University of Twente Student Theses
Optimizing the pool allocation of multi-orders in an e-fulfilment centre
Poortema, Koen (2021) Optimizing the pool allocation of multi-orders in an e-fulfilment centre.
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| Abstract: | With the continuous transformation of digitalization in the past decades, e-commerce is becoming an indispensable part of our society. In the e-fulfilment centres that drive the e-commerce industry, efficient order picking systems are required to competitively handle a large extent of customer orders, selected from a wide product variety spread over an immense warehouse area, in a very limited time period. By pooling allocation, multi-ordered items are assigned to clustered zones within a warehouse. This pooling allocation stimulates the picking performance such that the average time required to pick an item is minimized, as this shortens the picking routes the operators process. As a result, this turns into minimization of labour costs. Simultaneously, fulfilment needs to be managed to ensure timely delivery. In a case study performed at bol.com, a set of constructive heuristics is designed to improve the current pooling allocation method. By a simulation approach, it is shown that the seconds per pick for multi-orders could significantly be reduced, which result in significant annual cost savings for the e-retailer. Accompanied by this reduction in average time per pick, the fraction of orders that are not automatically fulfilled on time increases slightly. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Clients: | Bol.com, Utrecht, the Netherlands |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 01 general works |
| Programme: | Industrial Engineering and Management MSc (60029) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/89025 |
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