Mathematical model for warehouse design and product allocation

The two primary functions of a warehouse include (1) temporary storage and protection of goods and (2) providing value added services such as fulfilment of individual customer orders, packaging of goods, after sales services, repairs, testing, inspection and assembly. To perform the above functions, the warehouse is divided into several functional areas such as reserve storage area, forward (order collation) area and cross-docking. The paper presents a mathematical model and a heuristic algorithm that jointly determine product allocation to the functional areas in the warehouse as well as the size of each area using data readily available to a warehouse manager.

[1]  Gunter P. Sharp,et al.  Example application of the cognitive design procedure for an order pick system: Case study , 1995 .

[2]  Loren K. Platzman,et al.  Near-Optimal Solution of Generalized Resource Allocation Problems with Large Capacities , 1990, Oper. Res..

[3]  Gunter P. Sharp,et al.  Forward-reserve allocation in a warehouse with unit-load replenishments , 1998, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[4]  Gunter P. Sharp,et al.  A structured procedure for analysis and design of order pick systems , 1996 .

[5]  Ludo Gelders,et al.  Warehouse design optimization , 1985 .

[6]  Uday S. Karmarkar,et al.  Design and operation of an order-consolidation warehouse: Models and application , 1992 .

[7]  Yavuz A. Bozer.  Optimizing throughput performance in designing order picking systems , 1985 .

[8]  Jeroen P. van den Berg.  A Literature survey on planning and control of warehousing systems , 1999 .

[9]  Louis Y. Tsui,et al.  An optimal solution to a dock door assignment problem , 1992 .

[10]  Meir J. Rosenblatt,et al.  Allocating Items to an Automated Storage and Retrieval System , 1990 .

[11]  Ury Passy,et al.  The forward-reserve problem , 1994 .

[12]  W. H. M. Zijm,et al.  Warehouse design and control: Framework and literature review , 2000, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[13]  John J. Bartholdi,et al.  Reducing Labor Costs in an LTL Crossdocking Terminal , 2000, Oper. Res..

[14]  Gilles Cormier,et al.  A review of warehouse models , 1992 .

[15]  Louis Y. Tsui,et al.  A microcomputer based decision support tool for assigning dock doors in freight yards , 1990 .