Industrial settings like picking lines are confronted to the challenge of increasing the efficiency with automate detection systems, robots and optimization algorithms. In this context, there is a general necessity to represent their structure and behavior in an abstract way, in order to integrate data and to execute various simulations. The paper analyzes several paradigms used for modeling picking lines and it proposes an object-oriented environment based on concepts that are specific to distribution centers and picking lines, which constitute the abstract syntax of a new modeling language. They were used for configuring a model editor and creating models that may be interpreted for further processing and adaptation needed by the automation elements. An example of model is given for a pharmaceutical warehouse with a conveyor-based picking line featured with magnetic, optic, position and weighting sensors.

Keywords: Modeling, Instrumentation and measurement, Distribution centers