Minimizing the Peak Load in a Shared Storage System Based on the Duration-of-Stay of Unit Loads

The peak load is the maximum daily processing capacity requirement in a warehouse, and is an alternative criterion for the storage location assignment problem in warehousing management. This paper addresses the problem of minimizing the peak load in a storage/retrieval system with shared storage policy based on duration-of-stay of unit loads. A mixed integer programming model is presented. Two heuristics are developed to solve the problem. Their performances on different criteria are compared by computational tests.