Multi-criteria approach for products classification and their storage location assignment

Abstract

Even small improvements in storage operations can bring significant benefits in customer response time, increasing the level of service offered. However, a company cannot offer high level of service for all products. In this sense, one of the ways used to optimize the activities for order picking is the study of storage location assignment problem (SLAP). Thus, this paper proposed a multi-criteria decision model to perform the products classification and to solve the SLAP in a multi-layer warehouse. The ELECTRE TRI method is used to define the shelf level for each product, and the ELECTRE III method is used to establish a fixed location for each product on the shelf it belongs to. The great advantage of this model is that there is not trade-off among the criteria, and it is able to consider several criteria simultaneously. However, the main goal is not optimization, but the search for a storage operations performance balance, considering multiple criteria, allowing for a better inventory management when consideringprofitabilitycriteria,for example,andimprovement inthe order picking operations, through the demand and space required criteria. In addition, it considers the preferences of the decision maker.

The storage location assignment problem: A literature review

“…We identified two articles within this category, and Table 8 identifies their authors. As can been seen, research classified in this category has been limited to Fontana and Nepomuceno (2017), who designed an allocation model using Electre III based on product characteristics in a multilayer warehouse seeking to improve order preparation time and inventory control, and da Silva et al 2015, who provided a multicriteria methodology based on Smarter that allows the classification of products and assigns them in the warehouse in descending order from the best to the worst location options for each product.…”

“…There has also been discussion of applications for different types of warehouses, including the multilevel type (Fontana & Nepomuceno, 2017;Guerriero et al, 2015;Guerriero et al, 2013;Chan & Chan, 2011), multi-aisle (Battini et al, 2016;Le-Duc & de Koster, 2005), cascade (Chou et al, 2012), monoblock with multi-aisle (Ramtin & Pazour, 2015;Xiao & Zheng, 2010), pick-and-pass system with multiple order picking lines (Pan et al 2015), and order-picking system with bucket-brigade method (Webster et al, 2012), as well as warehouses with a single aisle (Boysen & Stephan, 2013;Chuang et al 2012) and chaotic warehouses (Quintanilla et al 2015). In the following subsections, the findings for each category are explained in detail and relevant works are discussed.…”

“…. (2017);Dijkstra and Roodbergen (2017);Fontana and Nepomuceno (2017);Pang and Chan (2017); Cruz-Domínguez and Santos-Mayorga(2016); Li et al (2016); Battini et al (2015); da Silva et al (2015); Qin et al (2015); Sharma and Shah (2015); Manzini (2006); Heragu et al (2005). Time Travel time √ Elbert and Philipp Müller (2017); Yang et al (2017); Hui et al (2016); Rai and Ettam (2016); Ramtin and Pazour (2015); Yang et al (2015); Gagliardi et al (2014); Grosse et al (2013); Meneghetti and Monti (2013); Yu and de Koster (2013); Zaerpour et al (2013); Accorsi et al (2012); Ene and Öztürk (2012); Glock and Grosse (2012); Kim and Smith (2012); Chen et al (2010); Yang (2008).…”

A bi‐objective mathematical model for product allocation in block stacking warehouses

“…Fontana and Nepomuceno (2017) also considered the same multiple criteria to determine which products should be stored in more convenient locations to develop an approach for product classification and storage location assignment in a multilayer warehouse. Fontana and Cavalcante (2014a) integrated a mathematical and C 2018 The Authors.…”

“…To define the product classes, they considered multiple criteria, such as weight, volume, demand, and product contribution margin. Fontana and Nepomuceno (2017) also considered the same multiple criteria to determine which products should be stored in more convenient locations to develop an approach for product classification and storage location assignment in a multilayer warehouse. However, although these two studies take multiple criteria for product class formation into account, they only consider the single objective of minimizing cost for allocation.…”