Open Access Conference Proceedings

Popularization of Internet access and socio-economic growth were the reasons of taking the 13th place by Poland in the list of countries according to the speed of e-commerce market development. The dynamics of this development determines the need to constantly analyze processes in e-commerce enterprises and make changes to meet the growing demands of customers. Short delivery time is now a key factor, which significantly affects gaining competitive advantage. One of the increasingly used solutions allowing to get it, is implementing goods to person principle in the picking process. Using this principle is connected with the necessity of applying conveyors, stacker cranes and/or automated guided vehicles. Implementing this kind of handling equipment creates the need of system analysis already at the design stage. To make this possible without interfering with the real system, simulation modeling is used increasingly often. Representation of considered system operation with the use of simulation methods is not only a good supporting tool in designing new system elements. It can also be used to analyze warehouse solutions, which have been already implemented. Simulation model of picking process with the use of conveyors and stacker cranes was used in this article. The model was subjected to sensitivity analysis to indicate its problematic areas, to determine its maximum efficiency and factors which can negatively influence on its reliability. Maximum frequency of releases from the storage area and efficiency of picking and packing stations were also presented.

Keywords: E-commerce, simulation modeling, logistics, picking, goods to person

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