Abstract
In an online order picking system, customer orders arrive in real time and the picking information is updated dynamically. One challenging problem is how to process customer orders in a timely manner. In this paper, a nonparametric heuristic method, Green Area, is presented to address the real-time online order batching problems. By nonparametric, we mean that our method is independent of the parameters of a warehouse layout and the characteristics of customer orders; these parameters facilitates the implementation in real life. The advantages of this method are verified under different scenarios by simulations. Specifically, the influences of the arrival rate, the number of order pickers and the number of orders in the order service time are discussed. The results demonstrate that the Green Area method leads to shorter order service times than traditional methods for optimal batch sizes. Finally, we demonstrate that the Green Area method can be applied to online order picking systems with variable arrival rates.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the anonymous referees for their comments which are valuable for improving the quality of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 71390524, 71401181); MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (Nos. 14YJC630136, 15YJC630008); Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law).
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Pseudo-code of Green Area definition for S-Shape
Appendix 2: Pseudo-code of Green Area definition for Largest Gap
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Chen, F., Wei, Y. & Wang, H. A heuristic based batching and assigning method for online customer orders. Flex Serv Manuf J 30, 640–685 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-017-9277-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-017-9277-7