Data-Driven Modelling and Optimization in Warehousing: The Order Consolidation and the Pallet Loading Problems
Samir Eldhedhli – University of Waterloo
March 12, Friday, 16:00 (GMT+3)
This is an online seminar. To request the event link, please send a message to the department.
Data-Driven Modelling and Optimization in Warehousing: The Order Consolidation and the Pallet Loading Problems
Samir Eldhedhli – University of Waterloo
With the considerable growth in e-commerce and retailing, warehouses are playing a central role in supply chain efficiency. Motivated by an industrial project with a global logistics company and based on real data, we study two practical, yet challenging, problems in warehousing. First, we study the order fulfillment problem in an e-warehouse. Based solely on data, we analyze the picking, order fulfillment, and order consolidation operations. We then introduce and solve the Order Consolidation Problem, a new problem in warehouse operations and parallel machine scheduling. Second, we focus on the Pallet Loading Problem in retail distribution, a generalization of three-dimensional bin packing to include practical constraints such as item support, pallet stability, and load bearing. We propose a new layer-based formulation and an efficient column generation solution approach. We present detailed analysis and comparisons and offer directions for future research.
Samir Elhedhli is a Professor at the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo with research interests in Large Scale Optimization and Data Analytics. His work has appeared in top scientific journals such as Management Science, Mathematical Programming, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, INFORMS Journal on Computing, IISE transactions, and the European Journal of Operational Research among others. He held research grants from NSERC, CFI, OCE and MITACS and collaborated with industries in aircraft manufacturing, airline scheduling, and supply chain analytics. He served as president of the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS) in 2011-2012. He is currently the co-Editor-in-Chief of its flagship journal INFOR.