A Decision Support System for Re-Slotting a Case Pick Distribution Center

Abstract

This research presents a class-based re-slotting procedure that re-assigns stock-keeping units (SKUs) in a warehouse secondary storage area to new locations based on the SKU activity. The general notion of re-slotting is to place high activity SKUs in premium locations near the pickup/drop-off points of shipping and receiving. This simulation study examines the performance of an ABC class-based rule for guiding SKU swaps between the front and rear sections using case pick data provided by a large regional pharmaceutical distributor. The simulation results show this class-based case pick re-slotting heuristic provides significant savings in picker travel.