Multi-Worker Warehouse Planning for Shorter Picking Routes
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Solution Overview
Problem
In free-layout warehouses, determining the shortest picking routes for multiple orders is challenging due to the lack of movement direction limitations, leading to an enormous calculation load and numerous combinations, making existing optimization methods inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A work planning program and method that utilize first and second specification processing to specify order combinations and travel orders, reducing the total movement distance while minimizing calculation load by applying order batching optimization to each candidate route.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If no limitation is provided on movement direction in free-layout warehouses, then route flexibility is improved, but the number of combinations becomes enormous and calculation load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the warehouse layout into structured zones or grid sections, transforming the continuous free-layout space into discrete segments. This segmentation reduces the infinite possibilities of movement directions into a manageable set of predefined paths between segments, thereby maintaining route flexibility while significantly reducing the combinatorial explosion of possible routes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of movement direction from continuous (any angle) to discrete (predefined directions along grid lines or between zones). By quantizing the movement direction parameter, the system maintains adaptability to different warehouse layouts while reducing the calculation complexity from continuous optimization to discrete combinatorial optimization.
2Productivity
If all combinations of orders are calculated to find optimal routes, then route optimization is improved, but calculation time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing optimal paths between all pairs of zones or work positions before actual order processing. When orders are assigned, the system simply retrieves and combines these pre-computed paths rather than calculating all possible combinations in real-time, significantly reducing calculation time while maintaining optimization quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the route calculation problem from the overall order optimization problem. By separating route optimization from order assignment, the system can pre-compute routes independently and then focus computational resources on optimizing order combinations, thereby reducing the overall calculation time while maintaining both route and assignment optimization.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A work planning program for causing a computer to execute first specification processing of specifying, for each of a plurality of candidate routes to sequentially travel a plurality of work positions included in a plurality of orders, each of combinations of the orders such that a total sum of movement distances, in which each of a plurality of workers travels work positions specified by a combination of orders assigned to each of the plurality of workers in a case where the plurality of orders is assigned to the plurality of workers, satisfies a first predetermined condition, and second specification processing of selecting a candidate route in which the total sum of the movement distances of each of the plurality of workers satisfies a second predetermined condition among the plurality of candidate routes obtained by executing the first specification processing, and specifying a travel order in which the total sum of the movement distances of each of the plurality of workers satisfies a third predetermined condition by exchanging the travel order in the combination of the orders assigned to each of the plurality of workers.