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A Comparison of Three Popular Routing Policies for Lift‐truck Order Picking

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  • Vitaly Brazhkin
  • William J. Rose

Abstract

This study addresses order‐picking routing optimization in a wide aisle of a mechanized warehouse. Efficiencies of the three popular heuristic policies (return, traversal, and Z‐pick) are compared for different pick densities. A modified Z‐pick policy with a flexible string length is proposed to increase its efficiency and accommodate lift‐truck movement. The simulation‐based results show that all three policies are not significantly different in the pick density region of 10–15 percent. The traversal policy performs better at pick densities below the region of indifference, while the return policy outperforms the others at higher pick densities. However, the Z‐pick provides a viable universal alternative across all tested pick densities.

Suggested Citation

  • Vitaly Brazhkin & William J. Rose, 2023. "A Comparison of Three Popular Routing Policies for Lift‐truck Order Picking," Transportation Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(1), pages 79-99, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:transj:v:62:y:2023:i:1:p:79-99
    DOI: 10.5325/transportationj.62.1.0079
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vitaly Brazhkin, 2018. "Outside the Box Warehousing: When Thinking of Inputs as Outputs Makes Sense," Transportation Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(2), pages 219-232, April.
    2. 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).
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    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Fleming, Christopher L. & Griffis, Stanley E. & Bell, John E., 2013. "The effects of triangle inequality on the vehicle routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 224(1), pages 1-7.
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    8. R G Sargent, 2013. "Verification and validation of simulation models," Journal of Simulation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 12-24, February.
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