An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria
<i>Background</i>: This paper aims to improve the overall performance of manual warehouse Order Picking (OP) processes by proposing an innovative method for designing a picking area layout, and introducing a storage assignment strategy with respect to ergonomics and workers’ physical fat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Logistics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/6/4/83 |
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| author | Vasiliki Kapou Stavros T. Ponis George Plakas Eleni Aretoulaki |
| author_facet | Vasiliki Kapou Stavros T. Ponis George Plakas Eleni Aretoulaki |
| author_sort | Vasiliki Kapou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Background</i>: This paper aims to improve the overall performance of manual warehouse Order Picking (OP) processes by proposing an innovative method for designing a picking area layout, and introducing a storage assignment strategy with respect to ergonomics and workers’ physical fatigue. <i>Methods</i>: The proposed method categorizes the available picking slots based on size and ABC analysis. Ιt takes into consideration a set of ergonomic constraints pertinent to the rack heights and travel distance restrictions for each slot type, leading to the assignment of a location to each slot type based on its individual characteristics. In doing so, the proposed method introduces an innovative ‘flame-shape’ aisle layout. Finally, the products are assigned to their optimal locations, targeting OP time minimization, balanced workload allocation, and ergonomics optimization through a ranking system measuring the ‘difficulty’ of retrieving the products based on their weight, popularity, and slot location. <i>Results</i>: The proposed method led to a productivity rise of 14.9% along with a significant decrease of the ‘difficulty’ index, by 31%. <i>Conclusions</i>: The results prove that a prominent performance improvement can be achieved when both travel distance and manual workload minimization are targeted for determining the picking area layout and storage design. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b4db5ee40b0d47b9b87e4909ac275edf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2305-6290 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Logistics |
| spelling | doaj-art-b4db5ee40b0d47b9b87e4909ac275edf2025-08-20T03:58:50ZengMDPI AGLogistics2305-62902022-12-01648310.3390/logistics6040083An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic CriteriaVasiliki Kapou0Stavros T. Ponis1George Plakas2Eleni Aretoulaki3School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University Athens, 10682 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University Athens, 10682 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University Athens, 10682 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University Athens, 10682 Athens, Greece<i>Background</i>: This paper aims to improve the overall performance of manual warehouse Order Picking (OP) processes by proposing an innovative method for designing a picking area layout, and introducing a storage assignment strategy with respect to ergonomics and workers’ physical fatigue. <i>Methods</i>: The proposed method categorizes the available picking slots based on size and ABC analysis. Ιt takes into consideration a set of ergonomic constraints pertinent to the rack heights and travel distance restrictions for each slot type, leading to the assignment of a location to each slot type based on its individual characteristics. In doing so, the proposed method introduces an innovative ‘flame-shape’ aisle layout. Finally, the products are assigned to their optimal locations, targeting OP time minimization, balanced workload allocation, and ergonomics optimization through a ranking system measuring the ‘difficulty’ of retrieving the products based on their weight, popularity, and slot location. <i>Results</i>: The proposed method led to a productivity rise of 14.9% along with a significant decrease of the ‘difficulty’ index, by 31%. <i>Conclusions</i>: The results prove that a prominent performance improvement can be achieved when both travel distance and manual workload minimization are targeted for determining the picking area layout and storage design.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/6/4/83intralogisticsorder pickingwarehouseprocess optimizationergonomicsslotting |
| spellingShingle | Vasiliki Kapou Stavros T. Ponis George Plakas Eleni Aretoulaki An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria Logistics intralogistics order picking warehouse process optimization ergonomics slotting |
| title | An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria |
| title_full | An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria |
| title_fullStr | An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria |
| title_short | An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria |
| title_sort | innovative layout design and storage assignment method for manual order picking with respect to ergonomic criteria |
| topic | intralogistics order picking warehouse process optimization ergonomics slotting |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/6/4/83 |
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