Method and system for proactive shipment delivery

• US 20040243452A1
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Published: 12/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Barton, Jacqueline, Masson, Tracy A., Carson, Monica L.
• Application Number:
  US10/447,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20040243452A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping

Abstract

Delivery of build-to-order information handling system shipments is managed by a shipment alert engine that compares actual shipment delivery path information derived from a delivery provider'"'"'s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) scans with a delivery path projected from a shipment'"'"'s service level and delivery location to identify shipments having an increased likelihood of being wrong, missing or damaged before the expected delivery time to a customer. For instance, a service module identifies a shipment as missing or lost in the absence of an EDI scan for a time period related to the time allowed for delivery at a shipment'"'"'s service level. As another example, a geographic module identifies a shipment as missing or lost if the location of an EDI scan places the shipment outside of a projected shipment delivery path. An exception module identifies shipments for inspection due to indicated damage.

Claims

1. An information handling system shipment delivery system comprising:

a shipment interface operable to accept instructions for delivery of information handling systems to customers at expected delivery times;

a delivery provider interface operable to accept delivery provider shipment updates;

a shipment alert engine operable to compare the shipment delivery instructions and the shipment updates to identify shipments having a shipment discrepancy before the expected delivery times associated with the shipments; and

an alert interface operable to present the discrepancy shipments to the manufacturer of the information handling systems.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the shipment delivery instructions comprise a delivery location associated with each shipment, and wherein the shipment alert engine comprises a geographic module operable to compare the shipment locations derived from shipment delivery provider updates with locations of a projected shipment path to identify shipments having a predetermined likelihood of becoming a late or missing shipment as discrepancy shipments.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the geographic module identifies a shipment as a discrepancy if a shipment update having a location scan of the shipment indicates that the shipment has departed from the projected shipment path.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the geographic module identifies a shipment as a discrepancy if a shipment update having a location scan of the shipment indicates that the shipment has lagged its projected shipment path.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the shipment delivery provider update comprises an exception update, and wherein the shipment alert engine comprises an exception module operable to coordinate a manufacturer inspection of the information handling system.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the shipment delivery provider update comprises an Electronic Data Interchange scan.

2. The system of claim 2 wherein the shipment delivery instructions comprise service level associated with each shipment that defines the amount of time for delivery of the shipment, and wherein the shipment alert engine comprises a service level module operable to compare a predicted shipment delivery computed from the delivery provider shipment updates with a desired shipment delivery based on the service level to identify shipments having a predetermined likelihood of a becoming a late or missing shipment as discrepancy shipments.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the delivery provider shipment updates comprise a lack of a scan of the shipment for a predetermined time.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the lack of scan predetermined time comprises approximately one-half of the service level time allowed for shipment delivery.

10. A method for proactive manufacturer management of delivery of shipments by a shipment delivery provider, the method comprising:

associating the shipments with delivery instructions having expected delivery times and delivery locations;

labeling the shipments with identifiers operable for scanning by the delivery provider;

projecting a delivery path for each shipment at the manufacturer;

scanning each shipment during delivery to determine actual delivery path information;

communicating the actual delivery path information to the manufacturer; and

comparing the projected delivery path with the actual delivery path information to identify discrepancy shipments before the expected delivery time.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the shipments comprise information handling systems.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein:

the delivery instructions comprise a service level having an associated delivery time period; and

comparing the projected delivery path with the actual delivery path further comprises determining a discrepancy shipment in the absence of a shipment scan for a time period proportional to the service level delivery time period.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the service level comprises next day delivery and the discrepancy shipment determination comprises the absence of a shipment scan for 12 hours.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein comparing the projected delivery path with the actual delivery path further comprises:

comparing the scanned location of a shipment with projected locations of the shipment; and

determining a discrepancy shipment if a the scanned location indicates a predetermined likelihood that the shipment is misdirected.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein comparing the projected delivery path with the actual delivery path further comprises:

identifying an exception code associated with a shipment scan; and

inspecting the shipment to determine whether to deliver the shipment or an exchange.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein inspecting the shipment further comprises communicating an image of the shipment to the manufacturer.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein scanning each shipment comprises performing an Electronic Data Interchange 214 scan.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein scanning each shipment comprises performing an Electronic Data Interchange 240 scan.

19. A system for proactive shipment delivery management by a manufacturer of build-to-order shipments delivered by a delivery provider, the system comprising:

a shipment alert engine operable to;

project delivery paths for the shipments based upon delivery service levels and delivery locations of the shipments, each delivery service level having an associated delivery time;

receive delivery provider scans of shipments, the scans having intermediate shipment locations at identified times during delivery of the shipments;

issue a service alert if the received delivery provider scans indicate a predetermined likelihood that a shipment will not be delivered within the service level delivery time; and

issue a service alert if the received delivery provider scan locations indicate a predetermined likelihood that a shipment is misdirected.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the shipments comprise build-to-order information handling systems.