Impact of Human Energy Expenditure on Order Picking Productivity: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study in a Zone Picking System

Al Theeb Nader A. (), Al-Araidah Omar, Al-Ali Malik M. and Khudair Adnan I.
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Al Theeb Nader A.: Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan
Al-Araidah Omar: Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan
Al-Ali Malik M.: Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan
Khudair Adnan I.: Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan

Engineering Management in Production and Services, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 12-24

Abstract: This article aims to investigate the impact of allowable human energy expenditure (HEE) of order pickers on the throughput of workers in manual order zone picking systems MOP. The method used in this research is the Monte Carlo simulation, used while considering many human and job factors. The results showed that a worker’s gender and an item’s weight have little effect on the HEE. On the other hand, body weight, walking speed, distance travelled, and the targeted zone significantly impacted the HEE, rest allowance, and throughput. For example, male pickers at a weight of 75 kg can move up to speed to 1 m/s and pick up items weighing up to 5 kg without reaching the allowable HEE rate, equal to 4.3 kcal/min, and, thus, no rest is needed. Female pickers at a weight of 75 kg reach the allowable HEE rate, equal to 2.6 kcal/min, at a very low speed of approximately 0.1 m/s when picking up items up to 5 kg, and, thus, frequent rest is needed, which leads to low throughput. To increase the throughput of female pickers, they can be assigned to pick up lighter items. Utilising Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the HEE in MOP while considering many factors.

Keywords: human energy expenditure; manual order picking; Monte Carlo simulation; warehouse management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:ecoman:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:12-24:n:7

DOI: 10.2478/emj-2023-0025

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