Storage location assignment: Using the product structure to reduce order picking times

Journal article, 1996

The stock location assignment problem is concerned and a strategy for prestructuring components and information for the picking work in storehouses is described. This classification is derived from the product structures transformed to support a holistic perception aimed at the material handler/picker. The results imply a more efficient material handling through reorganizing the components in the storage system, in order to support the work from the picker's point of view. A storage location assignment strategy emanating from the product structure is proposed, and is exemplified by using empirical data from a case study. The result from this case study was a reduction in picking information of more than 75%, which in turn greatly reduced the amount of information to the picker.