Impact of Slotting on the Supply Chain for Warehouse Management: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic literature review aimed to analyze the slotting methodology's impact on warehouse and supply chain management. Next, the PICO method was introduced; to accurately characterize the constituent elements of a scientific literature review question and recognize the keywords, it is necessary to fragment the components into PIOC. This means that the aspects of the review question must be separated into Population, Intervention, Outcomes, and Comparison because our literature is aimed at the engineering branch. In general, 5723 studies were found; the methods followed the PRISMA methodology, using predefined keywords in the PIOC to search academic databases and applying inclusion/exclusion criteria to filter relevant studies. 25 documents were analyzed in depth, addressing 4 research questions about the benefits, methods, and restrictions of slotting. The results indicated that slotting reduces order preparation times by 15-30% when well implemented, assigning high-moving products in easily accessible locations. In addition, it improves the use of space in the warehouse or Distribution Center (DC), the accuracy of inventories, and the speed of response to changing market demands. In conclusion, the evidence positioned slotting as a high-impact strategy for efficiently storing and distributing logistics operations. More research would be required on the implementation of slotting considering real space, budget and personnel constraints, and its integration with new automation technologies. Incorporating these factors would enhance the demonstrated theoretical benefits of this methodology in practice.