A simulation framework for studying blocking effects in warehouse systems with autonomous vehicles
Date
2016-04-02Author
Roy, Debjit
Krishnamurthy, A
Heragu, Sunderesh S.
Malmborg, Charles
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Show full item recordAbstract
Autonomous vehicles-based storage and retrieval systems (AVS/RS)
have been shown to offer greater flexibility to improve cycle time and
throughput capacity in the transfer of unit loads in high-density storage areas of
warehouses. In these systems, loads are transferred by autonomous vehicles
that move horizontally along aisles and cross-aisles within a tier, while lifts
support the vertical movement of loads between tiers. For analytical tractability,
prior studies on performance evaluation of AVS/RS have ignored the blocking
effects of vehicles and lifts while estimating throughput capacity and cycle
times. To evaluate the effects of blocking on system performance, this paper
first develops protocols to address vehicle blocking that are subsequently
incorporated in a detailed simulation model. The blocking effects are studied
for a variety of tier configurations that differ in depth/width ratio, number of
locations, number of available vehicles, and transaction arrival rates. Results
suggest that blocking delays could account for 2%–20% of the transaction
cycle times. [Received 17 October 2013; Revised 28 August 2014; Revised 23
December 2014; Accepted 2 April 2015]
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