Simulation Analysis of Order Picking Efficiency with Congestion Situations

Paper presents analysis of the order picking system efficiency under congestion situations. Analysed picking system is manual and organized as picker-to-part system with very narrow aisles. About 150 different variants of the system was taken into consideration. Each of them is characterized by different storage policies (random, class-based and volume-based), number of order pickers and picking strategies (single picking and batch picking). Main attention was paid to picker blocking phenomenon and its impact on order picking efficiency. Authors explain where, when and why such situations may happen. Additionally, they point out how the number of pickers, storage policy and picking strategy impact pickers blocking and picking process efficiency. Due to complexity of presented issue, dynamics and volatility of picking processes, simulation method was implemented.