Heuristics for puzzle-based storage systems driven by a limited set of automated guided vehicles

Storage systems play a vital role in industrial operations, and containment of their cost can be an important managerial issue. One way to achieve this aim is to increase storage density, i.e. to increase the area dedicated to storage and to reduce the size of aisles used to access goods. Innovative "puzzle-based" storage systems, in which shelves are moveable and hence allow the flexible arrangement of aisles, can be a promising solution, as long as retrieval times are fast enough and the required investment is not too high. The paper proposes the study of an innovative management solution for puzzle-based storage systems based on AGV tractors instead of self-propelled shelves. These systems have been studied by analyzing density and retrieval time as focal design variables.