IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mag/wpaper/110011.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Metaheuristics for Order Batching and Sequencing in Manual Order Picking Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastian Henn

    (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg)

  • Verena Schmid

    (Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics, Universität Wien)

Abstract

Order picking deals with the retrieval of articles from their storage locations in order to satisfy customer requests. A major issue in manual order picking systems concerns of the transformation and consolidation of customer orders into picking orders (order batching). In practice, customer orders have to be completed by certain due dates in order to avoid delay in the shipment to customers or in production. The composition of the picking orders, their processing times and the sequence according to which they are released have a significant impact on whether and to which extent given due dates are violated. This paper presents how metaheuristics can be used in order to minimize the total tardiness for a given set of customer orders. The first heuristic is based on Iterated Local Search, the second one is inspired by the Attribute-Based Hill Climber, a heuristic based on a simple tabu search principle. In a series of extensive numerical experiments, the performance of these metaheuristics is analyzed for different classes of instances. We will show that the proposed methods provide solutions which may allow for operating order picking systems more efficiently. Solutions can be improved by 46% on average, compared to the ones obtained by standard constructive heuristics such as an application of the Earliest Due Date rule.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Henn & Verena Schmid, 2011. "Metaheuristics for Order Batching and Sequencing in Manual Order Picking Systems," FEMM Working Papers 110011, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
  • Handle: RePEc:mag:wpaper:110011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.fww.ovgu.de/fww_media/femm/femm_2011/2011_11.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2011
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Derigs, U. & Kaiser, R., 2007. "Applying the attribute based hill climber heuristic to the vehicle routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(2), pages 719-732, March.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. U Derigs & K Reuter, 2009. "A simple and efficient tabu search heuristic for solving the open vehicle routing problem," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(12), pages 1658-1669, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Sebastian Henn & Sören Koch & Karl Doerner & Christine Strauss & Gerhard Wäscher, 2009. "Metaheuristics for the Order Batching Problem in Manual Order Picking Systems," FEMM Working Papers 09020, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    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. 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.
    2. Sebastian Henn, 2012. "Variable Neighborhood Search for the Order Batching and Sequencing Problem with Multiple Pickers," FEMM Working Papers 120004, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    3. 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.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Henn, Sebastian & Wäscher, Gerhard, 2012. "Tabu search heuristics for the order batching problem in manual order picking systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(3), pages 484-494.
    4. A. Scholz & G. Wäscher, 2017. "Order Batching and Picker Routing in manual order picking systems: the benefits of integrated routing," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 25(2), pages 491-520, June.
    5. 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.
    6. Sebastian Henn, 2012. "Variable Neighborhood Search for the Order Batching and Sequencing Problem with Multiple Pickers," FEMM Working Papers 120004, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    7. 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).
    8. Gerhard Wäscher & André Scholz, 2015. "A Solution Approach for the Joint Order Batching and Picker Routing Problem in a Two-Block Layout," FEMM Working Papers 150004, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    9. 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.
    10. Anderson Rogério Faia Pinto & Marcelo Seido Nagano, 2020. "Genetic algorithms applied to integration and optimization of billing and picking processes," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 641-659, March.
    11. Sergio Gil-Borrás & Eduardo G. Pardo & Antonio Alonso-Ayuso & Abraham Duarte, 2020. "GRASP with Variable Neighborhood Descent for the online order batching problem," Journal of Global Optimization, Springer, vol. 78(2), pages 295-325, October.
    12. 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.
    13. Grzegorz Tarczyński, 2023. "Linear programming models for optimal workload and batching in pick-and-pass warehousing systems," Operations Research and Decisions, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 33(3), pages 141-158.
    14. Soondo Hong & Andrew L. Johnson & Brett A. Peters, 2016. "Order batching in a bucket brigade order picking system considering picker blocking," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 425-441, September.
    15. 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.
    16. Sören Koch & Gerhard Wäscher, 2016. "A grouping genetic algorithm for the Order Batching Problem in distribution warehouses," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 86(1), pages 131-153, January.
    17. Sören Koch & Gerhard Wäscher, 2011. "A Grouping Genetic Algorithm for the Order Batching Problem in Distribution Warehouses," FEMM Working Papers 110026, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    18. Nicolas, Lenoble & Yannick, Frein & Ramzi, Hammami, 2018. "Order batching in an automated warehouse with several vertical lift modules: Optimization and experiments with real data," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(3), pages 958-976.
    19. AERTS, Babiche & CORNELISSENS, Trijntje & SÖRENSEN, Kenneth, 2020. "Solving the joint order batching and picker routing problem, as a clustered vehicle routing problem," Working Papers 2020003, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Warehouse Management; Order Batching; Batch Sequencing; Due Dates; Iterated Local Search; Attribute-Based Hill Climber;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:mag:wpaper:110011. 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: Guido Henkel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwmagde.html .

    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.