IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v234y2021ics0925527321000451.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A method for efficiently routing order pickers in the leaf warehouse

Author

Listed:
  • Masae, Makusee
  • Glock, Christoph H.
  • Vichitkunakorn, Panupong

Abstract

Warehouse order picking is a critical operation for every supply chain because of its direct influence on customer satisfaction and the high time investment that is usually required for completing it. Hence, improving order picking efficiency can enhance both customer satisfaction and warehouse throughput. The most critical step in order picking is the travelling along the aisles of the warehouse, which accounts for a major share of the total warehouse operating cost. To minimize this cost for the special case of a warehouse with a leaf layout, the paper at hand proposes an efficient optimal order picker routing policy based on an Eulerian graph and a dynamic programming procedure. It further develops four simple routing heuristics, referred to as leaf S-shape, leaf return, leaf midpoint, and leaf largest gap, for guiding the order picker through the leaf warehouse. The performance of the routing heuristics is compared to the exact algorithm proposed in this paper in a systematic numerical experiment. Finally, we present some managerial insights for managing order picking in the leaf warehouse.

Suggested Citation

  • Masae, Makusee & Glock, Christoph H. & Vichitkunakorn, Panupong, 2021. "A method for efficiently routing order pickers in the leaf warehouse," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:234:y:2021:i:c:s0925527321000451
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108069
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527321000451
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108069?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fangyu Chen & Gangyan Xu & Yongchang Wei, 2019. "Heuristic routing methods in multiple-block warehouses with ultra-narrow aisles and access restriction," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 228-249, January.
    2. Grosse, E. H. & Glock, C. H. & Ballester-Ripoll, R., 2014. "A simulated annealing approach for the joint order batching and order picker routing problem with weight restrictions," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 65331, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    3. Sebastian Henn & Gerhard Wäscher, 2010. "Tabu Search Heuristics for the Order Batching Problem in Manual Order Picking Systems," FEMM Working Papers 100007, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    4. Chen, Tzu-Li & Cheng, Chen-Yang & Chen, Yin-Yann & Chan, Li-Kai, 2015. "An efficient hybrid algorithm for integrated order batching, sequencing and routing problem," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 158-167.
    5. Masae, Makusee & Glock, Christoph H. & Grosse, Eric H., 2020. "Order picker routing in warehouses: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    6. Van Nieuwenhuyse, Inneke & de Koster, René B.M., 2009. "Evaluating order throughput time in 2-block warehouses with time window batching," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 654-664, October.
    7. Gibson, David R. & Sharp, Gunter P., 1992. "Order batching procedures," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 57-67, April.
    8. Matusiak, Marek & de Koster, René & Kroon, Leo & Saarinen, Jari, 2014. "A fast simulated annealing method for batching precedence-constrained customer orders in a warehouse," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 236(3), pages 968-977.
    9. Makusee Masae & Christoph H. Glock & Panupong Vichitkunakorn, 2020. "Optimal order picker routing in a conventional warehouse with two blocks and arbitrary starting and ending points of a tour," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(17), pages 5337-5358, September.
    10. Kees Jan Roodbergen & Iris F.A. Vis & G. Don Taylor, 2015. "Simultaneous determination of warehouse layout and control policies," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 3306-3326, June.
    11. Ömer Öztürkoğlu & Kevin Gue & Russell Meller, 2012. "Optimal unit-load warehouse designs for single-command operations," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(6), pages 459-475.
    12. Pan, Jason Chao-Hsien & Shih, Po-Hsun & Wu, Ming-Hung, 2015. "Order batching in a pick-and-pass warehousing system with group genetic algorithm," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 57(PB), pages 238-248.
    13. Le-Duc, Tho & de Koster, Rene M.B.M., 2007. "Travel time estimation and order batching in a 2-block warehouse," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(1), pages 374-388, January.
    14. de Koster, Rene & Le-Duc, Tho & Roodbergen, Kees Jan, 2007. "Design and control of warehouse order picking: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(2), pages 481-501, October.
    15. Parikh, Pratik J. & Meller, Russell D., 2008. "Selecting between batch and zone order picking strategies in a distribution center," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 696-719, September.
    16. Kevin Gue & Russell Meller, 2009. "Aisle configurations for unit-load warehouses," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 171-182.
    17. Cheng, Chen-Yang & Chen, Yin-Yann & Chen, Tzu-Li & Jung-Woon Yoo, John, 2015. "Using a hybrid approach based on the particle swarm optimization and ant colony optimization to solve a joint order batching and picker routing problem," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(PC), pages 805-814.
    18. Scholz, André & Henn, Sebastian & Stuhlmann, Meike & Wäscher, Gerhard, 2016. "A new mathematical programming formulation for the Single-Picker Routing Problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 253(1), pages 68-84.
    19. M. Çelik & H. Süral, 2016. "Order picking in a parallel-aisle warehouse with turn penalties," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(14), pages 4340-4355, July.
    20. Glock, C. H. & Grosse, E. H. & Abedinnia, Hamid & Emde, Simon, 2019. "An integrated model to improve ergonomic and economic performance in order picking by rotating pallets," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 106923, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    21. Masae, Makusee & Glock, C. H. & Vichitkunakorn, Panupong, 2020. "Optimal Order Picker Routing in a Conventional Warehouse with Two Blocks and Arbitrary Starting and Ending Points of a Tour," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 118923, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    22. H. Donald Ratliff & Arnon S. Rosenthal, 1983. "Order-Picking in a Rectangular Warehouse: A Solvable Case of the Traveling Salesman Problem," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 507-521, June.
    23. Jane, Chin-Chia & Laih, Yih-Wenn, 2005. "A clustering algorithm for item assignment in a synchronized zone order picking system," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 166(2), pages 489-496, October.
    24. Glock, Christoph H. & Grosse, Eric H. & Abedinnia, Hamid & Emde, Simon, 2019. "An integrated model to improve ergonomic and economic performance in order picking by rotating pallets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(2), pages 516-534.
    25. Makusee Masae & Christoph H. Glock & Panupong Vichitkunakorn, 2020. "Optimal order picker routing in the chevron warehouse," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(6), pages 665-687, June.
    26. Yu, Mengfei & de Koster, René B.M., 2009. "The impact of order batching and picking area zoning on order picking system performance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 198(2), pages 480-490, October.
    27. Petersen, Charles G. & Aase, Gerald, 2004. "A comparison of picking, storage, and routing policies in manual order picking," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 11-19, November.
    28. Roodbergen, Kees Jan & de Koster, Rene, 2001. "Routing order pickers in a warehouse with a middle aisle," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 32-43, August.
    29. Letitia Pohl & Russell Meller & Kevin Gue, 2011. "Turnover-based storage in non-traditional unit-load warehouse designs," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(10), pages 703-720.
    30. Lu, Wenrong & McFarlane, Duncan & Giannikas, Vaggelis & Zhang, Quan, 2016. "An algorithm for dynamic order-picking in warehouse operations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 248(1), pages 107-122.
    31. Li Zhou & Zhaochan Li & Ning Shi & Shaohua Liu & Ke Xiong, 2019. "Performance Analysis of Three Intelligent Algorithms on Route Selection of Fishbone Layout," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, February.
    32. Theys, Christophe & Bräysy, Olli & Dullaert, Wout & Raa, Birger, 2010. "Using a TSP heuristic for routing order pickers in warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(3), pages 755-763, February.
    33. Fangyu Chen & Hongwei Wang & Yong Xie & Chao Qi, 2016. "An ACO-based online routing method for multiple order pickers with congestion consideration in warehouse," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 389-408, April.
    34. Öztürkoğlu, Ömer & Hoser, Deniz, 2019. "A discrete cross aisle design model for order-picking warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(2), pages 411-430.
    35. Melih Çelik & Haldun Süral, 2019. "Order picking in parallel-aisle warehouses with multiple blocks: complexity and a graph theory-based heuristic," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(3), pages 888-906, February.
    36. Zulj, I. & Glock, C. H. & Grosse, E. H. & Schneider, Michael, 2018. "Picker routing and storage-assignment strategies for precedence-constrained order picking," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 105391, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    37. Glock, C. H. & Grosse, E. H., 2012. "Storage policies and order picking strategies in U-shaped order-picking systems with a movable base," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 57442, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    38. Bortolini, Marco & Faccio, Maurizio & Gamberi, Mauro & Manzini, Riccardo, 2015. "Diagonal cross-aisles in unit load warehouses to increase handling performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(PC), pages 838-849.
    39. van Gils, Teun & Caris, An & Ramaekers, Katrien & Braekers, Kris & de Koster, René B.M., 2019. "Designing efficient order picking systems: The effect of real-life features on the relationship among planning problems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 47-73.
    40. Franzke, T. & Grosse, E. H. & Glock, C. H. & Elbert, R., 2017. "An investigation of the effects of storage assignment and picker routing on the occurrence of picker blocking in manual picker-to-parts warehouses," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 82572, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    41. Jianbin Li & Rihuan Huang & James B. Dai, 2017. "Joint optimisation of order batching and picker routing in the online retailer’s warehouse in China," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 447-461, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li Zhou & Huwei Liu & Junhui Zhao & Fan Wang & Jianglong Yang, 2022. "Performance Analysis of Picking Routing Strategies in the Leaf Layout Warehouse," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(17), pages 1-28, September.
    2. Heiko Diefenbach & Simon Emde & Christoph H. Glock & Eric H. Grosse, 2022. "New solution procedures for the order picker routing problem in U-shaped pick areas with a movable depot," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 44(2), pages 535-573, June.
    3. Atashi Khoei, Arsham & Süral, Haldun & Tural, Mustafa Kemal, 2023. "Energy minimizing order picker forklift routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(2), pages 604-626.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heiko Diefenbach & Simon Emde & Christoph H. Glock & Eric H. Grosse, 2022. "New solution procedures for the order picker routing problem in U-shaped pick areas with a movable depot," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 44(2), pages 535-573, June.
    2. Fangyu Chen & Yongchang Wei & Hongwei Wang, 2018. "A heuristic based batching and assigning method for online customer orders," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 640-685, December.
    3. van Gils, Teun & Ramaekers, Katrien & Caris, An & de Koster, René B.M., 2018. "Designing efficient order picking systems by combining planning problems: State-of-the-art classification and review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 1-15.
    4. Boysen, Nils & de Koster, René & Weidinger, Felix, 2019. "Warehousing in the e-commerce era: A survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(2), pages 396-411.
    5. Çelik, Melih & Archetti, Claudia & Süral, Haldun, 2022. "Inventory routing in a warehouse: The storage replenishment routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(3), pages 1117-1132.
    6. Li Zhou & Huwei Liu & Junhui Zhao & Fan Wang & Jianglong Yang, 2022. "Performance Analysis of Picking Routing Strategies in the Leaf Layout Warehouse," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(17), pages 1-28, September.
    7. De Santis, Roberta & Montanari, Roberto & Vignali, Giuseppe & Bottani, Eleonora, 2018. "An adapted ant colony optimization algorithm for the minimization of the travel distance of pickers in manual warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 120-137.
    8. Çağla Cergibozan & A. Serdar Tasan, 2019. "Order batching operations: an overview of classification, solution techniques, and future research," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 335-349, January.
    9. Glock, Christoph H. & Grosse, Eric H. & Abedinnia, Hamid & Emde, Simon, 2019. "An integrated model to improve ergonomic and economic performance in order picking by rotating pallets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(2), pages 516-534.
    10. Katrin Heßler & Stefan Irnich, 2023. "Exact Solution of the Single Picker Routing Problem with Scattered Storage," Working Papers 2303, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    11. Giannikas, Vaggelis & Lu, Wenrong & Robertson, Brian & McFarlane, Duncan, 2017. "An interventionist strategy for warehouse order picking: Evidence from two case studies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 63-76.
    12. Boysen, Nils & de Koster, René & Füßler, David, 2021. "The forgotten sons: Warehousing systems for brick-and-mortar retail chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(2), pages 361-381.
    13. Sandra Hahn & André Scholz, 2017. "Order Picking in Narrow-Aisle Warehouses: A Fast Approach to Minimize Waiting Times," FEMM Working Papers 170006, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    14. Ardjmand, Ehsan & Shakeri, Heman & Singh, Manjeet & Sanei Bajgiran, Omid, 2018. "Minimizing order picking makespan with multiple pickers in a wave picking warehouse," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 169-183.
    15. Laura Korbacher & Katrin Heßler & Stefan Irnich, 2023. "The Single Picker Routing Problem with Scattered Storage: Modeling and Evaluation of Routing and Storage Policies," Working Papers 2302, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    16. Fangyu Chen & Gangyan Xu & Yongchang Wei, 2019. "An Integrated Metaheuristic Routing Method for Multiple-Block Warehouses with Ultranarrow Aisles and Access Restriction," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-14, June.
    17. van Gils, Teun & Ramaekers, Katrien & Braekers, Kris & Depaire, Benoît & Caris, An, 2018. "Increasing order picking efficiency by integrating storage, batching, zone picking, and routing policy decisions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 243-261.
    18. Maria A. M. Trindade & Paulo S. A. Sousa & Maria R. A. Moreira, 2022. "Ramping up a heuristic procedure for storage location assignment problem with precedence constraints," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 646-669, September.
    19. Rajabighamchi, Farzaneh & van Hoesel, Stan & Defryn, Christof, 2023. "Graph reduction for the planar Travelling Salesman Problem," Research Memorandum 004, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    20. Yang, Peng & Zhao, Zhijie & Guo, Huijie, 2020. "Order batch picking optimization under different storage scenarios for e-commerce warehouses," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:234:y:2021:i:c:s0925527321000451. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.