Travel Time Estimation and Order Barching in a 2-Block Warehouse

Tho Le-Duc and René de Koster

ERIM Report Series Research in Management from Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam

Abstract: The order batching problem (OBP) is the problem of determining the number of orders to be picked together in one picking tour. Although various objectives may arise in practice, minimizing the average throughput time of a random order is a common concern. In this paper, we consider the OBP for a 2-block rectangular warehouse with the assumptions that orders arrive according to a Poisson process and the method used for routing the order-pickers is the well-known S-shape heuristic. We first elaborate on the first and second moment of the order-picker's travel time. Then we use these moments to estimate the average throughput time of a random order. This enables us to estimate the optimal picking batch size. Results from simulation show that the method provides a high accuracy level. Furthermore, the method is rather simple and can be easily applied in practice.

Keywords: batch service queue; keywords logistics; order batching; order picking; warehousing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C61 M M11 R4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-11-19
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