Analyzing the main and the second order effects of operational policies on the warehouse productivity

Using SIMIO™ simulation modeling framework, the main and first order effects of warehouse operation-al policies on the pallet order consolidation productivity is analyzed. The internal warehouse processes and functions are modeled by means of the discrete-event approach, while the unit-load automated guided vehicles are modeled by means of agents. The input data are based on 1,047 real customer orders. The warehouse storage area is modeled with a capacity of 10,080 pallet positions. Because this model is in-tended to support the design of a novel warehouse, it is validated following the parameters variability-sensitivity analysis. Then an exhaustive series of simulation experiments are conducted varying the num-ber of AGVs, the AGV’s load/unload time and the worker’s picking-time. The scenario analysis indicates that the maximum hourly productivity of 394 picks per worker is obtained via 10 workers, 8 AGVs, AGV’s pallet-load time of 6 seconds, and worker’s picking-time distributed uniformly in 5-10 seconds