The Study of Optimal Goods Distribution of Automated Storage/Retrieval System

The extensive attention has been paid to how to improve the efficieny of automated storage/retrieval system (AS/RS). This paper focuses on the problem of optimal goods distribution of AS/RS. Firstly based on four different distributions of goods, the models of the expected time of a storage or retrieval operation of AS/RS are developed. And then through comparison and analysis, the optimal goods distribution is determined when the utility ratio of AS/RS is a^0/0. Furthermore, on the basis of comprehensively considering the operation time of a storage or retrieval and the traveling distance of stackers, a storage assignment method which can realize the optimal goods distribution is presented, the usability and validity of the method are verified by an example. There, the optimal goods distrubution problem is solved and the efficiency of AS/RS is enhanced.