IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v258y2023ics0925527323000063.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ergonomic and economic evaluation of a collaborative hybrid order picking system

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Minqi
  • Grosse, Eric H.
  • Glock, Christoph H.

Abstract

Warehouses are important nodes in almost every supply chain. Within warehouses, order picking is a crucial task that is extremely time- and cost-intensive. While order picking systems (OPSs) have traditionally been operated manually, new technologies offer opportunities for reducing the workload of warehouse workers. These technologies include autonomous picking robots that can function in combination with human pickers within a shared workspace. This technology enables human–robot collaboration and enhances flexibility in system design, as robots can either support humans or work independently. Research on the advantages of these hybrid OPSs (HOPSs) for improving operational performance is still scarce, however. To contribute to closing this research gap, we propose an agent-based simulation model to investigate how HOPSs reduce the daily workload of human order pickers. The results reveal that HOPSs – if certain assignment rules for the picking tasks are considered – can reduce both the operational costs of the system and human workload compared to a pure manual or a fully automated OPS. Nonetheless, attention should be paid to control the item weight pickers are supposed to handle, as HOPSs reduce the travel distance of human pickers, resulting in a higher frequency of picking activities and an increased ergonomic risk for musculoskeletal disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Minqi & Grosse, Eric H. & Glock, Christoph H., 2023. "Ergonomic and economic evaluation of a collaborative hybrid order picking system," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:258:y:2023:i:c:s0925527323000063
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2023.108774
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527323000063
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2023.108774?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Taniya Mukherjee & Isha Sangal & Biswajit Sarkar & Tamer M. Alkadash & Qais Almaamari, 2023. "Pallet Distribution Affecting a Machine’s Utilization Level and Picking Time," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Kaibo Liang & Li Zhou & Jianglong Yang & Huwei Liu & Yakun Li & Fengmei Jing & Man Shan & Jin Yang, 2023. "Research on a Dynamic Task Update Assignment Strategy Based on a “Parts to Picker” Picking System," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-29, March.
    3. Diefenbach, Heiko & Grosse, Eric H. & Glock, Christoph H., 2024. "Human-and-cost-centric storage assignment optimization in picker-to-parts warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 315(3), pages 1049-1068.
    4. Fabio Maximiliano Miguel & Mariano Frutos & Máximo Méndez & Fernando Tohmé & Begoña González, 2024. "Comparison of MOEAs in an Optimization-Decision Methodology for a Joint Order Batching and Picking System," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:258:y:2023:i:c:s0925527323000063. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.