Trends in order picking: a 2007–2022 review of the literature

Abstract

A literature review on the order picking process in warehouses is presented for delineating the trends in time of research topics in this field. A total of 269 journal papers published between 2007 and 2022 were retrieved from Scopus. After a methodological classification, descriptive analyses were performed on authors, journals, subject area and top publishing countries. Bibliometric tools were used to map the topics covered by the reviewed studies, categorise them and determine possible relationships. Papers’ contents were evaluated in terms of eight categories, including five typical issues of order picking systems, plus three aspects dealing with the characteristics of the application. Insights about the extent to which these aspects have been covered in the literature are derived; relationships between the various aspects of the picking process are also delineated. Suggestions for future research activities are finally deducted, offering researchers and practitioners strong bases for works on order picking systems.