Pick rate conspiracy

I recently found out that the best pickers at our facility are almost always placed on the two stations next to the bathroom.

By chance, I was placed on one of these stations today for a few hours and I immediately noticed how much better my pick rate was. It was back to back 9 quantity picks. I ended up being first in the building the majority of the time I was on station. I’m usually only an average picker. Not only that, but all of the picks were at chest height, so I never had to bend down for stuff on the bottom. Also, basically all of them went in the first or second tote, so I barely had to move.

As soon as I got moved, it went back to single unit picks and tons of picks at the bottom that I had to keep squatting down for. Constantly having to put stuff in the fifth tote. Rate went back to normal.

My theory is that the best pickers get the best stations with the best pods in order to keep their rates high. I typically pick around 300 but at this magic station I was nearing 600.

I was even chatting with the top picker they put there after me and he said he gets quantity picks all the time, boosting his rate.