{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/126911"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/126911","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Increasing e-commerce distribution center capacity through slotting strategy","abstract":"To meet increasing consumer expectations around delivery times, ecommerce retailers must take orders from 'click' to 'ship' as soon as possible. For retailers with tens of thousands of stock keeping units (SKUs), item picking is often the slowest step in the distribution center (DC) fulfillment process due to time taken for pickers to move between item locations. Pick paths are dictated by item slotting, the process of assigning SKUs to locations within the pick area, and therefore slotting improvements increase pick rate. This decreases the time taken to pick orders allowing more orders to be fulfilled in a given time period and increasing fulfillment capacity. This thesis presents a method for increasing pick efficiency through improved slotting strategy. This is achieved through placement of high velocity SKUs close to the outbound path resulting in a reduction in picker distance travelled, and on mid-level shelves where they are more ergonomical to pick. The impact of slotting strategies was compared through a simulation model. Simulations with historical data indicated a potential 5.2-10.8% increase in fulfilled units over a given time period.","abstract_html":"To meet increasing consumer expectations around delivery times, ecommerce retailers must take orders from 'click' to 'ship' as soon as possible. For retailers with tens of thousands of stock keeping units (SKUs), item picking is often the slowest step in the distribution center (DC) fulfillment process due to time taken for pickers to move between item locations. Pick paths are dictated by item slotting, the process of assigning SKUs to locations within the pick area, and therefore slotting improvements increase pick rate. This decreases the time taken to pick orders allowing more orders to be fulfilled in a given time period and increasing fulfillment capacity. This thesis presents a method for increasing pick efficiency through improved slotting strategy. This is achieved through placement of high velocity SKUs close to the outbound path resulting in a reduction in picker distance travelled, and on mid-level shelves where they are more ergonomical to pick. The impact of slotting strategies was compared through a simulation model. Simulations with historical data indicated a potential 5.2-10.8% increase in fulfilled units over a given time period.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Murphy, Lorcan Andrew."],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Sloan School of Management","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Stephen Graves and David Simchi-Levi."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020","date_published":"2020","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:59Z","subjects":["Sloan School of Management.","Civil and Environmental Engineering.","Leaders for Global Operations Program."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["MIT theses may be protected by copyright. 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Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126911"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, May, 2020","Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, May, 2020","Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 57-58)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["To meet increasing consumer expectations around delivery times, ecommerce retailers must take orders from 'click' to 'ship' as soon as possible. For retailers with tens of thousands of stock keeping units (SKUs), item picking is often the slowest step in the distribution center (DC) fulfillment process due to time taken for pickers to move between item locations. Pick paths are dictated by item slotting, the process of assigning SKUs to locations within the pick area, and therefore slotting improvements increase pick rate. This decreases the time taken to pick orders allowing more orders to be fulfilled in a given time period and increasing fulfillment capacity. This thesis presents a method for increasing pick efficiency through improved slotting strategy. This is achieved through placement of high velocity SKUs close to the outbound path resulting in a reduction in picker distance travelled, and on mid-level shelves where they are more ergonomical to pick. The impact of slotting strategies was compared through a simulation model. Simulations with historical data indicated a potential 5.2-10.8% increase in fulfilled units over a given time period."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M.B.A.","S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Increasing e-commerce distribution center capacity through slotting strategy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Stephen Graves and David Simchi-Levi."],"dc:contributor.department":["Sloan School of Management","Sloan","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering","CivEng","Leaders for Global Operations Program"],"dc:contributor.other":["Sloan School of Management.","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.","Leaders for Global Operations Program."],"dc:creator":["Murphy, Lorcan Andrew."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2020-09-03T15:53:07Z"],"dc:date.available":["2020-09-03T15:53:07Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2020"],"dc:description":["Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, May, 2020","Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, May, 2020","Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 57-58)."],"dc:description.abstract":["To meet increasing consumer expectations around delivery times, ecommerce retailers must take orders from 'click' to 'ship' as soon as possible. For retailers with tens of thousands of stock keeping units (SKUs), item picking is often the slowest step in the distribution center (DC) fulfillment process due to time taken for pickers to move between item locations. Pick paths are dictated by item slotting, the process of assigning SKUs to locations within the pick area, and therefore slotting improvements increase pick rate. This decreases the time taken to pick orders allowing more orders to be fulfilled in a given time period and increasing fulfillment capacity. This thesis presents a method for increasing pick efficiency through improved slotting strategy. This is achieved through placement of high velocity SKUs close to the outbound path resulting in a reduction in picker distance travelled, and on mid-level shelves where they are more ergonomical to pick. The impact of slotting strategies was compared through a simulation model. Simulations with historical data indicated a potential 5.2-10.8% increase in fulfilled units over a given time period."],"dc:description.degree":["M.B.A.","S.M."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126911"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Sloan School of Management.","Civil and Environmental Engineering.","Leaders for Global Operations Program."],"dc:title":["Increasing e-commerce distribution center capacity through slotting strategy"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:59Z"}