AUTOMATED METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING UTILIZATION OF WAREHOUSE STORAGE SPACE

• US 3,705,410 A
• Filed: 01/21/1971
• Issued: 12/05/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Donald L. Peterson, Elmer D. Kooy
• Original Assignee: Donald L. Peterson, Elmer D. Kooy
• Inventors: Kooy, Elmer D., Peterson, Donald L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gotz, Eugene G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wise, Edward J.
• Application Number:
  US05/108,497
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 235/150 444/1
• US Class Current: 705/7.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/043 Optimisation of two dimensional placement, e.g. cutting of clothes or wood
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

The program of the present invention deals with the following given information: the quantity of units produced in each production run, the number of units expected to be shipped out on a series of successive days, the size of each storage area (the base position occupied by one unit of product, e.g., a pallet), the number of product units (pallets) that can be stored on top of one another (stacking height), the minimum inventory desired (safety stock) and the minimum aisle width. This information is represented by a bit stream which is fed to a data processing system programmed in accordance with the invention. The program first determines the daily inventory on a series of successive days utilizing the above information. The program finds the number of storage bays required to be used on each of the aforesaid successive days assuming a bay depth of from 1 to 10 base positions. The program then selects the bay depth which uses the smallest total floor space. A summary is then made of the total number of bays required and the area at the minimum bay depth. This information is then used by an operator to lay out the warehouse and tells how much total space is required for a particular warehousing operation as well as the effect on storage space caused by changing production schedules or changes in any of the above factors.

Claims

1. An automated method of determining the allocation of storage space for goods performed by a digital computer having data storage comprising:

a. receiving in said data storage signals representing;

the input quantity of units of goods to be stored in each of a series of consecutive time periods, the area of selected bay depths, the safety stock period of the goods, the stacking height and the daily shipping quantity, b. recording the number of units of goods in storage each time period prior to the safety stock period, c. after the safety stock period, adding and subtracting the number of units introduced and removed each time period in accordance with the shipping requirements and input quantity for each time period, d. totaling the number of units in storage for each time period, e. recording the difference between the number of units stored each time period and the number in storage at the end of the safety stock period, f. maintaining a record of the time period at which the difference is a minimum or zero, g. multiplying the average number of bays after the safety stock period and before the time period determined in step (f) that are utilized per time period by the area of one bay to obtain the total floor area required, h. repeating aforesaid operations (b) to (g) for each bay depth that is to be examined, and i. selecting as the optimum bay depth that which corresponds with the minimUm total floor area.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the unit is the size of a shipping pallet,

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a running total is computed for a series of consecutive time periods and is terminated at the end of a predetermined number of time periods whether or not a zero difference is established between the number of units in storage in the first time period and a subsequent number in storage.

4. A data processing system for processing data including data representing (a) the number of units of goods received into storage per time period, (b) the number of units shipped out per time period, (c) the safety stock period, (d) the stacking height of the goods, (e) the size of the storage area (base size) for one unit of goods, and (f) an assumed bay depth, said data processing system comprising a memory, means for reading and writing signals during operation of the memory, a logic circuit means, and wherein a stored program directs said data processing system to perform the following operations:

a. recording the number of said units in storage during each time period prior to the safety stock period, b. adding and subtracting the number of units introduced and removed in each time period after the elapse of the safety stock period to establish the number of units in storage at the end of each time period, c. recording the difference between the number of units in storage at the end of each time period and the number in storage at the end of the safety stock period, d. maintaining a record of the time period when the difference obtained is at a minimum or zero to thereby establish a working cycle, e. multiplying the average number of bays utilized per time period within the cycle by the area of one bay to obtain the total floor area required, f. repeating the aforesaid operations for each bay depth that is to be examined, and g. selecting as the optimum bay depth that which corresponds with the minimum floor area.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the unit is the size of a shipping pallet.

6. The combination of claim 4 wherein a running total is computed for a series of consecutive time periods and is terminated at the end of a predetermined number of time periods whether or not a zero difference is established between the number of units in storage after the safety stock period and a subsequent number of units in storage.

7. An automated method of determining the allocation of storage space in a warehouse performed by a data processing system having a stored program, said method comprising:

a. receiving in said data processing system signals representing;

the input quantity of units to be stored in each of a series of consecutive time periods, an assumed bay depth, the safety stock period, the stacking height and the shipping quantity for each time period, b. recording the number of units in storage each time period prior to the safety stock period, c. after the safety stock period, adding and subtracting the number of units introduced and removed in each time period in accordance with the shipping requirements and input quantity for each time period, d. totaling the number of units in storage for each time period, e. recording the difference between the number of units stored in each time period and the number in storage at the end of the safety stock period, f. maintaining a record of the time period when the difference is first a minimum or zero to establish a working cycle, g. multiplying the average number of bays utilized per time period within the cycle by the area of one bay of the assumed depth to obtain the total floor area required, h. multiplying the average number of bays in use in the cycle by the number of pallets in storage in each bay of the assumed depth and height to obtain the average pallet inventory, and i. multiplying the average number of bays used per day during the cycle by the capacity in units of a single bay of the assumed bay depth and dividing the result into the average pallet inventory to thereby obtain the percent utilization of the bay.