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Title
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Using a TSP heuristic for routing order pickers in warehouses
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Author
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Abstract
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| In this paper, we deal with the sequencing and routing problem of order pickers in conventional multi-parallel-aisle warehouse systems. For this NP-hard Steiner travelling salesman problem (TSP), exact algorithms only exist for warehouses with at most three cross aisles, while for other warehouse types literature provides a selection of dedicated construction heuristics. We evaluate to what extent reformulating and solving the problem as a classical TSP leads to performance improvements compared to existing dedicated heuristics. We report average savings in route distance of up to 47% when using the LKH (LinKernighanHelsgaun) TSP heuristic. Additionally, we examine if combining problem-specific solution concepts from dedicated heuristics with high-quality local search features could be useful. Lastly, we verify whether the sophistication of state-of-the-art local search heuristics is necessary for routing order pickers in warehouses, or whether a subset of features suffices to generate high-quality solutions. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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European journal of operational research. - Amsterdam
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Publication
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Amsterdam
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2010
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ISSN
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0377-2217
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Volume/pages
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200
:3
(2010)
, p. 755-763
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ISI
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000270701200013
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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