Storage and retrieval machine travel route planning strategy in an automated material handling environment

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RSs) are warehousing systems that are used for the storage and retrieval of products in both distribution and production environments. This research deals with the batch order picking (BOP) problem in an AS/RS. When a batch of retrieval requests, which consist of multiple items and these items are stored in multiple locations in a rack, are launched, the storage/retrieval (S/R) machine has to travel to numerous storage locations to complete each order. The aim of this research is to employ genetic algorithm (GA) for the purpose of minimizing the total distance travelled by the S/R machine. An experimental case study is designed to test the proposed GA. The results show that GA can significantly reduce not only the total travel distance but also the total travel time of the S/R machine.