Multi-Level Tote Cache Sequencing for Faster Picker Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated warehouse systems face challenges in maximizing picker performance and throughput due to excessive picker movement and delays in accessing storage containers, particularly in 'Picker-to-Goods' systems, where moving a picker to various locations results in wasted motion and reduced efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a Multi-Level Tote Storage system with three levels of tote storage, where Level-0 Tote Storage is immediately accessible to the picker, Level-1 Tote Storage is located near the picker but with limited mobility, and Level-2 Tote Storage is remotely located, utilizing a tote-movement controller to optimize the sequence and timing of tote delivery to minimize waiting time and maximize throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a Picker is moved to various locations to access goods in 'Picker-to-Goods' systems, then the Picker can access different storage areas, but excessive picker movement and wasted motion occur resulting in reduced efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional 'Picker-to-Goods' approach by implementing 'Goods-to-Picker' automation where robotic systems bring storage containers to the picker's stationary location. This inversion eliminates the picker's need to move physically through the warehouse, converting picker movement from a necessary function to an eliminated waste, thereby resolving the contradiction between accessibility and productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces robotic systems and automated conveyance mechanisms as intermediaries between the goods and the picker. These intermediaries handle the transportation of storage containers to the picker's workstation, allowing the picker to remain stationary while still accessing diverse inventory, thus maintaining accessibility without the productivity penalty of physical movement
2Loss of time
If multiple levels of tote storage are implemented to ensure immediate access to required totes, then picker waiting time is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tote storage system into multiple hierarchical levels (e.g., active tote stations, buffer zones, and remote storage areas). Each level serves a specific function in the tote delivery sequence, with Level-0 providing immediate access, Level-1 providing near-term availability, and Level-2 providing long-term storage. This segmentation allows the system to provide immediate tote access without requiring a single massive complex storage structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-positioning totes in the appropriate storage levels based on predicted picker needs. The system anticipates future tote requirements and prepares them in advance at the appropriate storage level, ensuring that when the picker needs a tote, it is already in position or will arrive immediately, thereby eliminating waiting time without requiring complex real-time retrieval mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods for fulfilling orders by a picker utilizing multiple different levels of container-storage devices (tote-storage devices in some embodiments), all interconnected by at least one different type of conveyance device. The use of more than one level of tote-storage device is referred to as multi-level tote storage. The storage is utilized to hold containers and to sequence the containers in a preferred order that enhances the pick rate/performance. The performance and location of the container storage on the conveyance device(s) relative to the picker is determined by the required pick rate/performance of the system. The conveyance devices recirculate the containers between different levels of container storage at specific times based on a multi-level tote storage simulation control algorithm that provides the optimum pick rate/performance until such time the picker completes all the pick requests assigned to the picker.