| dc.description.abstract | Warehouse operation is an essential component of the retail industry. One key factor
impacting warehouse operations' effectiveness is the layout design. In this study, the
layout is investigated in terms of aisle layout and shelf configuration in a distribution
center where products from different suppliers are gathered, stored for a specific
duration, then delivered to various customers. Piece and pack pickings are mainly
serviced at the distribution center. The purpose of the study is to design a warehouse
shelf configuration to minimize the annual material handling cost. The picking
frequency and weight of products are taken into account when placing or picking from
the shelves regarding to the distances between the shelves and the docks. A particle
swarm optimization algorithm is proposed as a novel heuristic approach to find the
optimal layout. The result shows that changes in the number of docks, the material
handling unit cost, and the yearly throughput do not make a change in the shelf
configuration except the annual handling cost. | en_US |
