THE CENTROID PROJECTION METHOD FOR LOCATING PICK-UP AND DELIVERY STATIONS IN SINGLE-LOOP AGV SYSTEMS

In this paper, we consider incorporating within department flows in formulating the problem of determining the pick-up and delivery stations in the design of single-loop AGV systems. We first show the impact of different locations of P/D stations by simulation. We then propose a model for determining optimal locations of P/D stations, which accounts for between and within department flows. We denote this procedure as the centroid projection method since material flow is assumed to occur between department centroids projected to the nearest aisle segment bounding each department. The model assumes the transportation cost ratio of the within and between department flows is known.