Task scheduling for multi-tier shuttle warehousing systems

Abstract

Multi-tier shuttle warehousing systems are increasingly popular because of their high flexibility and robustness. These systems consist of a multi-tier shuttle sub-system that controls horizontal movement and a lift sub-system that manages vertical movement. The combination of shuttles and lifts undertakes inbound/outbound tasks instead of the stacker crane in conventional automated storage and retrieval systems. Scheduling different devices to reduce expected cycle time is an important concern. Thus, we propose a time sequence mathematical model of task operation on the basis of the movement characteristics of shuttles and lifts. The task scheduling problem between shuttles and lifts is converted into an assembly line parallel job problem by analysing the mathematical model, which generates the scheduling task queue model in the specified time window. In addition, a Pareto optimal based on an elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is adopted to solve the multi-objective optimisation function in the task scheduling problem. Finally, we illustrate the findings of the study through a practical example. Results show that the optimisation scheduling solution can reduce the total lift idle time and the total shuttle waiting time. Furthermore, it can improve warehousing efficiency and lower operation costs.

Keywords:

• task scheduling problem
• multi-tier shuttle warehousing system
• elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm
• warehouse operation process

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant number 2013M541930]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61403234]; the Shandong Province Science and Technology Development Plan [grant number 2014GGX106009].