简介:Thedesignandoperationofhighvolumeconveyorsystemsindistributioncentersareimportantduetoitshighcost,largefootprintandcriticalroleinthesystem.However,thereisnoanalyticalmodelavailable.Inthispaper,westudythecharacteristicsoftheconveyorsortationsystem,developagenericmodelofacomplexconveyornetwork.WethenusetheDelayandStockabstractiontodevelopanapproximateanalyticalmethodusingsamplepathanalysisanddynamicnetworkflowmodel.Thedecisionvariablesincludelengthofaccumulationsegmentsandthespeedsofconveyorcomponentsaforementioneddecisionvariables.Thisanalyticalsolutionprovidesfasteranalysis,insightsandusefulsubgradientwithrespecttothedecisionvariables.