Use of Compensatory Fuzzy Logic for Knowledge Discovery Applied to the Warehouse Order Picking Problem for Real-Time Order Batching

Order picking is an activity in a warehouse, carried out by a team, where customer orders are prepared. It is also the activity with the highest logistic costs in a company. In this chapter, a proposal is presented aimed at improving the order picking process in a warehouse. Order picking continues to attract the attention of people in charge of optimizing processes in a company for minimizing costs. There are several approaches to order picking such as discrete picking, batch picking, and zone picking. The purpose of this study is mainly oriented toward the reduction of batch picking times to achieve an improvement in the service. In this chapter is proposed the application of compensatory fuzzy logic (CFL), which is a branch of classical logic and is also discussed the possibility of making real-time order batches (dynamic batching) by using compensatory fuzzy rules for the classification of incoming orders.