Optimizing assembly line supply by integrating warehouse picking and forklift routing using simulation

The significance of system orientation in production and logistics optimization has often been neglected in the past. An isolated view on single activities may result in globally suboptimal performance. We consider a manufacturing process where assembly lines are supplied from a central logistics center. The different steps, such as storage, picking and transport of work-in-process materials to and from the assembly lines, strongly influence each other. For instance, if the picking process batches orders that need to be transported to the same target, a reduction of travel distances can be achieved. The individual problems are coupled and validated via simulation, which leads to more robust and applicable results in practice. We test our approach on a scenario based on real-world data from Rosenbauer, one of the world's largest suppliers of firefighting vehicles. Our results indicate that warehouse optimization can lead to a more efficient transport in an integrated problem formulation.