Abstract
In this paper, we are interested in several interrelated control issues for a 'pick to order' (or, 'strict' order picking) picking line which stores N = nk types of products in n bins, each with k shelves. To fill each order, a container is transported past the various locations containing products, and the appropriate quantity of each product is removed from its respective storage location and put into the order container using an 'out and back' picking strategy. Each of several pickers is assigned a set or 'zone' of products. We are interested in the concurrent problems of. (1) product location, (2) picker home base location, and (3) allocating products to each picker so that the expected order cycle time is minimized. We provide easily implemented algorithms to solve these problems and are able to show that the results apply for several alternate picking strategies. For fixed product locations, we develop an efficient dynamic programming algorithm which determines the optimal product allocation and server locations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 623-636 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Computers and Operations Research |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 Apr |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The authors would like to thank an anonymous referee for helpful comments.
Keywords
- Order picking
- Product location
- Server location
- Warehousing
- Zoning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Computer Science
- Modelling and Simulation
- Management Science and Operations Research