An Analysis Of Dual Shuttle
Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems

Adhinarayan Keserla
Brett A. Peters

August 1, 1994

This working paper is not to be copied, quoted, or cited without the permission of the authors. Address correspondence to Brett A. Peters, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3131 or email to bpeters@tamu.edu

An Analysis Of Dual Shuttle Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems

Abstract

This paper addresses the throughput improvement possible with the use of a dual shuttle automated storage and retrieval system. With the use of such a system, travel between time in a dual command cycle is virtually eliminated resulting in a large throughput improvement. The dual shuttle system is then extended to perform an equivalent of two dual commands in one cycle in a quadruple command mode (QC). A heuristic that sequences retrievals to minimize travel time in QC mode is developed. Monte Carlo simulation results are provided for evaluating the heuristic's performance and show that it performs well, achieving large throughput improvements compared with that of the dual command cycle operating under the nearest neighbor retrieval sequencing heuristic.

Keywords:

Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems Design; Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems Operation; Material Handling Systems; Performance Modeling and Analysis

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