Warehouse Design under Class-Based Storage Policy of Shuttle-Based Storage and Retrieval System

In this study, we aim to find out the best rack design for shuttle-based storage and retrieval system (SBS/RS) under class-based storage policy (CSP). SBS/RS is a new technology in automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) which is developed for high transaction environments where mini load AS/RS crane may not be able to keep pace with the transaction rate needed over a given number of storage locations. We consider several rack design concepts in terms of number of aisles, tiers and bays in the warehouse. The performance of the system is evaluated in terms of utilizations of lifts and storage/retrieval devices and cycle times of storage/retrieval transactions. We utilize simulation for the modeling purpose. The results indicate that CSP works better under high rise warehouse design. So, this may create less number of lifts requirement in the system. Hence, the warehouse design with CSP may tend to have lower investment cost. By this study, we also aim to provide practitioners and academia a significant insight for SBS/RS design under several rack design concepts for CSP. (C) 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.