Application of supportive and substitutive technologies in manual warehouse order picking: a content analysis

Abstract

Order picking in warehouses is a labour- and time-intensive logistical process that significantly impacts the efficiency of supply chains. Although technical progress facilitates the automation of specific order picking tasks, human workers remain the primary actors of order picking. Owing to high operating costs associated with manual order picking, its design and management have been increasingly researched for decades. Because manual order picking systems are socio-technical systems, human factors and workers’ interaction with technology are essential for operational success. As innovative technologies become increasingly utilised, such as augmented reality or exoskeletons, warehouse managers need to consider the effects of supportive and substitutive technologies on operational outcomes. However, the potentials and obstacles of using technologies in manual order picking require further investigations. Therefore, this study analyses literature content on supportive and substitutive technologies in manual warehouse order picking and investigates the existing state of research in this field. Text mining is employed to enhance the insights regarding the content analysis. Additionally, future research opportunities on the integration of supportive and substitutive technologies are proposed for manual order picking improvement and development of sustainable and human-centered logistics systems, according to the Industry 5.0 vision.

KEYWORDS:

• Order picking
• warehousing
• technologies
• assistive devices
• human–technology interaction
• human-centricity

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their feedback and constructive comments that significantly helped in improving an earlier version of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data availability statement

Data is available on request from the author.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or nonprofit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Eric H. Grosse

Eric H. Grosse is a Junior Professor and the Head of the Chair of Business Management and Digital Transformation in Operations Management at the Faculty of Human and Business Sciences at Saarland University, Germany. His research interests include sustainability in logistics and operations management with a focus on human-centric digital transformation. He has published in renowned international journals, such as the European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Logistics or International Journal of Operations and Production Management. He is an area editor of Operations Management Research and co-edited several special issues in international journals. He serves as a co-chair of IFAC TC 5.2 ‘Management and Control in Manufacturing and Logistics’.