進入二十一世紀以來，儘管電子商務、供應鏈整合、有效顧客回應、有效回應、以及及時配送不斷發展，若完全去除物流倉儲系統，那麼連接製造商到終端用戶的供應鏈將無法有效協調一致，然而，當這些新的發展奠基後，物流倉儲運作的角色及任務也隨之改變，同時會繼續大幅變化。所以彈性將是物流倉儲運作成功的關鍵，且應透過物流流程設計、系統選擇、效益評估及倉儲平面空間規劃來增加倉庫營運彈性。
以往對於物流中心揀貨作業效率化的問題，大多是從單揀貨區塊物流中心的架構方面切入問題，很少有從多揀貨區塊的佈置問題去做探討，絕大多數的物流中心不僅只有單單一區塊的佈置。然而，若是能從多區塊的問題佈置方式來著手去改善揀貨作業效率，則對於後續有關提高揀貨作業效率問題之研究，如儲位規劃問題將有很大的幫助。因此，本研究旨在針對物流中心多區塊的佈置設施的揀貨路徑規劃問題做一有系統之研究，發展一套法則，並比較前人的方法，評斷優劣，來求取最短揀貨行走距離，使得物流中心揀貨作業，能藉由多區塊佈置研究及改善，進而達到縮短揀貨行走距離以提高揀貨作業效率。

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