Systems and methods for providing business intelligence based on shipping information

• US 20030236688A1
• Filed: 06/21/2002
• Published: 12/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kadaba, Nagesh, Shroff, Sumeet
• Granted Patent: US 7,647,233 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0834 Choice of carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination

Abstract

A business intelligence system is disclosed that utilizes shipping information to provide business intelligence to a user. The business intelligence system receives information pertaining to originating parcel pickup and delivery information, stores the information in a shipping information database, and allows a user to formulate various types of transaction requests. The transaction results provide shipping information categorized in various ways in regard to past shipments as well as compare one category shipping information with another category of shipping information or with categories of non-shipping information. In addition, the system can extrapolate certain categories of shipping information into the future. Further, the system provides information to a user in a variety of formats including various graphical formats, tabular formats, and cartographical formats.

Claims

1. A business information system accessible by a user of shipping services and incorporating shipping information, comprising:

a shipping information database associated with shipped parcels, comprising origination address information, destination address information, parcel identification information, and parcel date of delivery;

a user profile information database comprising information of a plurality of shipping locations and access authorization parameter information; and

a processor that receives a user request for business information involving a plurality of shipping locations, and generates in response thereto, a transaction result based at least partially on data retrieved from said user profile information database and said shipping information database, and communicates said transaction result to a user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said shipping information database further comprises shipping data, including at least one from the group consisting of parcel value, parcel contents, parcel contents quantity, parcel contents inventory identifier, and parcel contents description.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said transaction result is based at least partially on statistical data consisting of one from the group of demographic data, economic growth data, corporate relationship data, credit data, and marketing data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said transaction result is based at least partially from a plurality of shipping locations in a geographical area comprising at least one from the group consisting of city, state, plurality of states, and country.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said transaction result comprises forecasted data related to said shipping data.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said user request includes parameters used to modify said forecasted data.

7. A method of providing business intelligence based on shipping information, comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing shipping information related to a parcel comprising originating address information, destination address information, parcel identifier information, date of parcel pickup information, and date of parcel delivery information;

receiving from a user a first transaction request;

retrieving said shipping information required to process said first transaction request;

processing at least part of said shipping information to generate a first transaction result data, wherein said transaction result data includes a trend analysis; and

presenting said first transaction result data in one of a plurality of formats associated with said user.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein presenting said first transaction result comprises presenting said first transaction result comprising data from at least one from the group consisting of shipping transit time, shipping costs, claims files, and number of shipped parcels.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein processing said shipping information comprises processing said shipping information comprising information associated with a plurality of shipping locations.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein presenting said one of said plurality of formats comprises presenting said one of said plurality of formats comprising at least one format from of the group consisting of cartographic maps, alphanumeric text, and graphical charts.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

storing statistical data comprising one from the group consisting of economic, demographic, or credit information;

receiving from a user a second transaction request;

retrieving said statistical data and storing in a memory;

processing said statistical data and generating a second transaction result; and

presenting said second transaction result simultaneously with said first transaction result.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein presenting said one of a plurality of formats selected by said user comprises presenting said one of a plurality of formats selected by said user comprising an application program and data processed on a computer local to said user for presentation.

13. An apparatus for providing business intelligence based on in part shipping information, comprising:

a first database comprising shipping data comprising at least one from the group consisting of destination address information, origination address information, parcel identification information, parcel contents description information, and parcel date of delivery information;

a second database comprising statistical data comprising at least one from the group consisting of demographic data, economic data, and credit data;

a third database comprising user authorization and user profile data comprising data from at least one of the group consisting of access security information, analysis characteristics, presentation formats, and service level authorization; and

a computer that processes a first user request and generates in response thereto, a first transaction result based at least partially on data retrieved from said first database, said second database, and said third database.

14. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein said computer receives a second user request, generates a second transaction result, and said computer communicates both said first transaction result and second transaction result in a format suitable for simultaneous display.

15. The apparatus in claim 14, wherein said first transaction result and said second transaction result are graphically formatted as one from the group consisting of pie charts, line charts, bar charts, scatter charts, and cartographic maps.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, where said computer communicates forecasted data related to said first transaction result in a format suitable for simultaneous display.

17. The apparatus in claim 16, wherein said computer communicates a portion of said statistical data in a format suitable for simultaneous display to said user.

18. The apparatus in claim 15, wherein said second user request comprises a parameter for modifying said forecasted data.

19. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein said first database comprises shipping data associated with a parcel manifest.

20. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein said third database is capable of storing said first transaction result.

21. A method of providing business intelligence based on shipping information, comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing shipping information related to a parcel comprising originating address information, destination address information, parcel identifier information, date of parcel pickup information, and date of parcel delivery information;

receiving from a user a first transaction request, wherein a parameter is indicated for modifying a portion of said shipping information;

retrieving said shipping information required for processing said first transaction request;

processing said shipping information to generate a first transaction result; and

presenting said first transaction result in one of a plurality of formats associated with said user.

22. A business information system accessible by a user of shipping services and incorporating shipping information, comprising:

a shipping information database associated with shipped parcels, comprising origination address information, destination address information, parcel identification information, and parcel date of delivery information;

a user profile information database comprising a plurality of user shipping locations and access authorization parameters; and

a processor that receives a user request indicating a first parameter and generates a transaction result in response thereto based at least in part by accessing said shipping information database, using said first parameter to modify data from said shipping information database used in processing said user request, accessing said user profile information database, accessing said shipping information database, and communicating said transaction result.