SINGLE FIXED CRANE OPTIMISATION WITHIN A DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

• Main Authors: J. Matthews, S.E. Visagie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stellenbosch University 2012-01-01
• Series: South African Journal of Industrial Engineering
• Subjects: Developing scheduling techniques; project communication; negotiation; conflict solving; contract process; team building; successful engineering projects
• Online Access: http://sajie.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/19
• ISSN: 1012-277X; 2224-7890

<p>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This paper considersthe optimisation of the movement of a fixed crane operating in a single aisle of a distribution centre. The crane must move pallets in inventory between docking bays, storage locations, and picking lines. Both a static and a dynamic approach to the problem are presented. The optimisation is performed by means of tabu search, ant colony metaheuristics,and hybrids of these two methods. All these solution approaches were tested on real life data obtained from an operational distribution centre. Results indicate that the hybrid methods outperform the other approaches.</p><p>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die optimisering van die beweging van 'n vaste hyskraan in 'n enkele gang van 'n distribusiesentrum word in hierdie artikel beskou. Die hyskraan moet pallette vervoer tussen dokhokke, stoorposisies, en opmaaklyne. Beide 'n statiese en 'n dinamiese benadering tot die probleem word aangebied. Die optimisering word gedoen met behulp van tabu-soektogte, mierkolonieoptimisering,en hibriede van hierdie twee metodes. Al die oplossingsbenaderings is getoets met werklike data wat van 'n operasionele distribusiesentrum verkry is. Die resultate toon aan dat die hibriedmetodes die beste oplossings lewer.</p>