Warehouses employ order cut-off times to ensure sufficient time for fulfilment. To satisfy
higher consumer expectations, these cut-off times are gradually postponed to improve order
responsiveness. Warehouses therefore have to allocate jobs more efficiently to meet
compressed response times. Priority job management by means of flow-shop models has
been used mainly for manufacturing systems but can also be applied for warehouse job
scheduling to accommodate tighter cut-off times. This study investigates which priority rule
performs best under which circumstances. The performance of each rule is evaluated in terms
of a common cost criterion that integrates the objectives of low earliness, low tardiness, low
labour idleness, and low work-in-process stocks. A real-world case study for a warehouse
distribution centre of an original equipment manufacturer in consumer electronics provides
the input parameters for a simulation study. The simulation outcomes validate several
strategies for improved responsiveness. In particular, the critical ratio rule has the fastest
flow-time and performs best for warehouse scenarios with expensive products and high
labour costs