The procedure of determining the order picking strategies in distribution center

Order picking is one of the most crucial tasks in a distribution center. Picking accuracy critically depends on the use of appropriate order picking strategy. The purpose of this paper is thus to propose a computer-based procedure that can determine such order picking strategies. The mechanism of this procedure is two-phase. An analytic method is first employed to classify all orders into five categories. Computer simulation then follows to generate the appropriate picking strategies that correspond to each type of the orders classified. An example demonstrating the implementation of the procedure was provided. This paper also included analysis of variance that examined the significant effect of different order picking strategies.