Human-Robot Collaboration in Order Picking | Public Online Forum

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2025-04-24

导读：The 56th Public Forum for Engineering Management will focus on "Human-Robot Collaboration in Order P

Notice

The 56th Public Forum for Engineering Management will focus on "Human-Robot Collaboration in Order Picking" and will take place on Apr 25th, 2025, from 16:00-17:30pm (CST) via Tencent Meeting (ID: 226 859 195). The forum is organized by the Frontiers of Engineering Management and the School of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Bipan Zou, a Professor of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, will host the forum, and we have invited an expert in the field to share their research on this important topic: René (M.) B.M. de Koster, a professor of Logistics and Operations Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. We welcome all teachers and students who are interested in this subject to join us for what promises to be an informative and engaging event.

Frontiers of Engineering Management

School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Apr 23th, 2025

Agenda

Conference Time：16:00-17:30pm, 25th Apr（the standard Beijing time）

Tencent Meeting ID：226 859 195

Moderator: Bipan Zou，Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

· 16:00-17:00

Human-Robot Collaboration in Order Picking

Rene de Koster，Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

· 17:00-17:30

Q&A

Introduction of Keynote Speakers

René (M.) B.M. de Koster is a professor of Logistics and Operations Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He holds or has held guest professorships in various other universities and is the 2018 honorary Francqui Professor at Hasselt University. His research interests are warehousing, material handling, terminal operations, and behavioral operations. He is the founder of the Material Handling Forum and is author / editor of 8 books and over 300 papers in academic journals and books. He was recently mentioned as “the most influential researcher” in material handling. He currently is associate editor of Transportation Science, Operations Research, and Transportation Research-E.

【报告摘要】

The new generation of warehouses is gradually becoming robotized. Managers can select from many different competitive robotic techniques to store and retrieve loads and to fulfil the customer orders. In my talk, I discuss cobot order picking systems, where people work together with robots to pick the orders in warehouses, and focus on two main collaboration policies: fixed versus swarm. I will present four research questions in this area, addressed with different methods, namely: RQ1: Should we zone the system?; RQ2: Which method is better (for the pickers): leading or following a robot?; RQ3: How to route the picker and stack the pallet? and RQ4: Which operating policy is better: system directed or swarm? In order to answer these questions, (approximate) optimization models (queuing networks, SDP, and integer programming models) and empirical methods are used. I will share some insights obtained.

Introduction of Moderator

Zou Bipan，Professor, School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL). His research focuses on operations management of smart logistics systems, employing methodologies such as stochastic queueing networks, mixed-integer programming, and logistics simulation technologies to study robotic storage systems, sorting systems, autonomous vehicle delivery systems, and drone delivery systems. His work has been published in leading transportation and logistics journals, including: Transportation Science, Naval Research Logistics, European Journal of Operational Research, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, International Journal of Production Research, etc.

His doctoral dissertation on stochastic modeling of logistics systems earned him the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the China Society of Management Science and Engineering in 2018, followed by the Third Prize of Hubei Provincial Natural Science Award in 2019 for his pioneering work in intelligent logistics optimization. Most recently, his applied research achievements were honored with the Baogong Logistics Award in 2024. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of multiple national and provincial projects, including a National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) General Program and an NSFC Youth Fund Project (rated Excellent upon completion), a Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation General Program and Youth Fund Project.

Background

Frontiers of Engineering Management

Frontiers of Engineering Management (FEM) is a quarterly research journal that is supervised by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and administered jointly by Higher Education Press, Tsinghua University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. It is published in English, both in print and online, and is designed to provide an international platform for academicians, researchers, professionals, and practitioners in the broad field of engineering management to share knowledge in the form of research articles, reviews, comments, and super engineering.

FEM is organized in an international dimension and strives to promote the advancement of the science of engineering management, improve the practice of engineering management, and prepare practitioners and researchers in the field. With its high-quality contributions, FEM plays an important role in fostering collaborations and advancing the state of the art in engineering management.

Online Public Forum for Engineering Management

Since the end of 2020, the Frontiers of Engineering Management editorial office has launched a series of successful Online Public Forums for Engineering Management, which have attracted many researchers from across China. These forums feature keynote speeches from academicians, renowned experts, and authors of FEM, both from China and abroad.

As a platform for sharing knowledge and fostering collaboration, the Online Public Forum for Engineering Management has been an important part of FEM's efforts to promote the advancement of the science and practice of engineering management. Through these events, FEM has helped to connect researchers, practitioners, and experts in the field, and to provide valuable insights into the latest research and trends in engineering management.