Publication
Title
Using a TSP heuristic for routing order pickers in warehouses
Author
Abstract
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.
Language
English
Source (journal)
European journal of operational research. - Amsterdam
Publication
Amsterdam : 2010
ISSN
0377-2217
Volume/pages
200 :3 (2010) , p. 755-763
ISI
000270701200013
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 18.11.2009
Last edited 25.05.2022
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