Warehouse Layout Revolution: AI Designs for Maximum Efficiency

Lakshmi Narasimha Raju Mudunuri

Abstract


In typical e-commerce warehouses, once customer orders are received, the purchased items must be retrieved from shelves and packaged for delivery. To automate and expedite this retrieval process, a Smart Warehouse often utilizes an Automated Retrieval System (ARS) to manage and schedule retrieval tasks. The efficiency of the ARS is crucial as it significantly affects subsequent processes. If any item in an order faces a substantial retrieval delay compared to others, the entire order may experience unnecessary delays. Traditionally, the integrity of orders has been overlooked in the parallel retrieval processes of multiple stackers. To address this, this paper proposes using an Order Tag to label all items within the same order, which is then used for scheduling retrieval tasks. The method for calculating these Order Tags influences the scheduling discipline of the ARS. To minimize average delay and ensure fairness, two new algorithms are introduced: the Dynamic Order-Based (DOB) Scheduling Algorithm and the Dynamic Order-Based with Threshold (DOBT) Scheduling Algorithm. These algorithms ensure fairness in the retrieval process, instilling confidence in the system's integrity. Simulation results demonstrate that DOB and DOBT algorithms reduce the average order retrieval delay by at least 30% compared to First-Come-First-Serve and other methods while alleviating backlog pressure on downstream operations.

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