Warehouse Layout Method Based on Ant Colony and Backtracking Algorithm

Warehouse is one of the important aspects of a company. Therefore, it is necessary to improve Warehouse Management System (WMS) to have a simple function that can determine the layout of the storage goods. In this paper we propose an improved warehouse layout method based on ant colony algorithm and backtracking algorithm. The method works on two steps. First, it generates a solutions parameter tree from backtracking algorithm. Then second, it deducts the solutions parameter by using a combination of ant colony algorithm and backtracking algorithm. This method was tested by measuring the time needed to build the tree and to fill up the space using two scenarios. The method needs 0.294 to 33.15 seconds to construct the tree and 3.23 seconds (best case) to61.41 minutes (worst case) to fill up the warehouse. This method is proved to be an attractive alternative solution for warehouse layout system. Keywords—warehouse layout; block stacking method; ant colony algorithm; backtracking algorithm.