Research on Order Picking Sorting in the AutoStore System with Multi-Vehicle Collaboration

• 1、School of Management, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430065
• 2、Research Center for Service Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430065
• 3、Hubei Prolog Technology Co., Ltd, Wuhan, Hubei 430000

Abstract：The AutoStore system is a high-density intelligent warehousing system, with a storage performance exceeding that of traditional warehouses of equivalent size by more than 40%. Currently, there is limited research on the order sequencing problem within this system, and the existing studies strictly require the involvement of a single vehicle in the entire picking process. This leads to multiple retrievals of the same bin, resulting in a significant increase in redundant costs. To address this issue, we introduce the innovative concept of "stacked retrieval" and devise a multi-vehicle collaborative picking process to reduce the repeated handling of bins. Based on this operational approach, we establish an order sequencing optimization model to determine the optimal order sequence. Additionally, we design a heuristic algorithm named SA to address large-scale instances of the problem. Numerical experiments reveal that, in small-scale scenarios, the SA algorithm yields an error ranging from 0.95% to 3.5% compared to the mathematical model\'s optimal solution. In large-scale scenarios, SA outperforms existing methods by 15% to 72%. These results convincingly demonstrate the effectiveness of this operational approach and the superior performance of the SA algorithm in solving the order sequencing problem.

Keywords： Automated Warehousing AutoStore System Multi-cart Collaboration Order Sequencing Mixed-Integer Programming Model Heuristic Algorithm