A warehouse management system with sequential picking for multi-container deliveries

The separation of picking and packing processes of a warehouse management system usually brings extra storage buffers and relatively longer operating time. This paper develops a hybrid algorithm to generate a picking sequence for combining picking and packing operations. The algorithm includes three elements: container selection, loading configuration, and loading/picking sequence. A generic warehouse management system with the proposed sequential order picking function for a tea factory in central Taiwan has been implemented to demonstrate the elimination of storage buffers and the reduction of operation time.