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A Methodology to Design Systems to Support Fulfillment of Online Grocery Orders

Mesa, Akhilesh
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2370-4687
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1610708317139122

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Industrial and Systems Engineering (Engineering and Technology).
Many Grocery stores have begun offering a service called “Click and Collect” (C&C). Customers using this service can order their groceries online and collect them at the store or have them delivered to their desired location. The way customer orders are fulfilled in grocery stores is similar to some warehouse order fulfillment. Therefore, warehouse order picking methods can be used in grocery stores to create an efficient C&C service. Currently, workers in the stores typically travel with a cart to storage shelves to retrieve products to fulfill C&C customer orders, which is similar to the warehouse order picking process. To reduce/eliminate worker travel, automated storage/retrieval equipment can be installed in the store. One type of equipment for storing items is the vertical lift module (VLM). Worker travel in the grocery stores can be reduced by using VLMs to store fast-moving SKUs. In this research, different order picking methods are developed to improve the efficiency of C&C. The first part of the research is to determine the best batching method to achieve a better service rate. The batching heuristics studied in this dissertation are order-based batching (OBB), time-based batching (TBB), and hybrid batching (HB). The results show that in traditional order picking, HB offers faster order ready times than both OBB and TBB. The improvements in ready time with HB are small compared with OBB. TBB offers faster pick times compared with the other two batching heuristics. 4 The second part of the research is to develop a mathematical model for VLM throughput. Fast-moving SKUs are stored in the VLM so that high demand products can be picked at a faster pace. The mathematical model developed in this research can determine the expected pick time for a given batch of orders. The results show that the VLM order picking offers faster pick times and ready times compared with traditional picking. The third part of the dissertation is to develop an optimization model that can maximize a store’s profit. The methodology for this model is that the faster the orders are ready for the customer pickup, the more customers are going to use the service. This model was developed for both traditional and VLM order picking. This optimization model determines the number of workers required to achieve maximum profit for a given operating condition. Different combinations of operating conditions were tested, and the results show that the profit increases drastically, then levels off and starts to decrease slowly when the batch size increases further. It is also noted that the arrival rate decreases with an increase in the batch size because of the longer wait times for customers. The final step of the dissertation is to perform a break-even analysis. This analysis determines the best order picking method for different operating parameters. The results show that when order/batch size is either small or large, traditional order picking outperforms VLM but for medium-size order/batch, VLM offers higher profits.
Masel Dale (Advisor)
Industrial Engineering
grocery orders; click and collect; order picking; micro fulfillment; batching of orders; Order Based Batching OBB; Time Based Batching TBB; Hybrid Batching HB; Vertical Lift Module VLM; break-even-analysis; order pick time; profit optimization; clicklist

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mesa, A. (2021). A Methodology to Design Systems to Support Fulfillment of Online Grocery Orders [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1610708317139122

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mesa, Akhilesh. A Methodology to Design Systems to Support Fulfillment of Online Grocery Orders. 2021. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1610708317139122.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mesa, Akhilesh. "A Methodology to Design Systems to Support Fulfillment of Online Grocery Orders." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1610708317139122

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.