PURPOSE: To extremely simply and easily conduct the selection of required cards simply and easily, by providing a means for storing numbers of empty shelves in addition to part number cards.

CONSTITUTION: During introduction, a number of a shelf to be delivered with articles is selected in accordance with the data of empty shelves set on the microcomputer 6 side, and delivery data concerning the number of the shelf and the number of articles are written in a part number card 8. During delivery, the number of a shelf having a oldest introduction order number is selected from inventory data recorded on the part number card 8, and whether a simple delivery work is made or an order picking work is made, is judged in accordance with the comparing computation between a quantity corresponding to the shelf and a set desired delivery quantity. A crane control device 5 controls the automatic operation of a crane 1 in accordance with an instruction for each working cycle and destination instruction delivered from the microcomputer 6, and therefore, introduction into a cargo receiving section corresponding to the selected shelf number or delivery from a cargo receiving section 7 corresponding to the selected shelf number is carried out.