Using smart lighting systems to reduce energy costs in warehouses: A simulation study

ABSTRACT

Despite the various technical solutions for making lighting ‘smart,’ today’s lighting systems are often kept simple, and they are frequently not adjusted to user behaviours. This is especially the case for production and logistics facilities such as warehouses, where large areas have to be illuminated, and where lighting is often fully turned on while the warehouse operates. This paper presents a simulation model developed to evaluate the cost benefits potentially resulting from using smart lighting systems in warehouses. The simulation model allows for varying warehouse design and order picking process parameters. In addition, three different operating strategies for lighting systems representing different types of smart lighting technologies are implemented and compared to a conventional lighting system. A structured simulation study provides insights into how smart lighting systems interact with system design and process parameters, and how both collectively influence warehouse operating costs. The results of the simulation model and data obtained from a practical case indicate that smart lighting systems have great potential for reducing the energy consumption in warehouses relative to conventional lighting, and that, in addition to savings in cost, they can contribute to improving the environmental footprints of warehouses.

KEYWORDS:

• Warehousing
• order picking
• intelligent lighting
• smart lighting
• energy consumption
• energy cost

Acknowledgements

This paper is a revised and extended version of the conference paper ‘Reducing energy cost in warehouses via smart lighting systems: a simulation study” that was presented at the 24th International Symposium on Logistics in Würzburg, Germany, 2019. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper. The authors further wish to thank Gregorios Dagdagan for supporting the development of an initial simulation model.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on the basis of a decision by the German Bundestag [grant number IGF-No. 19570 N].