Patent ID: 7974891

Claim:
A method, comprising: selecting a receptacle containing a plurality of items for processing at a station of a materials handling facility in response to receiving an order for one or more of the plurality of items, wherein the plurality of items includes two or more heterogeneous items, wherein the location of the one or more of the plurality of items within the receptacle is not known at said selecting, and wherein the receptacle is selected without processing the individual items in the receptacle; receiving the receptacle containing the plurality of items at the station, wherein the station is configured to process items specified by orders, and wherein a portion of the plurality of items in the receptacle are for one or more current orders; and at the direction of a control system of the materials handling facility, separating the items from the receptacle specified by the one or more current orders from one or more items from the receptacle that are overage items not specified by the one or more current orders.