A simulation-based comparison of two goods-to-person order picking systems in an online retail setting

Design and analysis of order picking systems continues to be an active topic of interest both in academia and practice, especially in light of the significant increase in online retail sales. In this paper, we examine two types of well-known, goods-to-person order picking systems, namely, a miniload system and a Kiva system. Using a simulation model, we compare the performance of the two systems on the basis of expected throughput and expected container retrieval times to process the same set of customer orders. We also discuss some of the advantages and limitations of the two systems.