Challenges and opportunities with manual order picking

Abstract

Order picking is a process of selecting and collecting items from a warehouse inventory to fulfill customer orders, and is one of the most expensive and labor intensive parts of warehouse operations. This thesis, conducted in collaboration with Toyota Material Handling, aimed to investigate the challenges and opportunities associated with manual order picking operations and propose innovative solutions.

The research commenced with an extensive background research, which delved into different order picking technologies and strategies, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the existing landscape and identify areas in need of improvement.

Following this, multiple visits to warehouses and interviews with order pickers were conducted to gain insights into current order picking practices. The visits fostered a deeper understanding of the practical challenges faced by order pickers, as well as what factors affect their efficiency and well-being. Utilizing the insights gathered from the visits and interviews, an analysis was conducted to establish requirements needed for successful, efficient and pleasant order picking.

Based on these requirements, two design concepts were developed aimed at enhancing existing order picking strategies. The proposed design concepts strive to address the identified challenges in novel ways, and aim to improve the activity of manual order picking both from the perspective of the order picker and the company. The novel features proposed may provide a solid basis for future research and has the potential to provide a better work flow for manual order pickers.