Picking office orders
Breakpack and Each-Level Picking for Office Consumables
Updated October 2026
A typical office order is a few pens, a toner cartridge and some paper. We open sealed cases to ship single units, scan every unit before it goes in the box, and keep counts right at every pack size.
Breakpack picking is opening a sealed case so an order can ship as single units (eaches) or inner-packs. With each-level picking, every unit is checked by a barcode scan before it is packed. We track a SKU's stock at every pack size from one unit up to a pallet, and the scan catches a look-alike item picked by mistake.
By The Fulfillment.com team
How offices buy
Office orders come a few units at a time
When a contract account restocks a department, it might order a dozen pens, one toner cartridge and three reams of paper. Nobody wants a case of each. So the warehouse stores inventory by the case and the pallet, which uses the space well, and opens a case when an order needs single units. A 3PL that can only pick whole cases can't serve office buyers at all.
The second problem is that many office products look almost the same. Pick loose units by eye and sooner or later the wrong one ends up in a box. That's why we scan the barcode on each unit as it's picked.
Step by step
From a sealed case to a scanned single unit
Opening the case is the easy part. The system also has to record what came out of it, and each unit picked has to be confirmed by a scan.
1. One SKU, four pack sizes
We receive and track every SKU at four levels:
- the single unit, or each
- the inner-pack
- the case
- the pallet
The record also says how they nest: how many units fit in an inner-pack, how many inner-packs in a case and how many cases on a pallet. With that on file, one pool of stock on one shelf can fill a single-unit online order, a breakpack of inner-packs and a full case. You don't end up with separate stock for single units and for cases that someone has to reconcile.
2. Opening a case for the order
Say an order needs single units and only full cases are on hand. We open a case and move the loose units to the breakpack pick location. The system takes the count down at the right level. If we open a case to ship four pens, the rest of that case stays on the books and nothing gets lost in a half-counted box. The units inside stay exactly as they arrived.
3. A scan on every unit
Before a unit is packed, we scan its barcode and match it to the order line. That confirms the exact SKU, which is the only reliable way to catch a toner model one digit off, a black pen on an order for blue, or 20-pound paper where the order said 24. The scan is part of every pick, not an optional check at the end.
4. Counts that stay right between cycle counts
Every case we open and every unit we pick comes off the count at the right pack size, so stock figures stay accurate at every level between cycle counts. Without that, a busy breakpack operation would drift. The system knows how many loose units came out of which case, so a contract account's reorder is filled from a real, current count instead of an estimate.
Look-alike products
Office products that are easy to mix up
These are the items in an office catalog that make a scan on each unit worth doing.
- Toner and ink models. One printer line can have a dozen cartridge SKUs, and their boxes differ only by a model digit and a yield suffix. The wrong cartridge won't fit the customer's printer, so a mis-pick usually comes back as a return. Model numbers get a page of their own in toner and ink cartridge fulfillment.
- Pen colors and tip sizes. Pens on a shelf may differ only in ink color and point width, often in identical barrels. The scan on each unit is what stops a fine-point black from shipping on an order for medium blue.
- Paper weights and grades. Stacked reams of 20-pound and 24-pound paper look the same, and so do 92-bright and 96-bright. When we open a case to ship a few reams, the scan settles which grade goes in the box. Paper is also cheap and heavy, which changes how it ships; paper and bulk consumable fulfillment covers that side.
Opening cases and scanning picks are part of our standard pick-and-pack service. Picks are barcode-checked on every order, whether it is a direct sale, a marketplace order or a contract restock.
Why it matters
What a wrong office pick costs you
A customer rarely spots a wrong office item until they open the box. By then you are paying for a return and a re-ship. On a contract account that reorders every month, you also lose some of their trust. A scan on each unit moves that check to the shelf, before the box is sealed.
Every pack size of every SKU has its own count in BestOMS, with Deposco behind it. Dropstream connects your store, marketplaces and contract accounts, and their orders all draw on those counts. If you split stock between our warehouses, the network covers 99.77% of the US in 1-3 day ground.
Breakpack and each-level picking FAQs
What is breakpack and each-level picking for office consumables?
Breakpack means we open a sealed case so an order can go out as single units or inner-packs. Each-level picking means every one of those units gets a barcode scan as it is picked. One SKU's stock is tracked at every pack size, from a single unit up to a pallet. That way a contract account can order one pen, a breakpack of twelve or a full case, and the scan confirms each unit is the one ordered, which is there to catch the look-alike mix-ups office consumables invite.
Why does every office item get its own barcode scan?
So many office products look alike that picking by eye will sooner or later send the wrong one. Toner boxes can differ by a single digit, pen colors and tip sizes look the same across a row of bins, and two paper weights or brightness grades are hard to tell apart. Scanning the barcode on each unit confirms the exact SKU before it goes in the box. That's why the scan is the core of an office pick, not an extra step, and every office pick we do includes it.
How accurate is your picking when you open a case?
We can show you how the check works. Every unit we pick from an opened case is scanned and matched to the order before it's packed. When you compare accuracy figures from different 3PLs, ask how each one is measured. Is it per order or per unit, and over what period? A rate tells you little until you know what it counts.
How do you keep counts right at every pack size, from a single unit to a pallet?
The system holds how each SKU's packs nest: units per inner-pack, inner-packs per case and cases per pallet. When we open a case to fill an order for single units, it takes the count down at the right level. Stock on hand stays accurate whether the account ordered one unit or a full pallet. That pack math is what keeps a breakpack operation from drifting out of step between cycle counts.
Can one SKU ship as an each, a breakpack, and a case to different accounts?
Yes. We hold the stock once and pick it at whatever pack size the order asks for. The same SKU can go to a shopper buying direct as a single unit, to a small office as a breakpack of inner-packs, and to a contract account as a full case. All three come out of one pool of inventory, with no separate single-unit and case stock to reconcile, so a catalog that sells to businesses and to consumers runs as one operation.
Do you manufacture or repackage product when you break a case?
No. We fulfill finished, sealed office and school supplies, as a 3PL rather than a manufacturer. Opening a case just gives us the finished, sealed units packed inside it, and we don't change, refill or re-bottle them. We don't make or remanufacture anything either. When an order calls for a kit, we put finished units together in one box.
Get a price for your office catalog
Send us your SKUs, typical order sizes and volume, and we'll show you how we'd open cases and scan picks for your line. The quote is free and comes with nothing to sign.