Article ID: | iaor19961998 |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Volume: | 34 |
Issue: | 6 |
Start Page Number: | 1757 |
End Page Number: | 1771 |
Publication Date: | Jun 1996 |
Journal: | International Journal of Production Research |
Authors: | Peters B.A., Smith J.S., Hale T.S. |
Keywords: | location |
This paper examines the problem of where a storage/retrieval machine should reside, or dwell, when an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) becomes idle to minimize the expected value of the next transaction time. After a review of the relevant literature on AS/RS dwell point strategies, this paper proposes several analytical models of these expected response times of the AS/RS based on the relative locations of the input and output ports of the AS/RS. It uses a continuous rack approximation to provide analytical models of the dwell point location problem. These models provide closed form solutions for the dwell point location in an AS/RS. Extensions are made to consider AS/RS with a variety of configurations including multiple input and output ports. These models not only provide solutions to the dwell point location problem, but they provide considerable insight into the nature of this problem, which is particularly valuable when the requirements facing the AS/RS are uncertain.