Design and control order picking route of a retailer warehouse using simulation to increase labour productivity

Abstract

The aim of this study is to find out the optimal path for the manual picking process used by warehouse operators to enhance the productivity of the manual picking system in the retail warehouse in Jordan using simulation Software. WMS Software was used to determine the different picking methods and the distance travelled in each path of the order-picking process to discover the optimal layout design for the warehouse. Several time studies were conducted using the stopwatch to determine the average picking time for each operator using those paths that were suggested by the simulation program to choose the same arrangement. Then, the average throughput was calculated for each operator for each routing method. The results showed that there is a strong correlation and relationship between the routing method and operator productivity. Further, it is found that productivity is higher by 29% when the operator chooses the optimal path shown by the simulation program, and this improvement in order picking will lead to a high level of service satisfaction and a lower level of operational cost for storage. Improving picking methods and optimizing picking paths can increase the total number of orders an operator can fulfil in a single working day, resulting in increased operator utilization.