Transport logistics systems and methods
First Claim
1. An integrated logistics system for managing the shipments of goods supplied from a plurality of different shippers by a plurality of carriers, said system comprising:
- a purchasing module evaluating proposals by shippers for respective shipments of goods and awarding contracts for the shipments to the plurality of carriers;
an optimization module analyzing the proposals and informing the purchasing module if an opportunity exists for at least some of the shipments to be consolidated, in which case at least one contract awarded by the purchasing module is for a consolidated group of the shipments;
a contract administration module maintaining information relating to the status of proposals received and contracts awarded by the purchasing module;
a scheduling module sheduling shipments according to the awarded contracts;
a shipment management module tracking the status of shipments awarded by the purchasing module and scheduled by said scheduling module; and
a financial module authorizing payments according to the status of shipments tracked by the shipment management module.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A logistics system manages the shipments of goods supplied from a plurality of different shippers by a plurality of carriers. It has a variety of modules integrated with each other to perform various functionalities. For example, it may have a purchasing module evaluating proposals by shippers for respective shipments of goods and awarding contracts for the shipments to the plurality of carriers. It may have an optimization module analyzing the proposals and informing the purchasing module if an opportunity exists for at least some of the shipments to be consolidated, in which case at least one contract awarded by the purchasing module is for a consolidated group of the shipments. It may have a contract administration module maintaining information relating to the status of proposals received and contracts awarded by the purchasing module. It may have a scheduling module scheduling shipments according to the awarded contracts. It may also have a shipment management module tracking the status of shipments awarded by the purchasing module and scheduled by said scheduling module. It may further have a financial module authorizing payments according to the status of shipments tracked by the shipment management module are passed between first and second asynchronous clock domains.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An integrated logistics system for managing the shipments of goods supplied from a plurality of different shippers by a plurality of carriers, said system comprising:
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a purchasing module evaluating proposals by shippers for respective shipments of goods and awarding contracts for the shipments to the plurality of carriers;
an optimization module analyzing the proposals and informing the purchasing module if an opportunity exists for at least some of the shipments to be consolidated, in which case at least one contract awarded by the purchasing module is for a consolidated group of the shipments;
a contract administration module maintaining information relating to the status of proposals received and contracts awarded by the purchasing module;
a scheduling module sheduling shipments according to the awarded contracts;
a shipment management module tracking the status of shipments awarded by the purchasing module and scheduled by said scheduling module; and
a financial module authorizing payments according to the status of shipments tracked by the shipment management module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of arranging for the shipment of goods by one of a plurality of carriers, said method comprising:
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maintaining carrier information relating to each one of said plurality of carriers in a centralized logistics system;
receiving a proposal for the shipment of goods supplied from a shipper, said proposal including shipping information relating to the shipment of the goods and transaction information relating to the contract terms for the shipment;
evaluating the proposal to select a carrier from among said plurality of carriers; and
creating an electronic abstract of a contract between the shipper and the selected carrier for the shipment of goods identified in the proposal. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 38, 40, 42, 44, 45)
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32. A method of arranging for the shipment of goods from an origin to a destination, said method comprising:
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retrieving routing information for a plurality of different transport modes;
retrieving carrier information relating to each one of a plurality of different carriers for each one of said plurality of different transport modes;
determining a routing for the shipment of goods from said origin to said destination based on said retrieved routing information; and
scheduling the shipment of goods from said origin to said destination based on said carrier information. - View Dependent Claims (34, 36, 37, 39, 41, 43)
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Specification