Performance analysis of automated storage and retrieval systems using simulation

Automated storage and retrieval systems are widely used in both production and distribution environments for the storage and retrieval of products. Besides the many advantages of these systems, the disadvantages (which include economic factors such as high initial investments and the difficulty of changing the warehouse design) highlights the need to correctly determine the system's physical design and control parameters. In order to achieve an optimal design, it is therefore important to conduct a performance analysis of the system before or after installation. Dealing simultaneously with physical design and control parameters when designing automated storage and retrieval systems is, however, quite a complex undertaking whose solution requires the development of a flexible design incorporating several combinations of parameters. These considerations make the simulation approach the most appropriate means of solving the problem. The current study focuses on automated storage and retrieval systems, and proposes an approach for developing a simulation model. A sample warehouse is designed in order to illustrate the proposed approach. The study examines a variety of dwell point parameters of the storage and retrieval machine under different storage assignment policies. The findings obtained are finally evaluated with respect to the system's performance in order to measure the impact of those parameters that are related to a variety of scenarios in the system.