Considerations in order picking zone configuration

In today's competitive global economy, the focus is on faster delivery of small more frequent orders of inventory at a lower total cost. This often precludes the use of full pallet picking in warehouses so firms commonly use manual picking of cases and broken-cases. Many firms increase the efficiency of their warehouses by using zone picking. Zone picking requires that a worker only pick those stock-keeping units (SKUs) stored within their picking zone. In this paper we examine the configuration or shape of these picking zones by simulating a bin-shelving warehouse to measure picker travel where SKUs are assigned storage locations either using random or volume-based storage. The results show that the size or storage capacity of the zone, the number of items on the pick list, and the storage policy have a significant effect on picking zone configuration. In addition, we found that the absence of a back cross aisle also affected picking zone configuration. These results offer solutions to managers looking to implement improvements in distribution center operations.