IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v65y2019i6p2624-2645.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Finding a Needle in a Haystack: The Effects of Searching and Learning on Pick-Worker Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Robert J. Batt

    (Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706)

  • Santiago Gallino

    (Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755)

Abstract

The rise in online and multichannel retailing has pushed retailers to give increased attention to their order-fulfillment operations. We study “chaotic storage” fulfillment systems in which dissimilar items are stored together in a single location. This necessitates a searching task as part of the picking process, which has not been previously studied. We show that pick times increase by as much as 16% as the searching task becomes more difficult. However, the deleterious effect of searching decreases with pick-worker experience. Using simulation, we show that pick times can be improved by incorporating distance, bin density, and picker experience into pick assignments and pick routing. Through properly combining the details of the task and the workers, order-fulfillment productivity can be increased by approximately 5%. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert J. Batt & Santiago Gallino, 2019. "Finding a Needle in a Haystack: The Effects of Searching and Learning on Pick-Worker Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 2624-2645, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:65:y:2019:i:6:p:2624-2645
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3059
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3059?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mirko Kremer & Brent Moritz & Enno Siemsen, 2011. "Demand Forecasting Behavior: System Neglect and Change Detection," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(10), pages 1827-1843, October.
    2. Hummy Song & Anita L. Tucker & Karen L. Murrell & David R. Vinsonc, 2018. "Closing the Productivity Gap: Improving Worker Productivity Through Public Relative Performance Feedback and Validation of Best Practices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2628-2649, June.
    3. M. Eric Johnson & Margaret L. Brandeau, 1996. "Stochastic Modeling for Automated Material Handling System Design and Control," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 330-350, November.
    4. Michael A. Lapré & Nikos Tsikriktsis, 2006. "Organizational Learning Curves for Customer Dissatisfaction: Heterogeneity Across Airlines," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(3), pages 352-366, March.
    5. Anita L. Tucker & Ingrid M. Nembhard & Amy C. Edmondson, 2007. "Implementing New Practices: An Empirical Study of Organizational Learning in Hospital Intensive Care Units," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(6), pages 894-907, June.
    6. Marc Goetschalckx & H. Donald Ratliff, 1990. "Shared Storage Policies Based on the Duration Stay of Unit Loads," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(9), pages 1120-1132, September.
    7. de Koster, Rene & Le-Duc, Tho & Roodbergen, Kees Jan, 2007. "Design and control of warehouse order picking: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(2), pages 481-501, October.
    8. Ruth Beer & Hyun-Soo Ahn & Stephen Leider, 2018. "Can Trustworthiness in a Supply Chain Be Signaled?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(9), pages 3974-3994, September.
    9. Gu, Jinxiang & Goetschalckx, Marc & McGinnis, Leon F., 2007. "Research on warehouse operation: A comprehensive review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(1), pages 1-21, February.
    10. Yavuz A. Bozer & John A. White, 1990. "Design and Performance Models for End-of-Aisle Order Picking Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(7), pages 852-866, July.
    11. Felipe Caro & Jérémie Gallien, 2007. "Dynamic Assortment with Demand Learning for Seasonal Consumer Goods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 276-292, February.
    12. Michael A. Lapré & Amit Shankar Mukherjee & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2000. "Behind the Learning Curve: Linking Learning Activities to Waste Reduction," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(5), pages 597-611, May.
    13. Warren H. Hausman & Leroy B. Schwarz & Stephen C. Graves, 1976. "Optimal Storage Assignment in Automatic Warehousing Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 629-638, February.
    14. H. W. Kuhn, 1955. "The Hungarian method for the assignment problem," Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(1‐2), pages 83-97, March.
    15. Gary P. Pisano & Richard M.J. Bohmer & Amy C. Edmondson, 2001. "Organizational Differences in Rates of Learning: Evidence from the Adoption of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(6), pages 752-768, June.
    16. Gu, Jinxiang & Goetschalckx, Marc & McGinnis, Leon F., 2010. "Research on warehouse design and performance evaluation: A comprehensive review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(3), pages 539-549, June.
    17. Petersen, Charles G. & Aase, Gerald, 2004. "A comparison of picking, storage, and routing policies in manual order picking," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 11-19, November.
    18. Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats & David M. Upton, 2009. "Team Familiarity, Role Experience, and Performance: Evidence from Indian Software Services," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 85-100, January.
    19. Bradley R. Staats & Francesca Gino, 2012. "Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1141-1159, June.
    20. Andrew M. Davis & Elena Katok & Natalia Santamaría, 2014. "Push, Pull, or Both? A Behavioral Study of How the Allocation of Inventory Risk Affects Channel Efficiency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2666-2683, November.
    21. Mario Cleves & William W. Gould & Roberto G. Gutierrez & Yulia Marchenko, 2010. "An Introduction to Survival Analysis Using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 3, number saus3, March.
    22. John Boudreau & Wallace Hopp & John O. McClain & L. Joseph Thomas, 2003. "On the Interface Between Operations and Human Resources Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 179-202, September.
    23. Michael Becker-Peth & Elena Katok & Ulrich W. Thonemann, 2013. "Designing Buyback Contracts for Irrational But Predictable Newsvendors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(8), pages 1800-1816, August.
    24. Amit Shankar Mukherjee & Michael A. Lapré & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 1998. "Knowledge Driven Quality Improvement," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(11-Part-2), pages 35-49, November.
    25. Kamalini Ramdas & Taylor Randall, 2008. "Does Component Sharing Help or Hurt Reliability? An Empirical Study in the Automotive Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(5), pages 922-938, May.
    26. Diwas KC & Bradley R. Staats & Francesca Gino, 2013. "Learning from My Success and from Others' Failure: Evidence from Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(11), pages 2435-2449, November.
    27. Robert J. Batt & Christian Terwiesch, 2015. "Waiting Patiently: An Empirical Study of Queue Abandonment in an Emergency Department," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 39-59, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Zhuang, Yanling & Zhou, Yun & Yuan, Yufei & Hu, Xiangpei & Hassini, Elkafi, 2022. "Order picking optimization with rack-moving mobile robots and multiple workstations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(2), pages 527-544.
    2. Loske, Dominic & Klumpp, Matthias & Grosse, Eric H. & Modica, Tiziana & Glock, Christoph H., 2023. "Storage systems’ impact on order picking time: An empirical economic analysis of flow-rack storage systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maria R. Ibanez & Jonathan R. Clark & Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2018. "Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(9), pages 4389-4407, September.
    2. Diwas Singh KC & Bradley R. Staats, 2012. "Accumulating a Portfolio of Experience: The Effect of Focal and Related Experience on Surgeon Performance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(4), pages 618-633, October.
    3. Linda Argote & Sunkee Lee & Jisoo Park, 2021. "Organizational Learning Processes and Outcomes: Major Findings and Future Research Directions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5399-5429, September.
    4. Roodbergen, Kees Jan & Vis, Iris F.A., 2009. "A survey of literature on automated storage and retrieval systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 194(2), pages 343-362, April.
    5. Chen, Gang & Feng, Haolin & Luo, Kaiyi & Tang, Yanli, 2021. "Retrieval-oriented storage relocation optimization of an automated storage and retrieval system," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    6. Silva, Allyson & Coelho, Leandro C. & Darvish, Maryam & Renaud, Jacques, 2020. "Integrating storage location and order picking problems in warehouse planning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    7. Bradley R. Staats & Diwas S. KC & Francesca Gino, 2018. "Maintaining Beliefs in the Face of Negative News: The Moderating Role of Experience," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(2), pages 804-824, February.
    8. Jonathan R. Clark & Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2013. "Learning from Customers: Individual and Organizational Effects in Outsourced Radiological Services," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1539-1557, October.
    9. Bradley R. Staats & Francesca Gino, 2012. "Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1141-1159, June.
    10. Guo, Xiaolong & Chen, Ran & Du, Shaofu & Yu, Yugang, 2021. "Storage assignment for newly arrived items in forward picking areas with limited open locations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Ingrid M. Nembhard & Anita L. Tucker, 2011. "Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 907-922, August.
    12. Kannan Srikanth & Jaideep Anand & Mihaela Stan, 2021. "The origins of time compression diseconomies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(9), pages 1573-1599, September.
    13. Ang, Marcus & Lim, Yun Fong, 2019. "How to optimize storage classes in a unit-load warehouse," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 278(1), pages 186-201.
    14. Diwas KC & Bradley R. Staats & Francesca Gino, 2013. "Learning from My Success and from Others' Failure: Evidence from Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(11), pages 2435-2449, November.
    15. Kovács, András, 2011. "Optimizing the storage assignment in a warehouse served by milkrun logistics," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 312-318, September.
    16. Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2008. "Variation in Experience and Team Familiarity: Addressing the Knowledge Acquisition-Application Problem," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-035, Harvard Business School.
    17. Bortolini, Marco & Faccio, Maurizio & Ferrari, Emilio & Gamberi, Mauro & Pilati, Francesco, 2017. "Time and energy optimal unit-load assignment for automatic S/R warehouses," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 133-145.
    18. Zhuang, Yanling & Zhou, Yun & Hassini, Elkafi & Yuan, Yufei & Hu, Xiangpei, 2024. "Improving order picking efficiency through storage assignment optimization in robotic mobile fulfillment systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(2), pages 718-732.
    19. Gu, Jinxiang & Goetschalckx, Marc & McGinnis, Leon F., 2010. "Research on warehouse design and performance evaluation: A comprehensive review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(3), pages 539-549, June.
    20. Kretschmer, Tobias & Glauber, Johanna, 2018. "Learning from failure across products," CEPR Discussion Papers 13140, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:65:y:2019:i:6:p:2624-2645. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.