Optimizing order-picking warehouse designs using collaborative robots

Öz

With the rapid integration of digital technologies into e-commerce platforms, online sales have increased dramatically in recent years. Additionally, customers' awareness of the global competition among hundreds of e-commerce companies has increased their expectations such as high quality, low price, fast and free delivery like never before. In response, e-commerce companies have started revisiting their logistics systems to survive in such a business environment by meeting rising expectations and minimizing operational costs. Thus, most companies have been focused on order-picking processes, which are characterized by high operating times and labor costs. Accordingly, collaborative robots (cobots) have been used in many warehouses to make order-picking operations more efficient and profitable. Depending on the distance between pick locations, a cobot can either be ridden by the order picker or autonomously move to the next pick location while the order picker is walking. This paper proposes a bi-level programming model to find the optimal designs of order-picking warehouses employing collaborative robots. The top-level model is used to determine the optimal shape factor (width-to-depth ratio) minimizing the order-picking time; whereas, the bottom-level model determines the optimal route and collaboration strategy. Based on Monte Carlo simulation, it is shown that the shape factor significantly affects the length of an order-picking tour when the pick-list size is small. However, it is concluded that the optimal shape factor varies depending on the pick-list size.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Order-picking warehouse
• Optimal shape factor
• Optimal route
• Optimal collaboration
• Pick-list size

Proje Numarası

1059B191900637

Kolaboratif robot kullanılan sipariş-toplama depo tasarımlarının eniyilenmesi

Öz

Dijital teknolojilerin e-ticaret platformlarına hızlı bir şekilde entegrasyonu ile özellikle son yıllarda online satışlarda önemli ölçüde artışlar yaşanmaktadır. Ayrıca, müşterilerin yüzlerce e-ticaret firması arasındaki küresel rekabetin farkında olması, yüksek kalite, düşük fiyat, hızlı ve ücretsiz teslimat gibi müşteri beklentilerini hiç olmadığı kadar artırmaktadır. Buna karşılık, e-ticaret şirketleri artan beklentileri karşılayarak ve operasyonel maliyetleri en aza indirerek böylesine rekabetçi bir iş ortamında ayakta kalabilmek için lojistik sistemlerini yeniden gözden geçirmeye başlamışlardır. Böylece, şirketlerin çoğu yüksek operasyon süreleri ve işçilik maliyetleri ile karakterize edilen sipariş-toplama süreçlerine odaklanmışlardır. Bu yüzden, sipariş-toplama işlemlerini daha verimli ve kârlı hale getirmek için kolaboratif robotlar (kobotlar) birçok depoda kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Toplama lokasyonları arasındaki uzaklığa bağlı olarak, bir kobot ya sipariş toplayıcı tarafından sürülebilir ya da sipariş toplayıcı yürürken otonom olarak sonraki toplama lokasyonuna hareket edebilir. Bu makale, kolaboratif robotların kullanıldığı depoların optimal tasarımlarını bulmak için iki seviyeli bir programlama modeli önermektedir. Üst-düzey model, sipariş-toplama süresini en aza indiren optimal şekil faktörünü (en-boy-oranı) belirlemek için kullanılırken; alt-düzey model, optimal rota ve iş birliği stratejisini belirlemektedir. Monte Carlo simülasyonu temelinde, toplama listesindeki sipariş sayısı küçükse şekil faktörünün sipariş toplama turunun uzunluğunu önemli ölçüde etkilediği gösterilmiştir. Ayrıca, optimal şekil faktörünün toplama listesi büyüklüğüne bağlı olarak değiştiği sonucuna varılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sipariş-toplama deposu
• Optimal şekil faktörü
• Optimal rota
• Optimal iş birliği
• Toplama-listesi büyüklüğü

Destekleyen Kurum

TÜBİTAK

Proje Numarası

1059B191900637

Teşekkür

Bu makalede bulunan çalışmalar TÜBİTAK (Türkiye Bilimsel Teknolojik ve Araştırma Kurumu) 1059B191900637 numaralı proje kapsamında yer almaktadır. Sağlanan destekten dolayı TÜBİTAK’a teşekkür ederiz.

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