Design of order picking system

Numerous design and cost parameters, combined with an endless variety of equipment types, make it difficult to choose the right order picking system (OPS). The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology to support warehouse designers in choosing the most suitable OPS. By developing a new OPS classification, we carried out an in-depth survey on over 68 distribution centres that have been recently built in Italy. The results of the critical analysis allowed developing a design methodology to choose the most suitable OPS. This methodology has been integrated in the structured procedure for OPS design, developed by Yoon and Sharp ( IIE Trans 28:379–389, 1996 ). Finally, a numerical case study is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed design methodology.