RESOLVING ORDER PICKING TOUR PROBLEMS IN THE DISTRIBUTION CENTER THROUGH ANT COLONY OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM

The order picking problems in a warehouse of the distribution center through ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) is studied, which is compared with the traditional picking tours based on the Z-traversal strategy. The results reveal that the ACO can reduce both the picking tour distances and the operation time significantly, thus the operation efficiency and service quality can be improved in a traditional warehouse of the distribution center.