Pick & Pack Orders with Missions
How to Pick and Pack Orders in ShipSidekick
ShipSidekick is designed to optimistically find the best carrier and rate for every order, and allow you to process shipments individually or in efficient batches. This guide walks through the end-to-end pick and pack workflow — from initial setup through shipping.
Before You Start: Setup for Automation
Before processing orders, configure these three areas so the system can automatically handle packaging selection, carrier selection, and rate shopping.
Product Weights
Enter accurate weights for all of your products. This allows the system to calculate package weights automatically as orders come in.
Packaging Weights
Add weights to your packaging profiles — a few ounces for poly bags, appropriate weights for your boxes. When combined with product weights, the system will know what every shipment weighs before it reaches the packing station.
Automation Rules
Set up packaging automation rules to assign the correct packaging to orders as they arrive. Rules can be as simple as "push everything to a medium bag" or as complex as you need — using item quantity thresholds, SKU presence or absence, and other conditions.
Shipping Configuration
Configure your carriers with all available shipping methods and service levels. For example, you might create an "Express" shipping method that rate-shops between two-day air and priority services. With product weights, packaging, and shipping configuration all working together, the system will know how every order needs to be handled — making day-to-day operations smooth once the initial setup is complete.
Understanding Missions
Missions are how ShipSidekick organizes your orders into efficient, processable batches. When you navigate to the Missions page and generate missions, the system automatically groups your orders.
Singles
Orders containing just one of a single SKU. These are the easiest to batch and process — often you can ship them without even running a formal pick process.
Mixed
Orders containing multiple items or multiple SKUs. These typically require a pick-to-tote workflow using the scanner.
Mission Options
You can customize how missions are generated:
Group by Carrier — Keeps carriers separated so you don't have to sort labels after printing. Recommended for singles (e.g., process your USPS batch, then your UPS batch). For mixed orders, you may want to turn this off since you'll handle them individually at the packing station.
Group by International — Separates domestic and international orders. Can be turned off for mixed missions if preferred.
Maximum Orders per Mission — Set this to match your number of available totes, especially for mixed missions (e.g., 12 totes = max of 12 orders per mission).
Pick Type — For mixed missions, this is typically set to "Order to Tote," meaning each order is picked into its own tote.
Processing Singles: Batch Ship Workflow
Singles are your fastest, most efficient batch type. As your operation grows, aim to get more orders chunked into these batch workflows.
Step 1: Generate Missions
Go to the Missions page and click Generate. The system will slice your singles out from your mixed orders automatically.
Step 2: Review the Mission (Optional)
Click into the singles mission to review details. You'll see cost estimates, selected services, and assigned packaging for each order. You can change the packaging for the entire mission from this page if the automation rules didn't select the right option.
Step 3: Print a Picklist (Optional)
If your team needs a picklist, click into the mission and generate one. It will show product locations in the warehouse. For low-SKU-count operations where associates know the products well, you may be able to skip this step entirely — especially if high-velocity singles are already staged near the shipping station.
Step 4: Batch Ship
Click Batch Ship directly from the missions page. You don't need to dive into the mission detail to do this.
Step 5: Print Labels
After batch shipping, choose your print option:
Summary slip + labels — A single summary sheet listing all orders, plus the shipping labels.
Packing slip with every label — Individual packing slips paired with each label.
Labels only — Just the shipping labels.
That's it for singles. You can potentially process an entire singles batch without ever leaving the missions page.
Processing Mixed Orders: Pick-to-Tote Workflow
Mixed orders require a pick process to gather multiple items per order. The recommended approach is to use the scanner for a pick-to-tote workflow, then pack out each tote at the shipping station.
Step 1: Generate Missions
Go to the Missions page and click Generate. Your mixed orders will be grouped into missions based on your mission settings.
Step 2: Open the Scanner
Switch to Scanner Mode on your device (this can be a separate device or the same one). Select Order to Tote — this will load the mixed mission you just generated. The system will tell you how many totes you'll need (e.g., "4 tasks" = 4 totes), helping you select the right cart.
Step 3: Pick Items to Totes
The scanner will walk you through each pick step by step:
Move to the location — The screen displays the warehouse location (e.g., A1-B3).
Scan the location barcode — Confirms you're at the right spot.
Scan the product barcode — Confirms you have the right item. The screen shows the product name and quantity to pick.
Pick the quantity — Grab the number of items displayed.
Scan the tote — Scan the tote barcode on your cart where you're placing the items. For the first pick of each order, you'll scan a new empty tote. For subsequent picks on the same order, the system will tell you which tote to place the item in.
Repeat — The scanner advances to the next pick automatically.
Helpful buttons during the pick process:
Reassign — Choose a different pick location for the item.
No Product — If the location is empty, the system will attempt to find an alternate location. If it can't, it will remove the order from the batch and move it to unallocated.
Step 4: Complete the Pick Wave
Continue scanning through all picks until the scanner indicates the mission is complete. Each order's items will now be grouped in their assigned tote.
Step 5: Review the Mission (Optional)
Back on the Missions page, you can click into the completed mission and view Pick Mode to see which tote each order was assigned to (e.g., Order 1036 → Tote 001, Order 1037 → Tote 002). If needed, you can unpick individual orders to triage issues, put picks back, or refresh an order.
Packing and Shipping at the Station
Once your cart is at the shipping station, you'll scan each tote to pack out and ship the orders.
Step 1: Open the Scan Page
On the shipping station, open the Scan Page and set it to Tote Mode.
Step 2: Scan a Tote
Scan the tote barcode (e.g., Tote 001). This pulls up the associated order and launches the pack-out process.
Step 3: Review and Adjust (If Needed)
The system will display the automatically selected rate and packaging. Before packing, you can make adjustments:
Change packaging — Select a different package if the auto-selected option isn't right. This triggers a new rate shop automatically.
Adjust weight — Enter the weight manually or trigger a connected scale (if configured with PrintNode).
Change shipping service — Override the auto-selected carrier or service level.
Step 4: Pack Out the Order
Scan each item in the tote (or click them on screen) to confirm they're packed. When the last item is packed, the system automatically ships the order and sends the label to your printer.
Step 5: Repeat
After a successful shipment, the system returns you to the scan page. Scan the next tote and continue until all totes are packed and shipped.
Quick Reference: Choosing Your Workflow
Order Type Recommended Workflow When to Use Singles Batch ship from Missions page Orders with one of a single SKU Mixed Pick-to-tote → Pack at shipping station Orders with multiple items/SKUs Individual Pack out from the order page One-off orders or exceptions
Tips for Efficiency
Stage high-velocity singles near the shipping station. If your most common single-SKU items are nearby, you can skip the pick process entirely and batch ship straight from the missions page.
Match your mission size to your tote count. Set the maximum orders per mission to the number of totes on your cart to avoid overflows.
Use carrier grouping strategically. Turn it on for singles so you don't have to sort labels. Turn it off for mixed so all your picks are consolidated into one wave.
Lean into automation rules. The more accurately your packaging rules, product weights, and carrier settings are configured, the less manual adjustment you'll need at the packing station. Large-scale customers use these automations to push tens of thousands of orders per day.