Agent-based analysis of picker blocking in manual order picking systems: Effects of routing combinations on throughput time

Reducing Picker Blocking in a High-Level Narrow-Aisle Order Picking System

“…In manual order picking systems, narrow aisles can result in substantial waiting times due to picker blocking compared to wide-aisle systems (Parikh and Meller 2009). Given the layout of the order pick area, the effects of picker blocking are mainly influenced by storage location assignment, and picker routing (Elbert et al 2015). Previous research considering picker blocking has focused on either storage or routing to minimise order picking time.…”

“…In order to fulfil customer orders, order pickers should retrieve the ordered products from storage locations (i.e., order picking). Order picking management has been identified as an important and complex planning operation (Elbert et al 2015). The performance of order picking drives the customer service level.…”

A Joint Comparative Analysis of Routing Heuristics and Paperless Picking Technologies Using Simulation and Data Envelopment Analysis

“…Routing policies have a major impact on the efficiency of the picking processes, especially in terms of travel distance and/or time. They are directly affected by pickers' behavior, relatively easy to change, and therefore remain on of the primary sources of management [7]. The role of routing policies is central in achieving this objective as they sequence the items from one picking position to another to ensure an optimal route through the warehouse.…”

“…and simple routing (S-shape, return, etc.) heuristics and found that blocking has a stronger negative impact on simple heuristics, particularly the work of [7,10], who analyzed the effect of picker blocking on routing heuristics. The authors of Ref.…”

“…The authors of Ref. [7] combined routing strategies between three pickers. The most common combination in practice, the S-shape heuristic, yielded a 10.2% longer throughput time than the best combination while the throughput time for return routing was 31.83% longer as it led to a higher number of blockings.…”