| Article ID: | iaor2000180 |
| Country: | United States |
| Volume: | 29 |
| Issue: | 10 |
| Start Page Number: | 925 |
| End Page Number: | 938 |
| Publication Date: | Oct 1997 |
| Journal: | IIE Transactions |
| Authors: | Meller Russell D., Mungwattana Anan |
| Keywords: | inventory: storage |
Multi-shuttle automated storage/retrieval systems have been developed for use in factories and distribution centers because they are more efficient than single-shuttle systems (owing to less empty travel). This improved efficiency results in more agile support (flexible response, less waiting time, etc.) for the production system the storage/retrieval system serves. In this paper we develop analytical models to estimate the throughput in multi-shuttle systems. Throughput improvements greater than 100% are illustrated when triple-shuttle systems are compared with single-shuttle systems.