A note on the complexity of the picker routing problem in multi-block warehouses and related problems

Thibault Prunet (), Nabil Absi () and Diego Cattaruzza ()
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Thibault Prunet: Mines Saint-Etienne, Univ. Clermont Auvergne, INP Clermont Auvergne, CNRS UMR 6158 LIMOS
Nabil Absi: Mines Saint-Etienne, Univ. Clermont Auvergne, INP Clermont Auvergne, CNRS UMR 6158 LIMOS
Diego Cattaruzza: University Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, Inria, UMR 9189

Annals of Operations Research, 2025, vol. 347, issue 3, No 15, 1595-1605

Abstract: Abstract The Picker Routing Problem (PRP), which consists of finding a minimum-length tour between a set of storage locations in a warehouse, is one of the most important problems in the warehousing logistics literature. Despite its popularity, the tractability of the PRP in multi-block warehouses remains an open question. This technical note aims to fill this research gap by establishing that the problem is strongly NP-hard. As a corollary, the complexity status of other related problems is settled.

Keywords: Picker routing; Order picking; Complexity; Intractability; NP-hard (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10479-025-06481-3

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