IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jorsoc/v59y2008i9d10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602474.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Minimizing makespan and throughput times at Aalsmeer flower auction

Author

Listed:
  • R de Koster

    (RSM Erasmus University)

  • M Yu

    (RSM Erasmus University)

Abstract

At Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer (VBA), about 19 million flowers have to be distributed daily to customers in a building of 1 million m2 within a few hours. With the increasing daily number of customer orders, the congestion in the main distribution area increases. As a consequence, the makespan exceeds the available time, and flowers arrive too late at the customers. This paper investigates the concept of zoning in the distribution process, where distributors work in teams for a fixed group of customers in a specific zone of the distribution area. Customers are assigned to zones to balance workload. We show by simulation that this way of organizing the distribution process reduces congestion and leads to considerable improvements in both makespan and transaction lead time.

Suggested Citation

  • R de Koster & M Yu, 2008. "Minimizing makespan and throughput times at Aalsmeer flower auction," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(9), pages 1182-1190, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:59:y:2008:i:9:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602474
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602474
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602474
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602474?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Margaret A. Meyer, 1994. "The Dynamics of Learning with Team Production: Implications for Task Assignment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 1157-1184.
    2. Le-Duc, T. & de Koster, M.B.M., 2005. "Determining Number of Zones in a Pick-and-pack Orderpicking System," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2005-029-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    3. Jane, Chin-Chia & Laih, Yih-Wenn, 2005. "A clustering algorithm for item assignment in a synchronized zone order picking system," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 166(2), pages 489-496, October.
    4. 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.
    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. Hong, Soondo & Johnson, Andrew L. & Peters, Brett A., 2012. "Batch picking in narrow-aisle order picking systems with consideration for picker blocking," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 221(3), pages 557-570.
    2. Asef-Vaziri, Ardavan & Kazemi, Morteza, 2018. "Covering and connectivity constraints in loop-based formulation of material flow network design in facility layout," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(3), pages 1033-1044.
    3. David Winkelmann & Frederik Tolkmitt & Matthias Ulrich & Michael Romer, 2022. "Integrated storage assignment for an e-grocery fulfilment centre: Accounting for day-of-week demand patterns," Papers 2209.03998, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    4. Asef-Vaziri, Ardavan & Jahandideh, Hossein & Modarres, Mohammad, 2017. "Loop-based facility layout design under flexible bay structures," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 713-725.
    5. Kaveh Azadeh & René De Koster & Debjit Roy, 2019. "Robotized and Automated Warehouse Systems: Review and Recent Developments," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 917-945, July.

    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. 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.
    2. van Gils, Teun & Ramaekers, Katrien & Braekers, Kris & Depaire, Benoît & Caris, An, 2018. "Increasing order picking efficiency by integrating storage, batching, zone picking, and routing policy decisions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 243-261.
    3. Rafael Diaz, 2016. "Using dynamic demand information and zoning for the storage of non-uniform density stock keeping units," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(8), pages 2487-2498, April.
    4. Grzegorz Tarczyński, 2023. "Linear programming models for optimal workload and batching in pick-and-pass warehousing systems," Operations Research and Decisions, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 33(3), pages 141-158.
    5. Pan, Jason Chao-Hsien & Shih, Po-Hsun & Wu, Ming-Hung, 2015. "Order batching in a pick-and-pass warehousing system with group genetic algorithm," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 57(PB), pages 238-248.
    6. Yu, Mengfei & de Koster, René B.M., 2009. "The impact of order batching and picking area zoning on order picking system performance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 198(2), pages 480-490, October.
    7. Yu, M. & de Koster, M.B.M., 2007. "Performance Approximation and Design of Pick-and-Pass Order Picking Systems," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-082-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    8. Li, Xiaowei & Hua, Guowei & Huang, Anqiang & Sheu, Jiuh-Biing & Cheng, T.C.E. & Huang, Fengquan, 2020. "Storage assignment policy with awareness of energy consumption in the Kiva mobile fulfilment system," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. de Koster, M.B.M. & Le-Duc, T. & Roodbergen, K.J., 2006. "Design and Control of Warehouse Order Picking: a literature review," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-005-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    10. Alena Otto & Nils Boysen & Armin Scholl & Rico Walter, 2017. "Ergonomic workplace design in the fast pick area," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 39(4), pages 945-975, October.
    11. Vasiliki Kapou & Stavros T. Ponis & George Plakas & Eleni Aretoulaki, 2022. "An Innovative Layout Design and Storage Assignment Method for Manual Order Picking with Respect to Ergonomic Criteria," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Masae, Makusee & Glock, Christoph H. & Vichitkunakorn, Panupong, 2021. "A method for efficiently routing order pickers in the leaf warehouse," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    13. van der Gaast, Jelmer Pier & Weidinger, Felix, 2022. "A deep learning approach for the selection of an order picking system," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 302(2), pages 530-543.
    14. Mirzaei, Masoud & Zaerpour, Nima & de Koster, René, 2021. "The impact of integrated cluster-based storage allocation on parts-to-picker warehouse performance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    15. de Vries, J. & de Koster, M.B.M. & Stam, D.A., 2015. "Aligning order picking methods, incentive systems, and regulatory focus to increase performance," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2015-009-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    16. Jérémie Gallien & Théophane Weber, 2010. "To Wave or Not to Wave? Order Release Policies for Warehouses with an Automated Sorter," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 642-662, September.
    17. van Gils, Teun & Ramaekers, Katrien & Caris, An & de Koster, René B.M., 2018. "Designing efficient order picking systems by combining planning problems: State-of-the-art classification and review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 1-15.
    18. De Santis, Roberta & Montanari, Roberto & Vignali, Giuseppe & Bottani, Eleonora, 2018. "An adapted ant colony optimization algorithm for the minimization of the travel distance of pickers in manual warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 120-137.
    19. Boysen, Nils & de Koster, René & Füßler, David, 2021. "The forgotten sons: Warehousing systems for brick-and-mortar retail chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(2), pages 361-381.
    20. Dirk Sliwka, 2001. "On the Costs and Benefits of Delegation in Organizations," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 157(4), pages 568-590, December.

    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:pal:jorsoc:v:59:y:2008:i:9:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602474. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.