Perceived work autonomy in order picking systems: An empirical analysis

Abstract

Digitalisation in warehousing and order picking is disrupting the logistics sector in its core processes. One key element of this transformation is the acceleration of physical and information flows in order to reduce the lead time. At this stage, scientists and practitioners know little about how accelerated processes impact order pickers’ perception of their work autonomy. Therefore, this paper aims to address this research gap. Additionally, we investigate the literature on autonomy to gain an understanding of this important concept. The research project involved a questionnaire completed by order pickers. The test persons were selected from a German food retailing company and have been working with either a pick-by-terminal (n=10) or a pick-by-voice system (n=10). The findings indicate that pickers using pick-by-terminal technology experience higher work autonomy than the ones using pick-by-voice. A further correlation analysis proves that the average performance is crucial for the perceived work autonomy and that work error autonomy is reduced the longer the pickers are employed. Based on these results, logistics management has to find ways to increase work autonomy for highly efficient pickers in both picking systems and lower the experience of isolation for voice based order picking.