A simulation based approach for Warehouse Management

This paper focuses on a flexible simulation model of a real warehouse. In particular, the objective of this research work consists in evaluating analytical relations between system input parameters (the number of suppliers' and retailers' trucks per day, the number of forklift and lift trucks, the number of shelves levels) and the output performance measures (the waiting time of suppliers' trucks before starting the unloading operation and the waiting time of retailers' trucks before starting the loading operation). Such relationships should be used for a correct system design and management. In order to test all the possible combinations of the input parameters, the Design Of Experiments methodology is adopted while simulation results are then studied by means of the Analysis Of Variance.