Abstract Material handling systems are progressively becoming robotized in e-commerce distribution centers. Mobile material handling solutions cut labor costs, work 24/7, and improve system efficiency. These and many other merits make them a perfect fit for e-commerce fulfillment centers. This paper presents analytical models for Last-Mile-Delivery and Meet-in-Aisle mobile solutions and compares them with traditional manual order picking. We study the potential business cases of these two warehousing mobile solutions through estimating the number of required robots and pickers under different throughput rates, pick cycle, picking area size, and storage policy scenarios. We evaluate the performance of the models through multiple analyses. A simulation model is built to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed models. Then, we design a collection of experiments to study the performance of the proposed models. The results unveil that the Last-Mile-Delivery better fits the cases with higher throughput rates, while Meet-in-Aisle is a suitable solution for facilities with large picking areas and low picks per cycle.

中文翻译：

---

履行中心协作自主移动机器人解决方案的分析模型

摘要 电子商务配送中心的物料搬运系统正逐步实现自动化。移动物料搬运解决方案可降低劳动力成本、24/7 全天候工作并提高系统效率。这些和许多其他优点使它们非常适合电子商务履行中心。本文介绍了最后一英里交付和过道会面移动解决方案的分析模型，并将它们与传统的手动订单拣选进行了比较。我们通过估算不同吞吐率、拣货周期、拣货区域大小和存储策略场景下所需机器人和拣货员的数量，研究这两种仓储移动解决方案的潜在商业案例。我们通过多次分析评估模型的性能。建立一个仿真模型来评估所提出模型的准确性。然后，我们设计了一系列实验来研究所提出模型的性能。结果表明，Last-Mile-Delivery 更适合具有更高吞吐量的案例，而 Meet-in-Aisle 是具有大拣选区域和每个周期拣选率低的设施的合适解决方案。