Entry-Item-Quantity-ABC Analysis-Based Multitype Cigarette Fast Sorting System.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Mathematical Problems in Engineering Volume 2012, Article ID 847591, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2012/847591 Research Article Entry-Item-Quantity-ABC Analysis-Based Multitype Cigarette Fast Sorting System Ying Zhao,1 Yan Shi,2 and Hamid Reza Karimi3 1 School of Transportation and Logistics Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Shandong, Jinan 250023, China 2 School of Industrial Engineering, Tokai University, Kumamoto 862-8652, Japan 3 Department of Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Science, University of Agder, 4898 Grimstad, Norway Correspondence should be addressed to Hamid Reza Karimi, hamid.r.karimi@uia.no Received 27 August 2012; Accepted 28 October 2012 Academic Editor: Ebrahim Momoniat Copyright q 2012 Ying Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Numerous items, small order, and frequent delivery are the characteristics of many distribution centers. Such characteristics generally increase the operating costs of the distribution center. To remedy this problem, this study employs the Entry-Item-Quantity EIQ method to identify the characteristic of the cigarette distribution center and further analyzes the importance degree of cus- tomers and the frequently ordered products by means of EQ/EN/IQ-B/IK statistic charts. Based on these analyses as well as the total replenishment cost optimization model, multipicking strate- gies and combined multitype picking equipment allocation is then formulated accordingly. With such design scheme, the cigarette picking costs of the distribution center are expected to reduce.