Product and location management via voice recognition
First Claim
1. An inventory-management system for mapping a plurality of inventory items to respective stocking locations associated with the plurality of inventory items in an environment, the inventory-management system comprising:
- a database for storing stocking location information comprising a stored stocking location for each inventory item of the plurality of inventory items, each inventory item associated with identifying indicia;
a computer configured to communicate with the database; and
a voice-recognition system comprising the computer and a voice-recognition device configured to (i) capture, from a user, a spoken command that includes at least a portion of the identifying indicia for an inventory item to be stocked and (ii) transmit, to the computer, information about at least the portion of the inventory item'"'"'s identifying indicia;
wherein, responsive to the spoken command, the computer is configured to;
determine, if the inventory item to be stocked is already associated with stored stocking location in the computer database,transmit, to the voice-recognition device, in response to determining that the inventory item is not yet associated with the stored stocking location information in the database, instructions for the user to initiate a user-selected stocking location for the inventory item;
responsive to an indication that the user is at the user-selected stocking location for the inventory item, capture, from the user, user'"'"'s spoken description associating the inventory item and the identifying indicia for the inventory item with the user-selected stocking location; and
storing, in the database, a mapping information comprising the user-selected stocking location and association of the stocking location information with the identifying indicia and the inventory item in the computer database; and
using, the stored mapping information comprising the user-selected location, for another inventory item associated with the identifying indicia, for restocking the another inventory item.
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Abstract
A system using voice recognition is provided to assist in restocking shelving while simultaneously creating an accurate product-to-location mapping of the overall environment. The creation of such a product-to-location mapping enhances many in-store tasks, such as stocking, picking, and cycle counting. The system allows store based task-management software systems to efficiently direct users to precise locations, to reduce product search time, to improve worker travel paths throughout the store to save time, and to free workers to perform other tasks. Workers use a voice-recognition restocking application to record, via voice-entry, the location where each restocked product is stored. The voice capturing of the product-to-location mapping is conducted over time to provide a seamless and sustainable way to maintain product-to-location store maps.
451 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An inventory-management system for mapping a plurality of inventory items to respective stocking locations associated with the plurality of inventory items in an environment, the inventory-management system comprising:
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a database for storing stocking location information comprising a stored stocking location for each inventory item of the plurality of inventory items, each inventory item associated with identifying indicia; a computer configured to communicate with the database; and a voice-recognition system comprising the computer and a voice-recognition device configured to (i) capture, from a user, a spoken command that includes at least a portion of the identifying indicia for an inventory item to be stocked and (ii) transmit, to the computer, information about at least the portion of the inventory item'"'"'s identifying indicia; wherein, responsive to the spoken command, the computer is configured to; determine, if the inventory item to be stocked is already associated with stored stocking location in the computer database, transmit, to the voice-recognition device, in response to determining that the inventory item is not yet associated with the stored stocking location information in the database, instructions for the user to initiate a user-selected stocking location for the inventory item; responsive to an indication that the user is at the user-selected stocking location for the inventory item, capture, from the user, user'"'"'s spoken description associating the inventory item and the identifying indicia for the inventory item with the user-selected stocking location; and
storing, in the database, a mapping information comprising the user-selected stocking location and association of the stocking location information with the identifying indicia and the inventory item in the computer database; andusing, the stored mapping information comprising the user-selected location, for another inventory item associated with the identifying indicia, for restocking the another inventory item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for mapping a plurality of inventory items to respective stocking locations associated with the plurality of inventory items, in an environment, the method comprising:
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capturing via a voice-recognition system comprising a computer and a voice-recognition device, a voice input from a user that includes at least a portion of an identifying indicia corresponding to an inventory item of the plurality of inventory items; transmitting, to the computer, information about the inventory item'"'"'s identifying indicia responsive to capturing the voice input from the user, the voice input captured when commencing to restock the inventory item; and responsive to receiving the information about the inventory item'"'"'s identifying indicia, determining, via the computer, if the inventory item is already associated with stored stocking information in a database configured to store stocking location information comprising a stored stocking location for each inventory item of the plurality of inventory items, wherein, if the computer determines the inventory item is not yet associated in the database with the stored stocking location information, transmitting, to the voice-recognition device, instructions for the user to initiate a user-selected stocking location for the inventory item, and responsive to an indication from the user that the user is at the user-selected stocking location for the inventory item, capturing user'"'"'s spoken description associating the inventory item and the identifying indicia for the inventory item with the user-selected stocking location, and storing, in the database, a mapping information comprising, the user-selected stocking location and association of the stocking location information with the identifying indicia the inventory item; and using, the stored mapping information comprising the user-selected location, for another inventory item associated with the identifying indicia, for restocking the another inventory item. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification