Design of a class based storage picker to product order picking system

In recent years the increase in time-based competition and the growth of e-commerce have put pressure on managers to reduce the costs of warehouse design and management activities. This paper presents a new integrated approach to support the decision making process in optimising a picker to part, forward-reserve, less than unit load order picking system. An analytical model and a multi-parametric dynamic model to quickly estimate the travelled distance during a picking cycle are introduced. The factorial analysis of several what-if scenarios reveals which factors and combinations of factors are the most critical in affecting the picking system's response.