Cutting down the travel distance of put systems at Kunming International Flower Auction Market

At Kunming International Flower Auction Market (KIFA), about 2.5 million cut flowers traded in 10,000 transactions need to be distributed daily to buyers in its distribution area. Small lots and many buyers per trolley are two distinctive features at KIFA and the identities of the buyers and their demands are not known in advance. The growing transaction volume has recently increased the distribution workforce and the buyers’ waiting time. In this paper, we introduce a modified class-based location policy using KIFA’s historical data to improve its current put system performance. We use the closest-open location method in each class area, which improves the put system performance at KIFA. We examine the effects of the distribution area shape and the number of blocks in each class area on performance measures, and find that KIFA’s put system performance can be further improved.

[1]  René M. B. M. de Koster,et al.  Minimizing makespan and throughput times at Aalsmeer flower auction , 2008, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[2]  Jeroen P. van den Berg,et al.  Simulation study of an automated storage/retrieval system , 2000 .

[3]  Gino Marchet,et al.  Optimal layout in low-level picker-to-part systems , 2000 .

[4]  Gerard J. van den Berg,et al.  The Declining Price Anomaly in Dutch Dutch Rose Auctions , 2001 .

[5]  Randolph W. Hall,et al.  DISTANCE APPROXIMATIONS FOR ROUTING MANUAL PICKERS IN A WAREHOUSE , 1993 .

[6]  Tho Le-Duc,et al.  Travel distance estimation and storage zone optimization in a 2-block class-based storage strategy warehouse , 2005 .

[7]  Loon Ching Tang,et al.  Travel time analysis for general item location assignment in a rectangular warehouse , 1999, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[8]  Charles G. Petersen,et al.  Improving order‐picking performance through the implementation of class‐based storage , 2004 .

[9]  Fabrizio Dallari,et al.  Design of order picking system , 2009 .

[10]  Mauro Gamberi,et al.  Design of a class based storage picker to product order picking system , 2007 .

[11]  Qin Kai-Da,et al.  Storage Allocation Methods, Storage Size and Service Level under Uncertainty in Manual Order-picking Systems , 2010, 2010 International Conference on E-Business and E-Government.

[12]  Daniel R. Vincent,et al.  The Declining Price Anomaly , 1993 .

[13]  Chien-Ming Chen,et al.  A Flexible Evaluative Framework for Order Picking Systems , 2010 .

[14]  Gino Marchet,et al.  Routing policies and COI-based storage policies in picker-to-part systems , 1998 .

[15]  Stephen C. Graves,et al.  Optimal Storage Assignment in Automatic Warehousing Systems , 1976 .

[16]  René M. B. M. de Koster,et al.  The impact of order batching and picking area zoning on order picking system performance , 2009, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[17]  Kees Jan Roodbergen,et al.  Design and control of warehouse order picking: A literature review , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..