Batching 3 orders during picking and unbatching them at a queue (FlexSim 21.1.4)

[fme20107]

Dear FlexSim Forum,

I am new to FlexSim (version 21.1.x) and I am modeling an order-picking system.

My goal is for pickers to batch 3 customer orders at a time, collect them together during the picking process, and then unbatch them into 3 separate pallets at a downstream queue. 

I tried to find the solution from some models but i didnt get the expected behavior, as the simulation does not work properly.
There are 350 orders in total.
Could you please advise on how to correctly batch 3 orders and then unbatch them in to individual pallets.
Any guidance or solution would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

[joerg_vogel_HsH]

You need an attribute. At least an attribute in a list. A push argument can be that for lists. BUT you can add such an attribute at each object of an order. This would be for example a label. Or perhaps it can be more. Use a label value for batched order identifier. And a second one for order number inside a batch. Naturally you can combine more single data values in a structure like an array, then you need only a single label. 
You push your orders onto a list. List advanced options contain entries of your added item labels. Then you pull from this list all items of a batched order to collect them from your warehouse. Once a collection is completed for instance it is combined on a pallet, you can unpack this pallet in a separator object and send items to different combiners by an Order attribute of collected batch.

If you need specific answers about mechanisms ask them here again. 

[fme20107]

Hello @joerg_vogel_HsH,

thank you again for your previous answer — it helped me a lot.

I would like to validate one design decision regarding order batching. I am considering adding a Batch_ID column to the global picking list table (alongside Order_ID, ItemCode, Quantity, ABC category, etc.), where multiple Order_IDs share the same Batch_ID (e.g. every 3 orders form one batch), representing a pre-defined batching plan.

In the model, pick lines are created from this table, Order_ID and Batch_ID are assigned as token labels, tokens are pushed to a List using Batch_ID as the list entry value, batches are pulled for picking, and items are later separated again by Order_ID.

From a FlexSim modeling perspective, does this approach make sense and work reliably with List-based batching, or would you generally recommend keeping the Batch_ID logic computed dynamically inside the ProcessFlow instead?

[fme20107]

Hello @joerg_vogel_HsH and a happy new year!
I have made a simpler process flow that collects 3 orders at the same time via an order Batch_ID attribute that i added as you suggested. Although, the pickers do not break the orders in different pallets, as i want to so i can find easier which order is in a pallet. Also, i saw that with this process flow there is no dynamic picking for the batch process and the operators go back and forth with each order so they dont really save the distance it is supposed to. Could you guide me or help me on how to fix it.
Thank you in advance. (FlexSim version 21.1.4)