This paper deals with the picking batch size which a bi-directional carousel system can be feasible. The items that customers order are retrieved from the bins of carousel with batch size. The mathematical equations representing rotary travel distance and retrieval lead time to pick a given batch size are derived. Rotary travel distance represents the distance which carousel system rotates to retrieve items in a batch. The bi-directional carousel system rotates to minimize the travel distance in retrieving the items in a batch. Rotary travel distance and retrieval lead time are analyzed for the batch size through the simulation approach. From the simulation, the retrieval batch size that carousel system can be feasible is obtained. A numerical example is shown to explain the solution procedure.