JPH01176705A - Picking system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make equal the workload in every area by adjusting the size of an area in such a manner as to make equal workload of workers arranged in every area, and calculating and displaying the number of workers in every area in the above system in a moving rack. CONSTITUTION:The total workload of the day is divided by the number of workers to calculate workload per person, and the size of an area is adjusted to make equal workload in every area. One shop is allotted for one area to conduct a goods collecting work. That is, goods ordered concerning A area of a shop a1 is read out and displayed to collect goods forwarded to the shop a1. On the completion of collecting goods, goods ordered of a shop a2 is displayed in A area to collect goods forwarded to the shop a2. In B area, B area goods forwarded to the shop a1 are collected. Thus, collection of goods for one area and one shop is sequentially conducted. By this arrangement, the workload of workers is made equal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a picking system that picks out a predetermined number of different types of articles stored in shelves divided into a plurality of sections.

(Prior art) It has an inclined shelf board, and each shelf position facing the front is used as a separate storage position for articles, and by utilizing the inclination of the shelf, when the front article case is removed, the rear new case is placed in the front. Ordering and picking uses a floating shelf with a structure similar to that shown in Figure 1, and places a large number of these in an article storage area, and a worker takes out a predetermined number of articles of a predetermined type one after another based on an order list. The system is known.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a fluidized shelf used in a picking system already proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-145704. In the same figure, the liquid shelf 10
has a plurality of shelves 11 inclined forward, and cases 13 containing different articles 12 are disposed in each column.

Necessary articles 12 are taken out from a case 13 located at the front of the shelf, and when the case becomes empty, the case is removed so that the next case comes out to the front of the shelf. As shown in FIG. 13, such a fluidized shelf 10 is arranged opposite to a belt conveyor 14, and an operator places an article taken out on the belt conveyor, and an operator places an article taken out on the belt conveyor. Place it and transport it to the collection location. Reference numeral 15 indicates a pallet storage shelf that accommodates the amount of replenishment to the fluid shelf.

In FIG. 12, an item indicator light 16 is provided at each case placement position on the shelf 11, and when lit, the worker is informed of the location of the shelf from which the item is to be taken out. In addition, a digital display 17 is provided at the top center of the fluidizing shelf to display the number of articles to be taken out, and a push button switch 18 is provided on the side of the fluidizing shelf to be operated when taking out the articles is completed. It is being

In such a structure, the conventional picking system divides each flow shelf at equal intervals and sets areas.
Workers were stationed in each of these defined areas, picking the required number of designated items and packing them into containers.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a conventional picking system. In the figure, the fluidized shelves 101 to 106 are divided into areas A, B, and C for each predetermined section, and workers Pa%Pb1Pc are arranged in each area. Containers Ca, Cb,
Cc is written, and when the picked items are packed, they are sent to a container collection and delivery point. The worker confirms the type and quantity of items to be picked using signals issued from the computer based on order data.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In this way, in the conventional system, when the area of the floating shelf is set, the arrangement of workers is also fixed accordingly, so the amount of work can be adjusted to each worker. There would be no problem if the orders were distributed evenly, but there is a problem in that the order data fluctuates depending on the season, day of the week, work time, etc., creating an imbalance in the workload of each worker and reducing overall processing efficiency. Ta.

Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to always equalize the amount of work given to workers who pick up items from each work shelf in a picking system. The aim is to provide a new picking system.

(Means for solving the problem) In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention
In a packing system, when multiple types of articles are placed at predetermined positions on a floating shelf having a plurality of shelves, and a specified article is taken out and collected on a conveyor, means for displaying the take-out position and number of articles; A means for displaying the identification classification of each area divided by shelf, a means for transporting the goods storage container to a position corresponding to each area, and a means for averaging the workload of workers assigned to each area. The present invention provides a picking system characterized by comprising means for adjusting the size of the area according to order data and/or calculating and displaying the number of workers to be placed in each area.

(Function) In the picking system, the amount of work given to the workers who pick up items from each work shelf is always equalized, and even if the order data changes depending on the season, day of the week, work time zone, etc., the amount of work given to each worker is equalized. evenly distributed.

(Example) Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the present invention. In the same figure,
Fluid shelf 10. - Ion are arranged, and each fluidized shelf is provided with shelf controllers 201 to 20n corresponding to each other. An input device 25 such as a keyboard is connected to a control device 21 using a microcomputer or the like, and data such as order information is inputted thereto. The control device sends an output signal to the conveyor drive device 22 to move the conveyor 14 in the direction of the arrow. Also, a container CF is placed on a conveyor and into which necessary items are placed by a worker.

A label on which necessary information such as a date and a product name is printed is attached to C2, . . . , Cn by a label printing machine 23. Furthermore, the control device 21 sends a signal to each shelf controller via the repeater 24, and drives an indicator light indicating the position of articles to be picked from the flow shelf and an indicator indicating the number of articles to be taken out. CRT
A display device such as the above displays the operation of the control device.

In the present invention, a computer-configured control device is used to change the area classification of the liquid shelf according to order data,
By moving the worker's work position according to the area classification, it is possible to balance the amount of work of the worker and improve the overall work efficiency.

A. Next, in the present invention, a method for equalizing the workload of workers will be explained.

(2) Method of adjusting the size of each area by keeping the number of workers in each area constant (1) It is assumed that each column stores a plurality of different types of articles.

(2) First, before work, each worker's work areas A to C are determined using a computer. For example, calculate the amount of work per person by dividing the total amount of work for that day by the number of workers.
Based on this, the areas are adjusted and displayed so that the amount of work in each area is equal.

(3) As a method of dividing each area, a, for example,
A method of physically dividing each area by creating partitions at the boundaries of each area.

b. A method of marking the boundaries of each area with tape or the like.

C1 A method of dividing each area by installing lamps on the boundary line.

d1 A method of identifying each area by color-coding with multicolored lamps.

etc. are possible.

(4) When picking goods, one area is
The items will be assigned to one store and picking will proceed. That is, taking the case of FIG. 2 as an example, the ordered products (articles) related to area A of the first store A are read out, the indicator and the number of items to be taken out of the corresponding ordered products are displayed, and
Picking of ordered products from the first store a in the area is performed. When this is completed, for area A, the ordered products for area A of the second store a2 are read out, the instruction base and the number of items to be taken out (ordered number) of the corresponding product are displayed, and Picking for the second store a is performed. In addition, in parallel with this, the ordered products of the second store a2 in the B area are read out, and similarly the ordered products of the first store a in the B area are picked. In this way, one store corresponds to one area, and picking in all areas ANC is performed for each store a1 to an in turn.

In this case, during the work, the amount of work in each area A% BIC varies depending on the amount of product ordered in each area of each store, but on average they are approximately equal.

1) Next, a method of adjusting the number of workers in each area while keeping the size of each area constant will be explained.

(1) In this example, each area is fixed.

(2) First, before starting work, calculate the total amount of work in all areas, and divide it by the number of workers to find the average amount of work per person minus the number of workers. Then, the required number of workers is calculated by dividing the amount of work in each area by the above average amount of work. In this case, the calculated number of workers is not necessarily an integer, so it is necessary to round it up to an integer. The method is as follows:
For example, rounding off to the nearest whole number or, in some cases, rounding down to the nearest whole number, and rounding down fractions that cannot be rounded up, that is, 0.4 to 0.699, etc., to 0.5. Rounding to 0.5 is done when there is a fraction of 0.5 in the number of workers in the adjacent area. (Figure 3)

Ill, a method based on a combination of the methods shown in Section 1.11 above will be described.

In the case of item 1 above, if the area in which the - worker is in charge becomes extremely large, the distance traveled by the worker also becomes large, which may actually reduce work efficiency. In addition, in the case of item 11 mentioned above, even if there is some variation in the amount of work in each area, the number of workers can only be an integer (except when the number of workers is held), so the variation in the amount of work in each area is It cannot be completely eliminated. Therefore, as shown in Figure 4,
A method that combines the methods in Section 1 and Section 1I is adopted.

According to this, it is possible to reduce the variation in the size of the area, and it is also possible to determine the size of each worker P to P4 to be approximately equal.

B. Next, we will explain how to calculate the amount of work.

! , The products to be picked include light items, heavy items,
This includes various miscellaneous items, such as small items and items that require careful handling. Therefore, the working time for picking differs depending on those characteristics. Further, the working time required for picking differs depending on the difference between the upper and lower shelves. Therefore, the worker -
When averaging the amount of work per person, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of these working hours (work amount) and quantitatively understand the overall amount of work and the amount of work in each area.

II. What is shown in FIG. 5 is a work difficulty level table for quantitatively understanding the amount of work for picking products. In addition,
The work difficulty level in the work difficulty level table shown in FIG. 5 is determined empirically or from past work results.

(2) Based on such a table of work difficulty for each product, the work difficulty of all the products stored in the picking shelf as shown in FIG. 6, for example, is registered in the computer in advance. Then, when the picking data for -1 minute is registered, in the case of item 1 above, the total work amount for -1 minute is calculated by multiplying the work difficulty of each picked product by its number, and then Divide by the number of workers to calculate the amount of work per person. Then, based on the obtained amount of work, an area corresponding to the amount of work is determined.

The total work amount for -1 minute is calculated by the first equation by adding up the work amount of the picked products in each section.

-Total amount of work per minute = ΣPk...(1) However, Pk: Amount of work per day for one product (Number of orders for one product x Difficulty) n: Number of types of products to be picked Next, - The amount of work B per person is calculated using equation (2).

Amount of work per person B = Total amount of work for one day ÷ Number of workers (2) Next, determine the area corresponding to this average amount of work B.

Incidentally, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for adjusting the size of each area while keeping the number of workers in each area constant, as an example of determining the area.

If the actually calculated amount of work for each column is as shown in FIG. 8, for example, the area in charge of -per worker will be as shown in the lower part of FIG.

IV. The case where the area is fixed and the number of workers is adjusted (above item A, item 2) will be explained.

"Sonol"...How to round off (Amount of work in one area 10 workers - average amount of work per person = Number of workers) Round off to an integer (see Figure 9).

``Part 2''...Method of rounding up to 7 people (same for 2 types of 8 people) Round the calculated number of workers (quotient) as shown in Figure 10.

However, if the value A after the decimal point of the calculated number of workers is 0.3<
When A is within the range of 0.7, before rounding off the quotient, add up the amount of work in the area and the amount of work in the next area, divide the total value by the average amount of work, The number of workers in two areas is calculated, and if the calculated value is a rounded value, one worker is placed across both the area and the next area to carry out the work.

For example, the number of workers calculated for the first area is 1.4.
If there are 7 people and the calculated number of workers for both area 1 and area 2 is 4.14, then 4 workers will be working on both areas, but among them, One person is assigned to work with a hook across both areas (see Figure 11).

If the total number of workers in the adjacent area cannot be rounded to the nearest seven, for example, in the above example, the number of workers calculated for both the first area and the second area is 4. .57 people, round off the calculated number of workers in the first area (1st area) to the nearest integer, and calculate the calculated number of workers in the next area (2nd area) (4,57 - 1,47
= 3.1 people), round to the nearest whole number.

(2) Next, we will explain the case where both the area and the number of workers are adjusted.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, even when the number of workers in each area is kept constant and the size of each area is adjusted, it is difficult to make the amount of work in each area uniform. In such a case, for example, taking Figure 8 as an example, the second area and the third area or the third area and the fourth area are set as one area, and two workers are placed there. do. This makes it possible to further reduce variations in the amount of work performed by each worker.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, there is provided a means for displaying the take-out position and the number of articles, a means for displaying the identification classification of each area partitioned for each floating shelf, and a means for displaying the article storage container corresponding to each area. means for transporting to the location, adjusting the size of the area according to the order data so that the workload of the workers assigned to each area is averaged, and/or the workers assigned to each area. Since the picking system is equipped with a means for calculating and displaying the number of items, the amount of work given to the workers who pick up items from each work shelf is always equalized in the picking system.
Even if order data fluctuates depending on the season, day of the week, work time zone, etc., the amount of work is evenly distributed to each worker, and overall processing efficiency does not decrease.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a picking system according to the present invention, Figures 2 and 3 are schematic configuration diagrams showing the positional relationship between the flow shelves and the conveyor, and Figure 4 is a diagram showing the arrangement of workers in each area. Figure 5 is a table showing the work difficulty of picked products, Figure 6 is a table showing the amount of work for picked products, Figure 7 is a flowchart, and Figure 8 is a table showing the amount of work in each area. 9 to 11 are diagrams explaining the rounding of the calculated number of workers, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the flow shelf, and FIG. 13 is a top view of the overall arrangement of the picking system. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the arrangement of the flow shelves, feed conveyor, and workers in the conventional system. 10 ~ Ion... Fluid shelf, 14... Feeding conveyor,
20-20n... Shelf controller, 21... Control device, 22... Conveyor drive device, 23... Label issuing machine, 24... Repeater, 25... Input device, 26...
...Display device. Patent applicant: Ishida Kouki Seisakusho Co., Ltd.
Person Patent attorney Minoru Tsuji Figure 5 Figure 6 In 1 town, ii+t 4p-
Form) Kunio Ogawa, Commissioner of the Patent Office, April 27, 1988 1. Indication of the case 1988 Patent Application No. 336152 2. Invention name picking system 3. Person making the amendment Relationship with the case Patent applicant Address: 44 Goin Sanno-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture Name: Ishida Koki Seisakusho Ishida Riek Ichi Representative: Ishi 1) Takashi - 4, Agent March 2, 1988 (Start Gate 63.3) .29) 6. Column 7 of "Claims" of the specification subject to amendment, Contents of amendment

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a picking system in which multiple types of articles are placed at predetermined positions on a fluid shelf having multiple shelves, specified articles are taken out and collected on a conveyor, means for displaying the take-out position and number of articles; , a means for displaying the identification classification of each area divided by each floating shelf, a means for transporting the goods storage container to a position corresponding to each area, and a means for averaging the workload of workers assigned to each area. 1. A picking system comprising means for adjusting the size of an area according to order data and/or calculating and displaying the number of workers to be placed in each area. (2) The picking system according to claim (1), wherein the fluidized shelf is one fluidized shelf. (3) The picking system according to claim (1), wherein the fluidized shelf is a plurality of fluidized shelves.