A literature review of smart warehouse operations management

E-commerce, new retail, and other changes have highlighted the requirement of high efficiency and accuracy in the logistics service. As an important section in logistics and supply chain management, warehouses need to respond positively to the increasing requirement. The “smart warehouse” system, which is equipped with emerging warehousing technologies, is increasingly attracting the attention of industry and technology giants as an efficient solution for the future of warehouse development. This study provides a holistic view of operations management problems within the context of smart warehouses. We provide a framework to review smart warehouse operations management based on the characteristics of smart warehouses, including the perspectives of information interconnection, equipment automation, process integration, and environmental sustainability. A comprehensive review of relevant literature is then carried out based on the framework with four perspectives. This study could provide future research directions on smart warehouses for academia and industry practitioners.

Towards an increased understanding of learning: a case study of a collaborative relationship between a retailer and a logistics service provider

PurposeThis study aims to explain how learning occurs in collaborative retailer–logistics service provider (LSP) relationships. The research is guided by two research questions, addressing absorptive and desorptive capacities and the interaction between these capacities.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a case study of a Swedish, collaborative retailer–LSP dyad. The empirical data are structured around five specific learning situations within the retailer–LSP dyad.FindingsThe findings provide an explanation for how learning occurs within a collaborative retailer–LSP relationship based on subprocesses of absorptive and desorptive capacities. The interaction between these processes is found to rely on two types of support: one-directional and bidirectional. The findings also indicate positive outcomes of learning, such as improved cost efficiencies in warehouse operations, better customer services and improved long-term strategic planning.Practical implicationsThis study shows how retailers and LSPs can learn from each other and together create an improved logistics system for end customers.Originality/valueThis research takes into account absorptive and desorptive capacities in a collaborative retailer–LSP relationship. This study enhances the understanding of inter-organisational learning processes in a retail logistics context.

WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS OF PASSENGER SERVICE CAR DEPOT WITH LOGISTICS ELEMENTS

The article discusses the issues of rational organization of the warehouse process of storing inventory, the sequential implementation of warehouse operations, the improvement of labor organization and technological solutions, the effective use of various equipment involved in the performance of technological operations at the warehouse of the carriage depot of the Joint Stock Company «Uzpasstrans». The issues of creating a database for storing goods, an effective system for organizing their account are considered. The ER-diagram of the database of warehouse inventory of spare parts and components has been developed. The functions and procedures for working with database data on components and spare parts located in the warehouse of the carriage depot have been determined.

A Survey of the Literature on Order-Picking Systems by Combining Planning Problems

Companies have been trying continuously to reduce their logistics costs in the current competitive markets. Warehouses are important components of the logistics systems and they must be managed effectively and efficiently to reduce the production cost as well as maintain customer satisfaction. Order-picking is the core of warehouse operations and an order-picking system (OPS) is essential to meet customer needs and orders. Failure to perform the OPS process properly results in high costs and customer dissatisfaction. This research aims to investigate the state of the art in the adoption of OPS and provide a broad systemic analysis on main operating strategies such as simultaneous consideration of order assignment, batching, sequencing, tardiness, and routing need. This study reviews 92 articles, classifies combinations of tactical and operational OPS problems, and provides guidelines on how warehouse managers can benefit from combining planning problems, in order to design efficient OPS and improve customer service. Combining multiple order-picking planning problems results in substantial efficiency benefits, which are required to face new market developments.

Determination of Performance Indicators for Warehouse Evaluation: A Case of Medium Sized Warehouses in Nakuru Town

Evaluation of warehouse processes is required for decision making purposes and the improvement of warehouse operations. To evaluate warehouse processes, it is essential to identify key indicators in the warehouse operations. This research was intended to identify the significant indicators of warehouse performance that would support management decision making on the improvement of warehouse operations. In this research 20 indicators were identified in four warehouse activities based on Frazelle model. The most important indicators in each warehouse were then determined. The study was conducted through a descriptive design using a survey of 3 medium warehouses in Nakuru. The study employed purposive sampling to select the sample and sample elements. The sample size of 10 warehouse management officers were used in the study. Structured questionnaire was adopted as data collection instrument. The research findings indicated that most important performance indicators for receiving is productivity, for storage is space utilization, for order picking is cycle time and for shipping is productivity. Process improvement steps were proposed based on benchmarking among warehouses handling similar goods. It was noted that different types of warehouses require different indicators. The study concluded that measurement of warehouse processes is important and enables operations improvements and cost reduction. Keywords: Warehouse procedures, warehouse performance, warehouse improvement, medium sized warehouses, Nakuru town, Kenya

Risk Assessment for the Use of Drones in Warehouse Operations in the First Phase of Introducing the Service to the Market

Services, unlike products, are intangible, and their production and consumption take place simultaneously. The latter feature plays a crucial role in mitigating the identified risk. This article presents the new approach to risk assessment, which considers the first phase of introducing the service to the market and the specificity of UAV systems in warehouse operations. The fuzzy logic concept was used in the risk analysis model. The described risk assessment method was developed based on a literature review, historical data of a service company, observations of development team members, and the knowledge and experience of experts’ teams. Thanks to this, the proposed approach considers the current knowledge in studies and practical experiences related to the implementation of drones in warehouse operations. The proposed methodology was verified on the example of the selected service for drones in the magazine inventory. The conducted risk analysis allowed us to identify ten scenarios of adverse events registered in the drone service in warehouse operations. Thanks to the proposed classification of events, priorities were assigned to activities requiring risk mitigation. The proposed method is universal. It can be implemented to analyze logistics services and support the decision-making process in the first service life phase.

Design and application of data analytics in an internet-of-things enabled warehouse

Purpose While several warehouses are now technologically equipped and smart, the implementation of real-time analytics in warehouse operations is scarcely reported in the literature. This study aims to develop a practical system for real-time analytics of process monitoring in an internet-of-things (IoT)-enabled smart warehouse environment. Design/methodology/approach A modified system development research process was used to carry out this research. A prototype system was developed that mimicked a case company’s actual warehouse operations in Indonesia’s manufacturing companies. The proposed system relied heavily on the utilization of IoT technologies, wireless internet connection and web services to keep track of the product movement to provide real-time access to critical warehousing activities, helping make better, faster and more informed decisions. Findings The proposed system in the presented case company increased real-time warehousing processes visibility for stakeholders at different management levels in their most convenient ways by developing visual representation to display crucial information. The numerical or textual data were converted into graphics for ease of understanding for stakeholders, including field operators. The key elements for the feasible implementation of the proposed model in an industrial area were discussed. They are strategic-level components, IoT-enabled warehouse environments, customized middleware settings, real-time processing software and visual dashboard configuration. Research limitations/implications While this study shows a prototype-based implementation of actual warehouse operations in one of Indonesia’s manufacturing companies, the architectural requirements are applicable and extensible by other companies. In this sense, the research offers significant economic advantages by using customized middleware to avoid unnecessary waste brought by the off-the-shelves generic middleware, which is not entirely suitable for system development. Originality/value This research’s finding contributes to filling the gap in the limited body of knowledge of real-time analytics implementation in warehousing operations. This should encourage other researchers to enhance and develop the devised elements to enrich smart warehousing’s theoretical knowledge. Besides, the successful proof-of-concept implementation reported in this research would allow other companies to gain valuable insights and experiences.

Genetic Algorithm Solution for Transfer Robot Operation

The proposed article presents the research of decision-making processes for control system of transport robot, acting inside warehouse. The analysis shows the growing importance of warehouse systems for flexible integrated system. Such warehouse operations, like loading/uploading pallets and sending goods to distribution center can be fully automated by applying robots and some examples are known. Simultaneously, the wide introduction of transport robots with extended possibilities is still limited. Application of intelligent robot can significantly improve properties of warehouse systems, making them closer to Industry 4.0 standards. The functioning of a transport robot can be described as a Travelling Salesmen Problem with numerous solutions that must be effectively limited. Genetic algorithms are proposed as a basis for path generation. The algorithms and software are implemented to model warehouse transfer robots using an Arduino-robot. The results of testing show the effectiveness of the developed algorithms, software and hardware system.