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Metode i tehnologije komisioniranja za “zelenije” skladištenje
1. Introduction the greening process into their businesses [1]. They have
to comply with environmental regulations (legislation),
Nowadays there is more and more ecological address environmental concerns of their customers
awareness among people and every day there are more (marketing), and mitigate the environmental impact of
people who think and act green. There are many ways their production activities (ecological awareness). The
how one can go green. For example, going green means concept that encompasses environmental initiatives in
buying products that are produced from recycled material, all stages of supply chain is called Green Supply Chain
other people want to buy products that are more energy Management (GSCM), defined in [2] as integrating
efficient or in their production use resources that are environment thinking into supply chain management,
friendlier to the environment. including product design, material sourcing and selection,
Apart from end consumers, green thinking emerged manufacturing processes, delivery of the final product to
also in the various initiatives adopted by companies. consumers, and end-of-life management of the product
There are three main reasons why companies implement after its useful life. Despite GSCM evidently gaining
24 G. ĐUKIĆ et. al., Order-picking Methods and Technologies... Strojarstvo 52 (1) 23-31 (2010)
popularity all over the world, the goal of every company the definition – sourcing and procurement, operations
is to make a profit. To be fully adopted by organizations, (conversion) and logistics activities, green supply chain
the greening of supply chains should contribute to better management could be illustrated as in Figure 1.
economic performances and competitiveness
(economy). Therefore it is necessary to understand
the elements and roots of the concept, with positive
linkage between environmental impact and
economical performances and competitiveness.
Green warehousing is definitely a part
of the broader picture of green supply chain
management, and lately many distribution centers
and warehouses around the world are aiming
green, “faced with a lot of tough choices between
economy or eco-friendliness, discovering that Figure 1. Segments of Green Supply Chain Management
much of good logistics engineering is not only Slika 1. Segmenti “zelenog” menadžmenta lanca opskrbe
compatible with greener business practices, it’s
actually synonymous with it.” [3]
2.2. Elements of green warehousing
put ventilators on top of warehouse which can push hot into reducing order-picking costs and cycle time, i.e., to
air to the ground. In this way, you can use hot air, which improve order-picking efficiency.
naturally would not be used. It is possible to improve operational efficiency of
There are now many new forklifts available on the order-picking using appropriate operating policies. The
market that could be used for forklift fleet improvement research in this area has grown rapidly recently and
in terms of greening. There are plenty of new technologies considerable literature exists on various methods of
for propane forklift fleet that allow the vehicles to burn picking an order as efficiently as possible [10]. The time
cleaner and be more fuel-efficient. AC powered electric to pick an order can be divided into three components:
lift truck are more energy efficient then DC powered. time for traveling between items, time for picking
Electric hybrid forklifts (like Komatsu “New ARION” the items and time for remaining activities. The fact
series [6]) and forklifts powered by hydrogen fuel cells [7] that about 50 % of total order-picking time is spent on
are also great examples of using new forklift technologies travelling [9] gives a potential to improve order-picking
available on the market, solving environmental concerns efficiency by reducing travelling distances. Most methods
and providing better energy efficiency and/or operational of improving operational efficiency of order-picking
performances. focuses on reducing travel times, and can be categorized
Implementing Warehouse Management System in into one of three groups of operating policies: routing,
distribution center or warehouse could greatly reduce storage and batching [11].
overall warehouse costs, which is achieved mainly by Analysis of those methods showed non negligible
optimizing various activities. Optimizing activities influence of layouts on performances of particular method
performed with transportation equipments could have or mix of methods. Additionally to various traditional
significant impact on reducing energy consumption and layouts of order-picking systems, some radically new,
CO2 emission. Paperless WMS, providing even higher innovative warehouse layouts that could reduce retrieval
possibilities for more efficient operations, reduces also times in pallet picking were proposed [12].
paper consumption thus giving even more green image There are also technology achievements that
to warehouses. significally aid the order-picking process. Using WMS
Of course, not all green initiatives focus on reducing with RF handheld terminals, voice technology terminals
energy consumption. Some are focused on creating or pick-to-light system enable further improvements in
energy from what is already readily available — sun efficiency – raising productivity by reducing search time
and wind. For example, many newly constructed DCs and travel time, while greatly improving accuracy.
are increasing their use of skylights and windows so The overview of order-picking methods and
they can use natural light in many parts of their facility. technologies given further aims to present the possibilities
And those that are especially visionary are placing solar and potentials in reducing routes for order-pickers,
panels on portions of their roofs, an ideal scenario since simultaneously implementing greening process into
warehouses are so flat. [2] warehouses. The influence of reduced traveling distances
for order-picking in warehouses on green level depends
naturally on type of forklifts used, and could be expressed
3. Order-picking efficiency for greener in saved energy or reduced CO2 emission.
warehousing
3.1 Basic characteristics of order-picking process 3.2. Order-picking methods
It is well known that logistic costs have an important As already mentioned, several order-picking methods
influence on the final success of any company. According could be used with the goal of reducing travel time.
to the Logistics Cost and Service 2007 study [8], in Routing methods determine the sequences and routes of
western countries, these costs represent almost 10 % traveling, trying to minimize total travel distances. Storage
of sales. Warehousing, along with transportation and methods, assigning items to storage locations based on
inventory carrying, is one of the three major drivers some rule, could also reduce travel distances compared to
of total logistics cost, with 21 % in US and 37 % in random assignment. Order batching methods, grouping
EU. Order-picking process, defined as the process of two or more customer orders in one picking order, are
retrieving items from storage locations in response to a also very efficient in reducing total travel distances.
specific customer request, is the most laborious and the All methods mentioned are well known and proven
most costly activity in a typical warehouse, with up to 55 in improving order-picking efficiency. However, the
% of warehouse total operating costs [9]. With a direct performances depend greatly on the layout and size of
link with speed of delivery, it also influences the service the warehouse, the size and characteristics of orders and
level. Therefore, it is very important to put some effort the order-picker capacity. Additionally, the performance
26 G. ĐUKIĆ et. al., Order-picking Methods and Technologies... Strojarstvo 52 (1) 23-31 (2010)
of a particular method depends also on the other methods front or back aisle is used. The largest gap is therefore the
used, therefore it is important to understand their mutual portion of the aisle that the order picker does not traverse.
interactions [13]. This policy is a slightly more complex routing heuristic
than the first three mentioned. The resulting route is
3.2.1. Routing methods somehow similar, but definitely at least equal or better
There are several routing methods (policies) developed than the route defined by Midpoint policy in all possible
and used in practice. They range from the very simple situations. Two relatively new policies developed are
to the slightly more complex. The performance of these Composite policy and Combined policy. Composite
heuristics depends on the particular operating conditions routing heuristic combines features of the S-shape and
of the system under study due to their definitions. The Return heuristics, minimizing travel distance between
simplest routing heuristic is S-shape policy. When this the farthest picks in two adjacent aisles for each aisle
policy is used, the order picker enters every aisle where individually. Combined heuristics is also a combination
an item has to be picked and traverses the entire aisle. of S-shape and Return policies, but a small component
Aisles where nothing has to be picked are skipped. An of dynamic programming gives it the possibility to look
exception is made for the last aisle visited in case the one aisle ahead. The decision about return or traversal
number of aisles to be visited is odd. In that case a return route in the aisle depends not only on minimized travel
travel is performed in the last aisle visited. Another very in that aisle, but also on a better starting point for the
simple routing heuristic is Return policy. The order-picker next aisle. This in turn leads to a better overall result than
enters and leaves aisles containing item(s) to be picked Composite heuristic. All routing policies described above
from the front aisle. A Midpoint routing policy, also by their definitions have some restrictions of creating
one simple heuristic, looks like a return method on two a route. An optimal algorithm [14], combining a graph
halves of a warehouse. Only the first and last aisle visited theory and dynamic programming, results in a shortest
are traversed entirely. Similarly to the last heuristic, with possible, thus optimal route. Examples of routes created
Largest Gap policy all aisles that contain even one item by mentioned routing heuristics and an optimal algorithm
to be picked are also left at the same side as they were are given in Figure 2.
entered, except the first and last visited which are traversed According to one case study [15], with routing
entirely. The gap represents the separation between any order-pickers efficiently using routing methods it is
two adjacent picks, between the first pick in the aisle possible to obtain a reduction between 17 and 34 % in
and front aisle, or between the last pick in the aisle and traveling distance. The amount of reduction depends on
the back aisle. If the largest gap is between two adjacent the particular method used. Although algorithm for an
picks, the picker performs a return route from both ends optimal route has been invented, in practice heuristics
of the aisle. Otherwise, a return route from either the are predominantly used to route the fork lift trucks [10].
The reason for that is that heuristic policies may provide 3.2.3. Order-batching methods
near optimal solutions and avoid the confusion inherent Methods of organization of order-picking, called
in optimal solutions. It is true that a specific heuristic also pick strategies, determine how orders are picked in
policy could in some situations results in near optimal warehouses. Most basic method is single order-picking.
route, but in some other situations it could perform badly. Pickers pick one customer order at a time (in one route).
Therefore, it is important to know in what situations This method can work well in operations with a small
some heuristics are good or bad. Even more, which are total number of orders and a high number of picks per
better than another and how much better in particular order. Operations with low picks per order will find the
situations. A more detailed overview of routing methods travel time excessive. In batch picking, multiple customer
and analysis of performances are given in [16-17]. orders are grouped into batches – picking orders.
Therefore, the items from several customer orders are
3.2.2. Storage methods
picked in one route, which generally reduces the travel
Storage methods assign items to warehouse storage distances per order.
locations, based on popularity, demand, size, hazard etc.
There are several orderbatching methods (algorithms)
In order-picking systems, storage methods are usually
developed and used in practice, which could be divided
based on rule of assigning the frequently accessed items
into three main groups: simple, seed and savings
to the locations near depot [18]. Volume-based storage
algorithms. First-Come First-Serve (FCFS) is the most
policy assigns items to storage locations based on the
obvious of the simple orderbatching algorithms. This
expected order or picking volume [19], while Cube-per-
algorithm adds orders to a group in the sequence they
order index (COI) based storage policy assign items to
arrive. If the picker is full (capacity reached), a new
the locations based on the ratio of the item’s required
group is started. Seed algorithms consist of two steps.
storage space to the item’s order frequency. The items
First, the initial order is selected based on some seed
with the lowest COI are stored in the locations nearest
selection rule. Second, the remaining orders are added
to the depot. In case items are stored in any available
to a group based on some seed order addition rule, up
location (randomized rule), such a method is called
to the picker’s capacity. Savings algorithms, variants of
random storage or floating slot storage.
Clarke and Wright routing algorithm, are based on travel
There are several different types (patterns) of storage savings that can be obtained by combining two particular
used in practice, most relevant for order-picking shown in orders in one route as compared to the situation where
Figure 3. Items with a higher volume (or smaller COI) are both orders are collected individually. For an overview
stored in darker locations. They are all proven in reducing of many different seed and savings algorithms readers
the total travel distances in order-picking compared to are referred to [22], while for analysis of various order-
random storage assignment, but the performance of a batching algorithms in combination with different routing
particular storage type greatly depends on the routing methods and storage methods to [13, 23]. The results
method implemented. The question is which type of showed that the potential savings using orderbatching
storage suits the best particular routing method. in comparison with single order-picking (picking
by order) depend mostly on the number of customer
orders per group, and ranged from cca. 40 to 70 % in
conducted simulations. The analysis of orderbatching
algorithms with volume-based storage showed that
savings are cumulative, with potential savings in travel
distances up to 80 % compared to random storage and
single order-picking.
Figure 3. The types of volume-based storage
Slika 3. Tipovi odlaganja prema protoku 3.2.4. Warehouse layouts
Traditional warehouse/order-picking area layouts are
More details of the evaluation of storage methods layouts we could find today in the majority of warehouses.
and analysis of performances of routing methods in The basic form is with parallel aisles, a central depot (pick
combination with different types of storage are given up/delivery point), and two possibilities for changing
in [17, 20-21]. The result of analysis showed that large aisles, at the front and rear of warehouse, shown in Figure
savings are possible using storage methods, with even 4 left. Modifications of this basic form are usually with
in some cases 45-55 % of travel distance reduction adding one or more additional cross aisles. In this case
compared to random storage. we refer to a layout with multiple cross-aisles. The layout
with one middle cross aisle is shown in Figure 4 right.
28 G. ĐUKIĆ et. al., Order-picking Methods and Technologies... Strojarstvo 52 (1) 23-31 (2010)
Warehouse layout /
Prostorni raspored
Prostorni raspored
(osnovni) (osnovni)
skladišta
skladišta
Traditional (one Traditional (one
cross-aisle) / cross-aisle) /
193,9 329 182,8 309
Tradicionalni (jedan Tradicionalni (jedan
prprečni prolaz) prprečni prolaz)
Fishbone / Riblja Fishbone / Riblja
227,5 351,9 213,1 317,3
kost kost
The simulation results show that the traditional layout are used in order-picking systems inherent with paper-
(without cross-aisles) produces the largest travel distances. less directing order-pickers are RF scanning, Voice
The fishbone layout will give less travel distance (around Technology and Pick to light systems. RF scanning and
9.5 % in conducted simulations, depending on routing Voice systems link to the WMS via a Radio Frequency
method and order size), while the traditional layout with network. RF scanning is based on barcode scanning, thus
one cross-aisle is going to shorten the travel even more every picker has a bar code reader. Voice technology
(around 18 % less travel time than a traditional layout pickers have a small, portable computer and a head-set
without cross-aisles in conducted simulations). with a microphone through which a picker communicates
The fishbone layout is without any doubt an excellent with the WMS. Pick-to-light technology has a light
layout for pallet picking, already implemented in real signaling system on every single location and also an
warehouses. However, the presented analysis leads to the interface port where a picker updates his picks. All three
conclusion that in a warehouse with case and item picking systems can offer increased speed and accuracy compared
from multiple locations the fishbone layout results in to paper-based WMS, but choice depends on the nature of
larger routes than the traditional layout with a straight, the business and products being handled [26]. Increased
right angled cross aisle. Finding the optimal number or speed directly improves productivity. For instance, RF
cross aisles in a traditional layout would probably result scanning orders are issued at the terminal, eliminating
in an even shorter route. According to [24], the addition the need to physically take the pick-list, while improved
of an optimal number of cross aisles generally decreases accuracy will reduce the number of returns in order
the picking travel distance by 20-30 % of associated route to correct picking errors. Voice Technology provides
in layout with no cross aisles. significant benefits over RF scanning because it is “hands-
and eyes-free”. Voice operators visually focus on assigned
tasks, so errors due to keying in RF hand held terminal
3.3. Technologies for order-picking are eliminated. RF scanning device limits freedom of
hands and makes picking heavy and awkward items more
The technology that is obviously necessary to be able difficult, thus slowing down picking. Pick to Light can
to implement mentioned methods is information system provide even better productivity than Voice, because a
in warehouse, apropos Warehouse Management System picker can see simultaneously all the items to be picked,
(WMS) with built-in algorithms for routing, storage rather than being given sequential instructions. However,
and orderbatching. Although we mentioned paperless please note that those systems are more likely used for
WMS as an element of greening warehousing, paper- picking small fast-moving items from a relatively small
based WMS would be satisfactory. One could imply that area, while RF scanning and Voice are more suitable for
paperless WMS encourages greening of warehousing case picking. Figure 6 shows the characteristics of those
mainly by reducing paper usage in warehouses. three technologies in terms of accuracy and productivity
However, technologies enabling paperless WMS have gains over paper-based picking (data from [26]), which
also additional capability of greening through increased are also interesting from the “greening your warehouse”
efficiency, explained hereafter. The 3 technologies that point of view.
30 G. ĐUKIĆ et. al., Order-picking Methods and Technologies... Strojarstvo 52 (1) 23-31 (2010)
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