Formulation of a Layout-Agnostic Order Batching Problem

To date, research on warehouse order-batching has been limited by reliance on rigid assumptions regarding rack layouts. Although efficient optimization algorithms have been provided for conventional warehouse layouts with Manhattan style blocks of racks, they are limited in that they fail to generalize to unconventional layouts. This paper builds on a generalized procedure for digitization of warehouses where racks and other obstacles are defined using two-dimensional polygons. We extend on this digitization procedure to introduce a layout-agnostic minisum formulation for the Order Batching Problem (OBP), together with a sub-problem for the OBP for a single vehicle, the single batch OBP. An algorithm which optimizes the single batch OBP iteratively until an approximate solution to the OBP can be obtained, is discussed. The formulations will serve as the fundament for further work on layout-agnostic OBP optimization and generation of benchmark datasets. Experimental results for the digitization process involving various settings are presented.