EXTENDING AUTOMOD FEATURES TO SUPPORT ORDER PICKING OPERATIONS IN A DISTRIBUTION CENTER

by Ian Silverstone
President
AstraVia, Inc.
Atlanta, GA

Abstract
This paper discusses the challenges involved in extending AutoMod to interact with a production database driving an order picking operation.

Introduction
Order picking is widely recognized as the dominant cost element in warehousing operations. As such, the primary goal in designing an order picking operation is to increase productivity by reducing the time operators spend "not" picking loads. While AutoMod provides extensive facilities for simulating an order picking operation, substantial productivity gains can be achieved by integrating the simulation model into the distribution centers actual operation. To accomplish this it is necessary to interact with the existing data and extract the necessary information to drive the simulation model. Extracting data from an existing Warehouse Management System (WMS) or database system on a continuous basis is an area that AutoMod lacks some of the necessary features. This article discusses the various mechanisms AutoMod provides to extend its current features to interact with database systems. The article continues by providing an overview of current order picking methods and concludes by presenting architecture and features provided by an internal set of software tools called ViziPick that can be configured to simulate a generic order picking operation.