Research On Conveyor Buffer Optimization And Sorting Scheduling Strategy Of Multi-tier Shuttle-based System

With the rapid transformation of traditional retail to "new retail" and the integration of high-tech technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence in the e-commerce industry.In the B2C e-commerce industry,the demand for small batches,multiple batches and high volatility orders is increasing.In order to meet the efficient and accurate picking in the distribution center,the multi-tier shuttle-based picking system is widely used for its efficient and flexible characteristics.How to effectively increase the equipment utilization rate of the multi-tier shuttle-based picking system,and how to increase the order response speed and reduce the order delay time without increasing the equipment input cost,they are of great significance.This paper focuses on the research of conveyor buffer optimization modeling and order sorting scheduling in multi-tier shuttle-based system,which has certain theoretical value and practical significance.In the multi-tier shuttle-based system,if the conveyor buffer's length between the I/O platform of the elevator and the manual picking platform is too short,it'll affect the picking efficiency of the system.But if the conveyor buffer's length is too long,it will increase the cost of the equipment.This paper conducts in-depth research on the optimization of the conveyor buffer length,and comprehensively analyzes the outbound operation process of the multi-tier shuttle-based system,and establishes a mathematical model for the input and output balance of the bins on the conveyor buffer equipment,and proposes the optimal and critical conditions of the buffer length and then proves them when the sorting operation is running normally;Finally,the k-means clustering algorithm and storage area arrangement rules are used to optimize the item storage location,to shorten the average bin storage time,and thus optimize the conveyor buffer length.Through case analysis,compared with the random allocation strategy,the optimized item allocation strategy has a more reasonable conveyor buffer length,which is reduced by about 12%.On the one hand,this research can guide designers to design conveyor buffer equipment,on the other hand,it can improve the overall operating efficiency of the system and reduce operating costs.Faced with the characteristics of B2C e-commerce orders under "new retail",the basic FCFS strategy and fixed time window strategy can no longer meet the requirements of efficient and accurate response to orders.This paper conducts an in-depth research on the order processing flow of the multi-tier shuttle-based system,analyzes the current status of problems in the order sorting and scheduling of the system when there are emergency orders,and establishes a dual-objective optimization model for order sorting and scheduling with the goal of minimizing total order service time and minimizing total order delay time,and then design an improved order sorting and scheduling strategy based on urgent orders,including the application of an improved time window batching strategy to orders that arrive in real time,that is,applying the improved seed algorithm based on urgency order to the order collection after applying time window batching,and perform the second batching;an order berth assignation strategy based on a balanced workload is used to allocate the obtained batch orders to multiple picking platforms.Through case analysis,under the same order environment and system configuration,applying the improved order sorting and scheduling strategy based on urgency compared with the benchmark order sorting and scheduling strategy,the total order service time decreased by an average of 17%,and the order delay time decreased by an average of 70%;And through the case analysis,it is found that the setting of different time windows and the capacity of the picking platform also have an important impact on the target optimization degree.