Slotting pallets

The forward-pick area for pallets

A fast-pick or forward-pick area is one from which it is especially convenient to pick, but which must be restocked from a reserve storage area. A forward-pick area holding pallets might be

• Pallet flow rack that is restocked from bulk storage
• The ground floor of pallet rack, as in the figure below.

In the leftmost aisle of the figure above, you see a worker picking from the forward-pick area, which in this example is the ground floor, where it is most convenient to pick. In the middle aisle, a worker is picking from one of the less-convenient, higher levels. (This is a more expensive pick because it requires additional, vertical travel plus a special person-aboard lift truck.) In the third aisle, a worker is restocking the forward-pick (ground floor) area by dropping a pallet from above.

To get maximum value from the forward area, one must stock it with the right skus. These are not simply the most popular, because volume-ordered matters as well. A sku that is ordered in larger volumes will have to be restocked more frequently than a sku that is of identical popularity but ordered in smaller quantities.

How large should the forward-pick area be? What skus should be stored there and in what quantities?

This program considers both popularity and quantity-ordered to answer these questions specifically for a forward-pick area in which cartons or pallets are pulled from full-pallet storage. (A companion program slots a forward pick area in which pieces or cartons are picked from carton storage.)

Run it from here!

Please read the license and disclaimers, then click to launch the latest version via Java Webstart:

Note: Some firewall settings may prevent you from downloading the program.

If you are running the program for the first time, Java Web Start will download it (3 jar files totaling about 3MB). The next time it will check only for modified jar files (an upgrade) and download them. If there has not been an upgrade, the application will start immediately.

Need Java?

This program is written in Java so it runs on any brand computer and any operating system. If you do not already have Java installed, get the latest version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) here:

How to use the program

The basic steps of use appear as numbered tabs in the program, which will help you follow the numbered steps:

1. Load a table of sku descriptions, such as this sample.
2. Describe the labor economics (estimated person-minutes for picking, restocking) and then optimize the slotting.
3. Examine summary statistics.
4. Save the detailed results.

The most time-consuming part of using this program is getting the required data, which includes name, popularity and total demand of each of the skus. Once you have the data prepared, the program will compute optimal slotting strategies within seconds, even for tens of thousands of skus.

The mathematical model on which the optimization is based is fully documented in our book Warehouse & Distribution Science.