A real simulation of automated warehouses processes: an academic experience with engineering students

In recent years, the changing market needs due to the dramatic increase of e-commerce and the effects of Covid-19 pandemic have caused a growing demand for supply chain operations. This dynamic business context is also associated with relevant technological and innovative modifications. In the logistics sector, automated warehouses play a crucial role in dealing more effectively with this development trend. For this reason, they are a relevant topic in universities and engineering faculties. Nevertheless, these systems mostly find application and implementation in the industrial sector, determining a significant detachment from the academic sphere. This usually results in a not complete awareness of university students related to the development and operations of such structures. Therefore, an automated warehouse made up by an innovative Automated Storage and Retrieval System and a Mobile Industrial Robot fleet recently installed in a university laboratory was showed to a group composed of 62 engineering students with different academic background. Moreover, a simulation was carried out, physically reproducing the main operations of a distribution centre, namely receiving, kitting, picking, and shipping processes. The students perception related to the automated warehouses was then evaluated through a questionnaire submitted at the end of the experience. The survey demonstrated that most of the students was interested in topics related to the industrial logistics, despite many of them never saw an automated warehouse before the laboratory test. Furthermore, the large majority of the students evaluated positively the simulation and they affirmed that the proposed experience significantly enriched their knowledge about logistics automation. Finally, many students declared that thanks to the test, the interest towards the automated warehouses increased and more than 50% started considering the idea of working in the logistics sector.