An Efficient order-picking Route Planning Based on a Fuzzy Set Method with a Multiple-aisle in a Distribution Center

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a methodology based on the fuzzy set theory to solve the order-picking route planning problem with a multiple-aisle in a distribution center. Unlike traditional route planning strategies that only cope with quantitative data, fuzzy set-based methods provide proper mechanism for expressing planners’ linguistic terms to determine the level of factors that affect the order-picking route planning. A proposed order-picking route planning procedure that applies the fuzzy logic and the fuzzy clustering algorithm is presented here. The objective aimed to achieve is to reduce the traveling distance and time of order picking on the dynamic and elaborate order fulfillment operations. An example is given to illustrate the proposed route planning procedure. It is our hope that the proposed fuzzy approaches from this study can assist order pickers to deal with both quantitative and linguistic factors in improving the overall performance of their order-picking operations.