Pick and Pack Staffing Calculator
How many people a day's orders take to pick and pack, from lines per order, seconds per line and an honest productive share of the shift.
Picking time scales with lines, packing time with orders.
How the pick and pack staffing calculator works
Picking time scales with lines, packing time with orders. Add the two, allow for the part of a shift that is not picking or packing — breaks, replenishment, questions — and divide by the shift length. The number of people is rounded up, because a fraction of a person is a queue.
The utilisation row shows how full that rounded-up team is; a figure near 100% leaves nothing for a peak day.
Formula: labour hours = (orders × lines × pick seconds + orders × pack seconds) ÷ 3,600 ÷ productive share; staff = ⌈labour hours ÷ shift⌉
Worked examples
| Inputs | People needed | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-sized fulfilment centre | 10 per shift | 37.5 h picking + 30 h packing → 79.41 h → 10 people |
| Small shop | 2 per shift | 4.5 h + 5 h → 11.88 h → 2 people |
| Peak day | 25 per shift | 198.53 h → 25 people |
FAQFrequently asked questions
How do I measure seconds per line?
Time a sample of picks from the moment a picker leaves the last location to the moment the item is in the tote, including walking. A wave of single-line orders and a wave of ten-line orders give different figures; use the average for a normal day.
What productive share should I assume?
Between 75% and 90% is typical once breaks, tote changes, replenishment interruptions and questions are counted. Measuring it from a week of scans is better than guessing; the figure moves the headcount directly.
Why round up rather than to the nearest?
A team of 9.9 people is nine people and an hour of orders nobody picks. Rounding up keeps the day inside the shift; the utilisation row shows how much of the extra person is actually used.
How do I plan for peaks?
Enter the peak day's orders rather than the average and compare the two headcounts; the difference is what temporary staff, overtime or a second shift must cover. A team sized to the average with utilisation above 95% has no room for the peak.
Where these figures come from
- APICS / ASCM — inventory management terminology — the turnover, safety stock and reorder point definitions used here
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission — the Australian consumer law regulator
Last checked: September 2026. These are standard retail and inventory-management definitions.