Systems and methods for processing packaged goods in the nature of cigarettes

A materials handling system for processing packaged tobacco products, wherein the system comprises:

• a picking area where individual packages of tobacco products are, based on a sequence reflected in a collection of picking instructions provided via picking instruction output, picked and placed onto a transport mechanism, wherein the transport mechanism precedes a stamp machine in a routing of the individual packages of tobacco products through the materials handling system, the stamp machine being configured to physically apply an identifier to the individual packages of tobacco products;
• and
• a batch handling software component configured to:
• determine available electronic tobacco product orders and individual components of the available electronic tobacco product orders;
• merge, by a batching process, the components of the available tobacco product orders into a batch to be included within the sequence reflected in the collection of picking instructions,
• wherein the batch includes a listing of individual packages of tobacco products from the available electronic tobacco product orders, the listing being organized in a sequence that blends the individual components of multiple orders together such that the tobacco product orders in the batch are not completely picked consecutively from one order to the next;
• and
• wherein the picking instruction output is a dynamically provided paperless electronic instruction output.