Automated Storage Order Preparation for Just-In-Time Pickup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated storage and retrieval systems face challenges in managing floor space utilization and maintaining temperature-controlled environments for goods awaiting pickup, especially in facilities with limited space, due to unpredictable collection times and potential accumulation of prepared orders.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for ranking and preparing orders based on real-time pick-up entity information, estimating preparation and delivery times, and continuously updating rankings to ensure goods are delivered to a pick-up point just in time, minimizing space occupation and maintaining temperature control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If goods are prepared and delivered to pick-up point as soon as order is received, then order preparation speed is improved, but floor space at pick-up point accumulates and temperature control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-ranking orders based on estimated pick-up times before goods are actually prepared. Orders are sorted in advance according to predicted customer pickup schedules, allowing the system to prepare goods in the optimal sequence rather than immediately upon receipt, thus preventing accumulation at the pick-up point.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the order preparation sequence based on real-time information about pick-up entities. The ranking is continuously updated as new information becomes available about when customers will pick up their goods, allowing the system to adapt the preparation timeline to actual conditions rather than following a fixed immediate-preparation approach.
2Temperature
If goods are kept in temperature-controlled environment until pickup, then temperature control is maintained, but floor space utilization becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary ranking of orders based on estimated pick-up times before goods are prepared and moved to the pick-up point. This allows temperature-controlled goods to be prepared and delivered just in time for pickup, minimizing the time they occupy floor space while maintaining temperature control during the preparation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback about actual pick-up times and entity locations to continuously update order rankings. This feedback mechanism allows the system to optimize the timing of goods delivery to the pick-up point, ensuring they are there exactly when needed, thus improving floor space utilization while maintaining temperature control.
3Productivity
If orders are prepared immediately upon receipt, then order fulfillment speed is improved, but accumulation of prepared orders occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary ranking of orders based on estimated pick-up times before actual preparation begins. This preliminary sorting allows the system to prepare orders in the optimal sequence, delivering them just in time for pickup rather than accumulating them at the pick-up point, thus maintaining high fulfillment speed while preventing accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the preparation sequence based on real-time information about pick-up entities and their locations. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize the timing of order preparation and delivery, preventing accumulation by ensuring goods are delivered exactly when customers are ready to pick them up.
4Measurement precision
If continuous monitoring of pick-up entities is implemented, then pick-up time estimation accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor pick-up entities and update order rankings based on actual locations and estimated arrival times. This feedback approach improves pick-up time estimation accuracy by using real-time data, while the system manages complexity through automated processing of this information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex manual monitoring and scheduling mechanisms with automated electronic systems that track pick-up entities and calculate estimated times. This substitution reduces the operational complexity of continuous monitoring while improving estimation accuracy through computational methods rather than manual processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A control system controls an automated storage and retrieval system to perform a method including receiving a plurality of orders in an order list; allocating each order to one of a plurality of pick-up entities; ranking the plurality of orders in the order list according to time received; estimating, for each order, a preparation time for preparing and delivering the order to a pick-up point for pick-up by the allocated pick-up entity; estimating, for each order, a pick-up time at which the allocated pick-up entity will be ready to pick up the order based on information about the allocated pick-up entity; comparing, for each order, the estimated preparation time and the estimated pick-up time; updating the ranking of the orders in the order list so that each order will be delivered at the pick-up point at a time within a predetermined time interval overlapping the estimated pick-up time of the allocated pick-up entity; and controlling the automated storage and retrieval system for preparing and delivering the orders of goods at the pick-up point according to the updated ranking of orders in the order list.