A

Dissertation report
On
Resource Optimisation in the Warehouse

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Prof. G.S Dangaych Ankita Singh
Dr. M. L. Meena 2020PIE5244
M. Tech

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MALAVIYA NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, JAIPUR 302017
 MALAVIYA NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JAIPUR

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

JAIPUR (RAJASTHAN) – 302017

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar report entitled “Resource Optimisation in the Warehouse”
submitted to Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur by Ankita Singh (2020PIE5244) for the
award of the degree Master of Technology in Industrial Engineering is a record of bonafide Research
work carried out by him under my supervision and guidance during the academic session 2021-2022.

Place: Jaipur Dr. Rajeev Agrawal

Date: Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My efforts in this report are backed by numerous individuals' kind cooperation and
support. I want to take this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to all of them.

I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude towards my guide Dr. Rajeev Agrawal,
who through his excellent guidance has enabled me to accomplish this work. He has been
great source of inspiration to me, all through. I am very grateful to him for guiding me
how to conduct research and how to clearly & effectively present the work done.

I would like to thank Prof. Prof. Himanshu Chaudhary (Head of Department,

Mechanical Engineering), Prof. Dinesh Kumar (DPGC, Department of Mechanical
Engineering), Prof. G.S Dangayach (HAG, Department of Mechanical
Engineering),Prof. A.P.S Rathore (HAG, Department of Mechanical Engineering),
Prof. Rakesh Jain ( HAG, Department of Mechanical Engineering), and Dr. M.L.
Meena (Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering) for allowing me to
pursue this seminar project entitled “Resource Optimisation in the warehouse”, which
has enriched both my learning and understanding regarding this topic.

I am also grateful to Ms. Vedprabha Toshniwal for her help and inputs during this
semester.

Lastly but not least I thank one and all who helped me directly or indirectly in
completion of the seminar work

Ankita Singh
2020PIE5244
M.TECH (IE)
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Contents
CERTIFICATE.................................................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...............................................................................................................2
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
2. Literature review..........................................................................................................................6
2.1 Definition of warehouse.........................................................................................................6
2.2 Operations occurring in the warehouse..................................................................................6
3. Research Objectives.....................................................................................................................8
4. Methodology................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Motion study..........................................................................................................................9
4.2 Time study..............................................................................................................................9
4.3 Time Study Equipments.........................................................................................................9
4.4 Genetic Algorithm:-...............................................................................................................9
4.5 Activity Process Chart of the Warehouse:-..........................................................................10
6. References..................................................................................................................................13

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1. Introduction
In the realm of economics, the major effects of the globalization era are highly perceptible. Since
information and money can flow freely to wherever they're needed, businesses and consumers
everywhere can meet their requirements in a way that best suits their individual goals and
circumstances, regardless of where they happen to be physically located. It is crucial for the
success of any business organization to manage the flow of materials from one part of the
business to another at the right time, with the right inventory, and in the right location.
Warehouses play an integral role in the logistics of any company. Buffering the material flow
along the supply chain to accommodate variability due to factors like product seasonality and/or
batching in production and transportation; consolidating products from multiple suppliers for
combined delivery to customers; and performing value-added-processing like kitting, pricing,
labelling, and product customization are among their primary functions. Because of these shifts,
logistics management is becoming increasingly vital across all industries and across all
functions.

Increased warehouse efficiency is essential in today's competitive market, which necessitates

better planning and management of production-distribution networks. Tighter inventory control,
shorter response time, and a greater product variety are just some of the new challenges for
warehouse systems brought on by the adoption of management philosophies like Just-In-Time
(JIT) or lean production. With the help of the just-in-time philosophy, the market shifted from
placing bulk orders of a single product to ordering smaller quantities of a wider range of goods.
In addition, the market conditions mandate that we prioritize productivity, flexibility, and
customization. As a result of these shifts in the market, product life cycles have become shorter
and the paradigms for automation have shifted, shifting from large-scale production to
production of smaller, more varied lots. Increases in e-commerce and mass customization, as
well as the necessity of lowering time-to-market in order to remain competitive, have all had an
effect on the logistics market. However, new opportunities to enhance warehouse operations
have arisen thanks to the widespread adoption of new information technologies (IT), such as bar
coding, radio frequency communications (RF), and warehouse management systems (WMS).
Possibilities such as these include but are not limited to, complete command over warehouse
operations in real-time, simple interaction with all other links in the supply chain, and extensive

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use of automation technology. The four primary tasks in a warehouse are receiving, picking,
storing, and shipping (Gu et al., 2007). Department/location-allocation and zoning are sub-
functions of the storing function. The picking process has also taken into account batching,
routing, and sorting. According to, these operational decisions can be broken down into three
distinct types based on the level of the organization making the call and the available resources
(e.g. man, machine, storage and handling equipment). When a company's business model is
complex and subject to constant change as a result of fluctuations in market conditions, manual
management of these processes becomes impossible. Warehouse management systems are an
example of an IT system that facilitates logistics processes. The Logistics industry benefits from
WMS because it allows for better inventory management. Shipping, receiving, put-away, and
picking are just some of the transactions that can be processed with the help of a warehouse
management system (WMS). The goal of a warehouse management system (WMS), a database-
driven computer application that helps optimize warehouse operations by guiding cutaways and
keeping track of warehouse transactions, is to ensure that inventory counts are accurate and
warehouse operations are running smoothly. Stock is also directed and optimized in real-time
based on bin utilization data. Research into the concept of flexible automation applied to
warehouses is required in light of the need to automate warehouse processes and the bottlenecks
caused by the lack of flexibility. If a company recognizes the significance of logistics
management and incorporates this awareness into its decision-making processes, it will be better
able to compete, be sustainable, and achieve success. Moreover, in order to adapt to the
competitive conditions of the era, all businesses need to develop their internal logistics functions
in tandem with the current development of the logistics sector. Given the importance of GDP as a
measure of a country's economic health, it's clear that logistics operations play a pivotal role in
GDP by strengthening businesses' long-term viability and competitive positions. This means that
both customers and businesses, as well as countries looking to advance their own economic
interests, can benefit greatly from improved logistics function efficiency and productivity. In
order to increase productivity and improve ergonomic conditions, job analysis is frequently used
to analyze and enhance traditional production procedures. Job analysis is crucial for learning
about and improving working conditions and employee morale.

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2. Literature review
2.1 Definition of warehouse
For the purposes of inventory and warehouse management, including the departments
responsible for goods receipt and dispatch, a warehouse is defined as "a structural unit with all
resources and organizational provisions necessary for the execution of processes connected with
inventory and warehouse management"(Khanzode & Shah, 2017)

"The best warehouse is no warehouse" is an idiom that implies a ranking: It paints a bleak picture
of warehouses and the warehousing industry, suggesting that both should be avoided at all costs.
The logistics core function of a warehouse, however, necessitates the establishment of bridging
time stock to accommodate for fluctuations in demand and inward goods movement times, or
because of uncertainty in forecasted demand and a desire to ensure adequate supplies. It is
possible to separate the process of acquiring materials and their ultimate application in
manufacturing and distribution with the help of stock procurement. (Khan, 1984)

Two primary goals can be gleaned from this practice of stockpiling: -the establishment of
inventory to guarantee the ability to deliver; and -the offsetting of fluctuations in delivery and
demand.

However, the ability to deliver is typically ensured through the maintenance of a larger stockpile
and, consequently, a larger financial commitment.

2.2 Operations occurring in the warehouse

(A) Receiving

Goods arrive in the warehouse in heavy-duty vehicles and are unloaded at the respective docs.
warehouses where inventory is kept, items are checked in, shelved, and eventually sent out to the
assembly lines, distribution centers, or shipping docks(Custodio & Machado, 2020). When coupled
with the storage and order-picking function, the receiving and shipping operations become more

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difficult to manage. For instance, the method by which orders are batched and assigned to
picking waves may affect the timing of shipping trucks. (Andiyappillai & Prakash, 2019)

(B) Storage

The warehouse's primary purpose is storage. How much stock of a given SKU should be kept in
the warehouse, how often and at what time should that stock be restocked, and how and where
should that SKU be stored and distributed and moved among the various storage areas are the
three fundamental decisions that shape the storage function. In this section, we will examine the
storage assignment problem, which involves the allocation of stock-keeping units (SKUs) to
different storage departments, the zoning of those departments, and the assignment of storage
locations within those zones, as well as the scheduling of inventory moves between the
departments. Storage efficiency, which is proportional to the holding capacity, and access
efficiency, which is proportional to the resources consumed by the insertion (store) and
extraction (order picking) processes, are two of the most important criteria in making these
choices.

(C) Pulling of material or material pickup

Single-order picking, batching and sort-while-pick, batching and sort-after-pick, single-order

picking with zoning, and batching with zoning are all order-picking methods used in a
warehouse. Batching, routing, sequencing, and sorting are the foundations of every order-picking
technique. The task of dividing orders among the pickers is a twist on the classic VRP, in which
"stops" are assigned to routes, and the goal is to minimize the total route distance or time. To
pick operations, the sequencing and routing decision establishes the optimal sequence and route
of locations from which to collect and store a specific set of items. When picking multiple orders
at once, sorting becomes necessary. Sorting is a process that can happen either while picking
(sort-while-pick) or after picking (sort-after-pick). Sort-while-pick is simple and usually modeled
by exaggerating the time required to extract the items. A third-party downstream sorting system
handles the sorting in sort-after-pick.(Montalvo-Soto et al., 2020)Warehouse operational
performance, such as storage capacity, space utilization, and order-picking efficiency, is most
heavily influenced by storage and order-picking.

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3. Research Objectives

 To identify the time required to perform different activities in the warehouse.

 To identify the standard working method & eliminate the unnecessary motions performed
in the warehouse area.
 To optimize the manpower required in different activities occurring in the warehouse.
 To optimize the different routes for material handling in the warehouse.

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4. Methodology
The time study & motion study are the two methodologies used to analyze warehouse operations.
Different heuristic methods are used for route optimization.

4.1 Motion study

The term "motion study" is used to describe the investigation of the actions performed by an
employee in the course of performing a typical job, such as picking up and setting down objects,
sitting and standing, etc. (Abideen & Mohamad, 2020). The goal is to reduce the amount of time
spent on the task by eliminating unnecessary motions.

4.2 Time study

Time study is a method for determining how long it would take to complete a task at a given
level of performance by keeping track of how long it takes and how different fast parts of the
study are conducted under controlled conditions.

4.3 Time Study Equipments

The following equipment are used for time study:

1. Stopwatch

2. Time study board

3. Time study forms or sheets

4. Tachometer

5. Motion picture camera and video equipment

6. Electronic data collector and computer

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4.4 Genetic Algorithm:-
An example of an adaptive heuristic search algorithm is a genetic algoritthat hm takes its cues
from "Darwin's theory of evolution in Nature." The field of machine learning relies on it to find
optimal solutions to optimization problems. For its usefulness in reducing the time required to
resolve complex issues, this algorithm deserves a place among the most significant ones. The
below fig. represents the procedure of the genetic algorithm.

4.5 Activity Process Chart of the Warehouse:-

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Decision-making in receiving and shipping operations can be summed up as given:

(1) Details about shipments on their way, such as when they will arrive and what they contain.

(2) Specifics regarding customer needs, like orders and anticipated delivery dates.

(3) Data on the docking station configuration and material handling equipment in the warehouse

Decision–making in storage operations can be done as follows:

(1) Details about the type of materials, whether they are fast moving or slow moving, whether
they have a low shelf life or high.

(2) Details about the weight of the materials, whether they can be lifted by a crane or can be put
by a person.

(3) Details about how zones are are to be decided and how the material is allocated to the
different places.

Decision-making in the feeding process:-

(1) Details about the materials needed and their consumption.

(2) Details about the no. of stations, their processes & the cycle time of different operations.

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(3) Details about the route to feed the assembly line & different warehouses.

Decision-makingng in the dispatching process:-

(1) Details of the time & effort taken by an engine to load.

(2) Details of the kit parts required for dispatching & the time taken to inspect the parts.

5. Research framework

Literature Review of Relevent Papers

To define research objectives & identify challenges

To identify parameters for time and motion study

To select Sample for the time and motion study

Data collection

Data Analysis
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Result Validation
 Managerial Implications

6. References

Abideen, A. Z., & Mohamad, F. B. (2020). Supply chain leads time reduction in a pharmaceutical
production warehouse – a case study. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare
Marketing, 14(1), 61–88. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-02-2019-0005
Andiyappillai, N., & Prakash, D. T. (2019). Implementing Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
in Logistics: A Case Study. Article in International Journal of Logistics Systems and
Management. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2576011
Custodio, L., & Machado, R. (2020). Flexible automated warehouse: a literature review and an
innovative framework. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 106(1–2),
533–558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-04588-z
Gu, J., Goetschalckx, M., & McGinnis, L. F. (2007). Research on warehouse operation: A
comprehensive review. European Journal of Operational Research, 177(1), 1–21.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2006.02.025
Khan, M. R. (1984). An efficiency measurement model for a computerized warehousing system.
International Journal of Production Research, 22(3), 443–452.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00207548408942465
Khanzode, V., & Shah, B. (2017). A comprehensive review of warehouse operational issues.
International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 26(3), 346.
https://doi.org/10.1504/ijlsm.2017.10002597
Montalvo-Soto, J., Astorga-Bejarano, C., Salas-Castro, R., Macassi-Jauregui, I., & Cardenas-Rengifo,
L. (2020). Reduction of order delivery time using an adapted model of warehouse management,

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SLP and Kanban applied in a textile micro and small business in Perú. Proceedings of the
LACCEI International Multi-Conference for Engineering, Education and Technology.
https://doi.org/10.18687/LACCEI2020.1.1.330

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