A case study on simulation and emulation of a new case picking system for a US based wholesaler

This paper presents a comprehensive and long-term joint simulation project in the area of warehouse logistics. The project comprised six stages with the first three stages being part of the development and evaluation of a new storage and picking technology. This technology is a specific case picking approach and it includes process steps like storage of product pallets, automated de-palletizing, storage of product layers, the separation of product cases from layers, sequencing and palletizing of product cases. Within the second part of the project the technology was adapted to the requirements of a US-based wholesaler. The simulation activities within this second part started with classical planning simulation and covered the emulation of the real-world control software, the support of the system ramp-up, and finally the implementation of a permanent test base in order to evaluate necessary software changes. The article describes the storage and picking technology, the stages of the simulation project and the benefits of both, the technology itself and the extensive simulation application.