24th Conference of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies
Abstract Submission

2188. The impact of zoning policies on efficiency in collaborative picking systems with autonomous mobile robots

Invited abstract in session MC-34: Planning and scheduling picking operations in collaborative environments, stream Warehousing.

Monday, 10:30-12:00
Room: JUR – Hörsaal 16

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Sina Khodaee
School of Management, University of Bath
2. Melih Celik
School of Management, University of Bath
3. Vaggelis Giannikas
University of Bath
4. Nader Ghaffarinasab
Department of Industrial Engineering, Middle East Technical University

Abstract

We investigate the impact of zoning decisions in a collaborative order-picking system where autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) transport batches of orders and human pickers retrieve and load items onto the robots. The key decisions include batching orders for AMRs, assigning pickers to zones, and routing both robots and pickers. We study three coordination strategies: no zoning, static zoning, and dynamic zoning, and develop MIP models and solution heuristics for each. Computational results discuss the benefits of dynamic zoning showing a balance between performance and practical simplicity.

Keywords

Status: accepted


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