collect them.
A usual workflow goes like this:
We can divide goods-to-person systems into different categories or groups based on the technologies they use and their general ways of working.
Two common categories are “racks to person” systems and “tote to person” systems. A racks-to-person system uses robots that are low to the ground but able to support large amounts of weight. They go underneath entire shelves’ worth of goods and lift the whole shelving unit, or rack, and transport it to a picking station. Tote-to-person methods mainly use autonomous mobile robots to deliver individual product totes.
There are other sorts of G2P, too, like grids and carousels. Grids involve high-density storage racks/shelves arranged in grid systems, with robots navigating the aisles to find items swiftly. Carousels, as you can imagine, use revolving carousels that store items in vertical space on shelves that can then move around to transport goods to picking spots.
When you compare G2P to more conventional order fulfillment methods, like person-to-goods (or P2G), it’s faster, smarter, and just more efficient overall.
Some of the benefits are obvious, like the fact that workers don’t have to spend anywhere near as much time or physical effort getting around warehouses and moving orders manually. Others are a bit more “hidden,” so to speak, but still help improve warehouse operations a great deal.
These are the top benefits of a goods-to-person order fulfillment system:
G2P is the future of order fulfillment, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have any downsides or that it doesn’t present challenges of its own that need resolving. There can be issues adopting or transitioning to G2P, like:
While these challenges are worth considering, they are by no means insurmountable. Many facilities that adopt G2P find that the long-term gains in speed, accuracy, and labor savings quickly outweigh the initial hurdles. With the right planning and expert integration, the transition can be smooth and highly rewarding.
In fact, companies that take the step toward G2P today are often the ones best positioned to compete and grow tomorrow.
P2G fulfillment sits at the other end of the order fulfillment spectrum from G2P. It’s an older, more conventional approach. It was also, for a long time, more or less the only approach that existed, because the technology for anything different or more advanced (such as G2P) did not exist.
With P2G, it’s the people, the warehouse workers themselves, who do a lot of the moving around. They walk the warehouse aisles, find items on racks and shelves, and move themselves. This method is not only slower, but it’s less efficient, less cost-effective, and more error-prone than G2P.
G2P has proven effective in numerous industries, but tends to work best in those that involve large amounts of orders and heavy warehouse traffic, or those that rely on speed and precision for fulfilling orders and keeping customers satisfied. Major examples include the e-commerce and retail space, as well as pharmaceuticals, grocery and food distribution, and third-party logistics (3PL).
The future of G2P is bright because the technologies that power this model are only getting faster and smarter. As the technology improves, this means of fulfilling orders will get better, too, which means that customers will get their orders more quickly, workers will find their day-to-day duties easier, and warehouses will become safer and more efficient places.
G2P fulfillment isn’t just for the future. It’s becoming a bigger and bigger part of the present in logistics and distribution, and if your warehouse or facility is still struggling with a more conventional people-to-goods model, maybe it’s time to make the change.
Contact the BoxLogix team today to learn more about how you can make the most of G2P.
A goods-to-person (G2P) system is an automated order fulfillment approach where products are brought directly to workers, rather than workers walking through the warehouse to retrieve items. This saves time, reduces physical strain, and boosts efficiency across warehouse operations.
In a person-to-goods model, workers travel through aisles to pick items, which is slower and more labor-intensive. G2P flips that model by using automation and robotics to deliver products to picking stations, resulting in faster, more accurate, and more efficient fulfillment.
G2P systems rely on tools like autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), carousels, and grid-based solutions. These are all powered by advanced software that integrates with warehouse systems to coordinate movement and keep operations seamless.
G2P is most beneficial for high-volume facilities where speed and accuracy are critical. Smaller warehouses can implement G2P, but the investment may not deliver the same level of cost efficiency unless order volumes and growth projections justify it.
Costs vary widely depending on the size of the warehouse, the technology selected, and the level of integration needed. While the upfront investment can be significant, many organizations find the long-term savings in labor, accuracy, and throughput make it well worth it.
Yes, most modern G2P systems are designed to integrate with warehouse management systems (WMS) or even replace them with more advanced software. This integration ensures smooth communication between robots, software, and workers for efficient fulfillment.