Rfid

Expert Systems with Applications 30 (2006) 561–576 www.elsevier.com/locate/eswa

Design of a RFID case-based resource management system for warehouse operations

Harry K.H. Chowa, King Lun Choya,*, W.B. Leea, K.C. Laub

a

Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, Peoples’s Republic of China b GENCO Distribution system, Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

Abstract In the past, the selection of resources to execute various warehouse operation services was done solely by experts. In this paper, a RFIDbased Resource Management System (RFID-RMS) is designed to help users to select the most suitable resource usage packages for handling warehouse operation orders by retrieving and analysing useful knowledge from a case-based data warehouse for solutions in both time saving and cost effective manner. In addition, a pure integral-linear programming model using a branch and bound algorithm to define the optimum travel distance of forklifts is also developed and embedded in the proposed system. The proposed system, which is suitable for usage in a warehouse operation environment, enhances the effectiveness in formulating resource usage package and managing resource operation by integrating the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), case-based reasoning (CBR) technologies and the programming model for forklift route optimization. Through applying RFID-RMS in the GENCO Distribution System, a multinational logistics company, the utilization of warehouse resources is expected to be maximized while work efficiency will be greatly enhanced. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: RFID technology; Case-based reasoning; Route optimization; Warehouse operations; Resource management

1. Introduction In the past decade, the change in the global economy has significantly redefined the way enterprises are operated. One of the major changes is that the core activity of warehousing in supply chain is no longer confined to...