Warehousing

An Optimization Perspective

Author

Breno Alves Beirigo

Welcome to the Course

Welcome to the M-IEM Warehousing course!

Warehousing is an integral part of supply chain management, focusing on the storage and movement of goods within a warehouse environment.

In this context, we will explore various aspects of warehousing, including its design, operations, and management. In short, after successful completion of this course, you will be able to answer the following questions:

How can the performance of a warehouse be measured across key dimensions, and how can opportunities for improvement be identified to develop a plan for bridging the gap between current performance and industry best practices?

How can a warehouse layout be designed, and appropriate storage systems and technologies selected, to optimize space utilization and enhance operational efficiency?

How can warehouse operations, including receiving, storage, order picking, and shipping, be managed effectively to ensure timely and accurate fulfillment of customer orders while ensuring the rational and efficient use of resources?

How can optimization techniques be used to develop a robust plan for determining the number, size, location, and capacity of warehouses in a company’s supply chain, ensuring a balance between adequate customer service and minimal operating costs?

Below is a summary of aims, intended learning outcomes, content, and assessment.

You can find more information on the course practical details.

Aims

This course aims to introduce the fundamental concepts and techniques for designing, managing, and operating contemporary warehouses.

Intended Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of the course, the student is able to:

  1. Explain the role of warehousing in supply chains and identify warehouse types, functions, and operations.
  2. Discuss major planning, design, management, and control decisions in contemporary warehouses.
  3. Discuss storage and material handling objectives, principles, and technology.
  4. Discuss emerging warehousing challenges, trends, and innovations.
  5. Implement quantitative methods to optimize distribution networks and warehouses’ design, management, and operations.
  6. Analyze relevant data and evaluate performance metrics to support decision-making in a warehousing environment.
  7. Synthesize and critically evaluate relevant warehousing research and literature to inform best practices.

Content Summary

  • Introduction: The role of warehouses in supply chains; warehouse functions, classifications, and types; warehouse management systems; warehousing strategic, tactical, and operational planning decisions.
  • Distribution network design: Distribution trade-offs (ownership vs. outsourcing, centralized vs. decentralized, number of facilities); facility location (median-based/covering-based model formulations, heuristic solutions).
  • Warehouse performance evaluation: Costs and trade-offs; performance metrics; activity profiling.
  • Warehouse design: Space requirement planning; facility layout problem; material handling equipment; aisle width and lane depth optimization.
  • Warehouse operation:
    • receiving, put-away, cross-docking;
    • storage: Inventory management, fast-pick area design (fluid model), slotting, storage, cube-per-order index (COI);
    • order-picking: order-picking systems (RMFS, AS/RS), order picking-schemes (batch, zone, wave picking); routing (TSP, Chebyshev distance metric, Ratliff & Rosenthal algorithm, Hall algorithm);
    • replenishment, shipping, and support processes (inventory counting, value-adding services, reverse logistics).
  • Warehouse challenges, trends, and innovations: External change drivers; the warehouse of the future (robotized and automated warehouses, physical internet).

Assessment

  • Exam (50%)
  • Group assignments (50%)