A RFID-based automated warehouse design

The trend of UK logistics warehouses is reported towards larger and more centralized systems on which automation is heavily invested in recent years. This is partially because of the disadvantage of manual operation resulting in the slow storage and retrieval speed, the high labor cost, and the high frequency of human errors. On the other hand, there is the growing demand for online shopping; more and more customers are using this method to find low-priced goods while requesting a fast delivery. Thus, retailers require more efficient distribution centers in which improved performances of warehousing systems through automation are increasingly desirable for these companies. The paper presents a conceptual design of a RFID-based automated warehousing system with its inherent feature of scalability and reconfigurability. Physical infrastructure and operational control events within the system are illustrated in the paper. Such a warehousing system was also modeled to indicate the level of capability that the system can provide in terms of the desired coordinated functionality of various operations that take place within the proposed system.