Automated order picking: A literature review

Other conference contribution, 2017

Order picking is a labour-intensive process with a significant impact on overall operational performance. Automation in order picking holds potential for lowering the labour cost and increase delivery accuracy. The aim of this paper is to present a structured literature review with the purpose of identifying the context, performance, and design variables important to automation in order picking systems (OPS) that are covered in academic literature, and based on this derive areas for future research. For this purpose, 112 papers have been selected and analysed from two perspectives. First, the papers are classified according to the studied OPS type. Second, papers are analysed according to a developed framework in order to identify context, performance and design aspects important when making decisions on automation of OPS. The major streams proposed for future research are the OPS selection and picker-less systems. Also, research could benefit from more empirical research in the area, and deeper investigations of the context, performance and design aspects and their relationships.