Strategic Development, Improvement and Integration of Representative Routing in Warehouse Management Information Systems
One of the frequently occurring tasks during the development of a warehouse management system is the implementation of a routing algorithm of some kind. Whether it is for guiding workers during order picking, routing delivery vehicles or for routing company representatives, this task has proven to be challenging in the technical as well as the social sense. In other words, the task is heavily dependent on various company-specific constraints and it directly dictates the way employees should do their job. This paper describes a strategic approach to the development and gradual integration process of such algorithms which makes sure that all constraints are satisfied and, more importantly, ensures that route suggestions are viewed by the employees as a helpful tool rather than a threat to their job. Described through a real-world case study in a medium-to-large warehouse, the routing efficiency is almost doubled in comparison to the previous approach and critical factors are analysed and discussed throughout different stages of the process.