| dc.description.abstract | Order-picking is an important task in the distribution center（DC） and warehouse. It consumes about 60 percent of operation cost. By improving this aspect of its business, a company can significantly reduce costs. This thesis will propose a variety ways to streamline the order-picking operation. I will develop formulas from the perspective of product classification and warehouse zoning.
Product classification organizes goods according to their physical characteristic（e.g., product size, weight, and etc. ） or turnover rate（how many items are picked per hour）, and arrange them into specific groups. A company can benefit from regularizing its warehouse to save more time in the order-picking process.
Warehouse zoning divides the whole storage area into many sub-areas to reduce the time and traveling distance. A customer’s order can be split into many sub orders and can be picked simultaneously to reduce the time to a minimum.
Why is order-picking so important today? Customers demanda great variety of goods and shorter response time. These facts have caused a reduction in product quantities, and the product’s life. The competition of global markets has forced companies to reduce response time to ensure their survival. When a factory produces products from raw materials to a finished good, it’s easier to control the schedule in the factory process, as long as the product is transported to the warehouse, delivering the merchandise to the customer on time is a little more complicated.
Since delivery has become increasingly important to customers, innovations in warehouse operations has become one the most significant trends in business.
Order-picking consists of a vague of the warehouse cost. The function of the warehouse is to store the raw materials, semi-products, and finished goods. If a company wants to improve the accuracy of completing customer’s order, it has to rely on well-designed warehouse and accurate order-picking.
The objective of this paper is to improve order-picking efficiency and accuracy by proposing a method of grouping the products. This thesis will run the simulation program, SIMAN ARENA, to show the improvement and support its position. | en_US |