Increasing the Practical Applicability of Order Picking Operations by Integrating Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulations

Abstract

Warehouses play a vital role in every supply chain. The focus of warehouses is often on organising efficient and flexible order picking systems. However, warehouse managers indicate that planning order picking operations becomes extra complicated as they have to comply to many legislations. Warehouses in Europe are subject to the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulation. Accounting for this regulation is vital in order to limit the risk of chemical reactions in the warehouse, therefore this regulation mainly affects storage decisions. The first objective of this study is to integrate the CLP regulation in storage assignment. An integer linear programming model is developed to formulate the CLP restricted problem. The second objective is to design an efficient order picking system by simulating different storage, batching and routing policies for a real-life warehouse subject to the CLP regulation.