SYE 6075 Warehousing and Inventory Control
Spring 2020 Final Exam
1. Which of the warehouse processes typically communicate most directly with the financial system? (4 pt.)
2. Storing pallets in a carton-fast
pick area: Consider three skus that are competing for space in a fast- pick area devoted to picking cartons from pallets: (22 pt.)
a. Compute and rank the labor efficiency of the skus for space on the ground floor of selective rack. Assume that on average it requires 1 minute per pick from the ground level, 2 minutes from a higher level and 3 minutes per restock (9 pt)
SKU Carton Picks Carton Demand Pallet Demand Min Max
A 100 8 20 3 40
B 100 40 1 1 Unknown
C 100 20 20 2 10
D 10 1 1 2 2
b. Which SKU has the strongest claim? (4 pts)
c. SKU B, which previously was packed 64 cartons to a pallet is now being packed 72 cartons per pallet. Has the claim of sku B to space in the forward pick area been weakened, strengthened or neither? Explain your answer (9 pts)
3. Is it preferable for aisles to run parallel to the long or the short side of a rectangular warehouse? Why? (Assume a “flow through” layout with receiving and shipping at opposite sides) (6 pts)
4. Consider a warehouse with a forward case-pick area. Some overstock is held in higher levels of nearby pallet rack and some is held in an outlying warehouse and restocked from there: Assume the forward pick area has been stocked and may not be changed: For which skus should the overstock be held nearby (rather than in the outlying warehouse?) (9 pts)
a. Those skus forecast to be the most frequently requested
b. Those skus forecast to sell in the greatest physical volume
c. Those skus forecast to sell the most cases from the forward case-pick area
d. Those skus forecast to sell the most pallets from the forward case-pick area
e. Those skus forecast to sell the most pallets as full-pallet picks
f. Those skus forecast to sell the most total pallets (from either case-pick or full- pallet pick)

5. In a pallet-in/pallet-out trans shipment warehouse, which of the arriving pallets should be stored in the most convenient location? Assume storage is single-deep pallet rack, using a policy of shared (“random”) storage. Is this decision guaranteed to be optimal (minimum travel?) Why or why not? (12 pts)
6. Consider a collection of pallets of paint of various kinds. Each sku will be floor stacked 4 pallets high. Which skus are best stored in the area of the warehouse with lane depth of 3 pallet positions and an aisle 3 pallets wide? (9 pts)
7. Compare OPT, EQT and EQS (20 pts)
a. In what way does a policy of Optimal Allocations make space easier to manage than does a policy of Equal Time Allocations? (4 pts)
b. In what way does a policy of Optimal Allocations make replenishment easier to manage than does a policy of Equal Space Allocations? (4 pts)
c. What fraction of the available volume in the forward pick area should be given to sku under a policy of EQT (6 pts)
d. What fraction of the available volume in the forward pick area should be given to sku under OPT? (6 pts)
8. You have four skus for storage in a forward piece pick area for small parts. (Picks are given in person minutes and flows have been scaled as a fraction of the volume available in the forward pick area) Assume that savings per pick from the forward pick area is 1 person minute and a restock average 3 person minutes (18 pts)
SKU PICKS FLOW
A 80 12.0
B 90 7.9
C 75 6.0
D 85 7.0
a. Rank the skus in order of priority for storage in the forward pick area (9 pts)
b. If all four skus were stored in the forward pick area, which would be allocated the least space (9 pts)