An algorithm for the capacitated vehicle routing problem for picking application in manual warehouses

Given that warehouses play a central role in modern supply chains, this study proposes the application of an algorithm for the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) based on the two-index vehicle flow formulation developed by Baldacci, Hadjiconstantinou, and Mingozzi (2004) for picking purposes in manual warehouses. The study of Theys et al. (2010) is first used to represent the warehouse using a Steiner traveling salesman problem (TSP). Then, a calculation of the picking tour’s length is obtained applying the Manhattan distance. Finally, the algorithm for the CVRP is solved through a cutting plane with the addition of termination criteria related to the capacity of picker. The study analyzes four different warehouse configurations, processing five picking list each. The analysis is carried out exploiting the commercial software MATLAB®, to determine the solution that minimize distance of the order picking tour. The results obtained in MATLAB® show the effectiveness of the chosen algorithm applied to the context of manual order picking.