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Impact of Storage Assignment Decisions on a Bucket Brigade Order Picking Line
Author(s) -
Webster Scott,
Ruben Robert A.,
Yang KumKhiong
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
production and operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.279
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1937-5956
pISSN - 1059-1478
DOI - 10.1111/j.1937-5956.2011.01267.x
Subject(s) - rack , throughput , computer science , order picking , productivity , volume (thermodynamics) , work (physics) , order (exchange) , operations research , operations management , telecommunications , business , mathematics , warehouse , economics , marketing , engineering , mechanical engineering , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , wireless , macroeconomics
Bucket brigade order picking is a method for retrieving orders from a storage rack where workers follow a fixed sequence and dynamically adjust to variability in work content along the rack. The method is simple and has been shown to provide superior performance in many applications. In this article, we analyze how the location in which products are stored in the rack affects throughput. We identify conditions where storage decisions have a large impact on throughput (e.g., a 20% increase in productivity) and conditions where the impact is minimal. Conditions associated with high impact are high variation in worker skill, high variation in SKU volume, and a moderate level of walking‐to‐picking work content per pick list.