Picker
Picker turns up in 2 fields: textiles, shop slang. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Picker in textiles
The mechanism on a loom that strikes the shuttle to drive it across the warp.
The picker is a block of leather, plastic, or rawhide located inside the shuttle box of a fly-shuttle loom. It acts as a hammer, striking the metal tip of the shuttle with immense force to propel it through the shed to the opposite side. Because it absorbs repeated high-impact blows, it is a high-wear component that requires regular adjustment and replacement.
"The loom keeps banging off because the right picker is worn down and the shuttle is flying crooked."
Picker in shop slang
A warehouse worker responsible for gathering items to fulfill orders.
An employee who navigates a warehouse or stockroom to retrieve specific goods listed on a pick ticket. They operate carts, pallet jacks, or automated retrieval systems to gather products efficiently. Their performance is heavily tracked by the number of units they can pull per hour.
"We need to hire three more pickers for the night shift to handle the holiday order volume."