The effect of worker learning on manual order picking processes

Order picking is a time-intensive and costly logistics process as it involves a high amount of manual human work. Since order picking operations are repetitive by nature, it can be observed that human workers gain familiarity with the job over time, which implies that learning takes place. Even though learning may be an important source of efficiency improvements in companies, it has largely been neglected in planning order picking operations. Mathematical planning models of order picking that have been published earlier thus provide an incomplete picture of real-world order picking, which affects the quality of the planning outcome. To contribute to closing this research gap, this paper presents an approach to model worker learning in order picking. First, the results of a case study are presented that emphasize the importance of learning in manual order picking. Subsequently, an analytical model is developed to describe learning in order picking, which is then evaluated with the help of numerical examples. The results show that learning impacts order picking efficiency. In particular, the results imply that worker learning should be considered when planning order picking operations as it leads to a better predictability of order throughput times. In addition, the effects of learning are relevant for the allocation of available resources, such as the allocation of workers to different zones of the warehouse. The results of the numerical analysis indicate that it is beneficial to assign workers with the lowest learning rate in the workforce to the fastest moving zone to gain experience. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.