Project R-15184

Human-robot collaborative order picking (Research)

Warehouses are a crucial link in the supply chain, as they handle storage and inventory management and thus connect demand with supply. Their importance is also becoming increasingly clear in light of recent developments, such as more same-day deliveries within ecommerce and disruptions in the supply chain due to pandemics and conflicts. Previous research further reveals that order picking - a process that consists of putting together orders by collecting the requested products from their storage locations in the warehouse - can be considered the most labour-intensive and most expensive activity in a warehouse setting. In fact, in the majority of warehouses, order picking is still done manually, as people can handle unexpected changes more flexibly compared to machines. In addition, order picking is perceived as a time-consuming task, whose time is often split into setup, travel, search and picking time. Several improvements can thus still be realised. One possible optimisation consists of implementing autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that can assist an order picker with the task. The robot would then not replace the human but rather complement it. In this way, among other things, non-value-added travelling time can be taken over by the robot, and the order picker can consequently deal with a new order, which can result in efficiency gains. The aim of this project is to assess the cooperation between humans and robots in order picking based on real-life applications, providing a better understanding of the potential benefits in terms of both operational performance as well as well-being.

16 September 2024 - 15 September 2028