Method for order preparation

A method for preparing an order by means of at least one motorized vehicle moving between a storage area and a transit zone, the method comprising:

• a. Associating the vehicle, located in an initial position in the transit zone, with a container to be collected in the storage area, the container being arranged inside a collection cell among a plurality of cells of the storage area;
• according to a first possibility, the method comprising the steps of:
• bi. Moving the vehicle across the floor in the transit zone at least in a first horizontal direction so as to align the vehicle, in a second horizontal direction, with a passageway of the storage area;
• ci. Making at least one change of direction;
• di. Moving the vehicle across the floor in at least one passageway in the second horizontal direction until the vehicle is located in an aisle of the storage area, preferably an aisle which serves a rack where the collection cell is located;
• according to a second possibility, the method comprising the steps of:
• bii. Moving the vehicle across the floor in at least one passageway in the second horizontal direction until the vehicle is located in an aisle of the storage area, preferably the aisle which serves a rack where the collection cell is located;
• cii. Making at least one change of direction;
• dii. Moving the vehicle across the floor in the aisle of the storage area in the first horizontal direction so as to align the vehicle, in the second horizontal direction, with the collection cell;
• the method further comprising the steps of:
• e. Moving the vehicle in a vertical direction until the vehicle is vertically located at the level of the collection cell;
• f. Loading onto the vehicle the container held in the collection cell, by means of gripping means of the vehicle;
• g. Moving the vehicle in the vertical direction until the vehicle is at floor level;
• and wherein:
• the vehicle is configured to move freely across the floor, the floor having no rails for guidance in the two perpendicular directions,
• the orientation of the vehicle remains fixed during its movement across the floor in the transit zone and in the storage area during steps bi, bii, di, and dii, including during the change of direction made in steps ci and cii, and preferably during steps e and g.