The Effects of Crossdock Shapes on Material Handling Costs

Layout design for the cross-docking centers is one of the strategic decision level and critical issue because of its directly effects on material flow efficiency in these areas. At this stage, the size and shapes of the cross-docking center have to be determined by taking into account material handling operations. In this study, the effects of the crossdock shapes on material handling cost from inbound doors to outbound doors are analyzed for different type of cross-docking center layouts. In this content, the shapes of I, L, T, and U for cross-docking centers are considered. In order to identify the best shape of the cross-docking centers, a mathematical model is formulated based on the truck-door assignment problem in cross-docking centers. In computational studies, the proposed mathematical model is performed for different sized problems considering the four building shapes and the best building shape is identified by comparing the total material handling cost