EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS IN AN AUTOMATED PALLETIZING SYSTEM: A SIMULATION MODEL

Challenged by an unprecedented increase in product variety and demand variability, logistics systems are required to fulfill small customer orders at competitive costs and within short lead times, while keeping a high level of flexibility. In this context, companies are increasingly adopting flexible material handling solutions based on autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). This paper deals with AMR-based Automated Pick to Pallet Systems (APPSs), a novel solution for mixed-case palletizing that has never been studied in scientific literature. In these systems, palletizing robots pick boxes from single-item source pallets and place them on mixed pallets under construction. AMRs replenish the palletizing robots with source pallets and transport the mixed pallets to and from the different palletizers until completion. An agent-based simulation model for the estimation of AMR-based APPS performance is presented and validated. The developed model can be easily modified and adapted to test different layout configurations and management policies. Therefore, it provides support to companies evaluating the introduction of such systems and lays the grounds for further research on their suitability in different contexts, also in comparison with existing systems.