2552. A Cost-Efficient Storage Location and Order Picking Policy for Improved Warehouse Management
Invited abstract in session TA-58: Warehouse Operations, stream Vehicle Routing and Logistics.
Tuesday, 8:30-10:00Room: Liberty 1.13
Authors (first author is the speaker)
| 1. | Antoine Sauré
|
| Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa | |
| 2. | Amirhossein Moosavi
|
| University of Michigan | |
| 3. | Behrad Erfani
|
| Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Azad University |
Abstract
This study investigates storage location and order picking challenges faced by third-party logistics (3PL) providers managing temperature-sensitive, perishable products. In our setting, complexity arises from varying product expiration dates, specific customer requirements for remaining shelf life, and stochastic demand and arrivals. Despite the interdependence of storage and picking decisions, these are traditionally handled separately and manually. To improve efficiency, we propose a data-driven solution approach based on an infinite-horizon Markov Decision Process. To address the curse of dimensionality, we employ an affine approximation architecture and solve an equivalent linear programming model via column generation to derive approximate optimal policies. These policies inform the development of an intelligent yet easy-to-implement heuristic. Numerical results demonstrate that our heuristic outperforms alternative decision rules, including the one currently used by our 3PL partner, leading to more efficient warehouse operations.
Keywords
- Warehouse Design, Planning, and Control
- Programming, Dynamic
- Optimal Control
Status: accepted
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