Improving the warehouse picking process at Flaschenpost

In this thesis, we discuss the picking process of a warehouse in a company called Flaschenpost. We provide a literature overview of possible approaches and a detailed explanation of the ones chosen to improve the picking process of this specific warehouse. In this thesis, we have identified two problems in a warehouse's picking process: the order batching problem and a picker routing problem. A picker routing algorithm using dynamic programming and a time-saving batching heuristic for orders have been developed to provide an alternative solution to the Flaschenpost company for both problems respectively. A performance analysis was conducted between algorithms developed in this thesis and benchmark algorithms inspired by the company's current operations. Lastly, a list of future improvements and research opportunities is provided at the end of this paper, discussing this solution's benefits and shortcomings.