System And Method For Managing Shipment Release From A Storage Area Of A Material Handling Facility

• US 20110295413A1
• Filed: 05/26/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rotella, Christopher David, Hara, Yusuke, Wong, Cherie G.
• Granted Patent: US 9,280,756 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/216
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1373 for fulfilling orders in warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

Various embodiments of a system and method for managing shipment release from a storage area in a materials handling facility are described. Embodiments may include a system configured to determine that a shipment including multiple units is expected to be conveyed from a storage area to a packing station in a materials handling facility. The system may also be configured to evaluate each respective unit of the shipment according to one or more criteria related to physical characteristics of the unit in order to generate an order in which the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station. The system may also be configured to generate an instruction to provide the units of the shipment to the packing station according to the generated order.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory comprises program instructions executable by the one or more processors to;

determine that a shipment including multiple units is expected to be conveyed from a storage area to a packing station in a materials handling facility;

evaluate each respective unit of the shipment according to one or more criteria related to physical characteristics of the unit in order to generate an order in which the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station; and

generate an instruction to provide the units of the shipment to said packing station according to said order.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said criteria includes one or more of:

a measure of length of each respective unit;

a measure of width of each respective unit;

a measure of depth of each respective unit;

a measure of surface area of each respective unit;

a measure of volume of each respective unit;

a measure of fragility of each respective unit;

or

a measure of weight of each respective unit.

3. The system of claim 1, where to perform said evaluation the program instructions are configured to:

for each unit of the shipment, multiply a length of that unit by a width of that unit to determine a footprint value; and

generate said order such that the order indicates the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station in order of descending footprint value.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the length of a given unit is the largest dimension of that unit relative to other dimensions of that unit, wherein the width of a given unit is the second largest dimension of that unit relative to other dimensions of that unit.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said material handling facility comprises one or more induction stations for placing single units of said shipment into respective receptacles and conveying each receptacle to said storage area, wherein the program instructions are configured to generate said order for said shipment upon arrival of one or more units of the shipment at one or more of said induction stations.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the program instructions are configured to provide the generated instruction to a computer system controlling the removal of units from said storage area.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer system controlling the removal of units from said storage area maintains stored records that associate identifiers of the receptacles with a common shipment identifier, wherein the program instructions are configured to provide that shipment identifier along with the generated instruction to specify the shipment to which the generated order applies.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining that a shipment including multiple units is expected to be conveyed from a storage area to a packing station in a materials handling facility;

evaluating each respective unit of the shipment according to one or more criteria related to physical characteristics of the unit in order to generate an order in which the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station; and

generating an instruction to provide the units of the shipment to said packing station according to said order.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein said criteria includes one or more of:

a measure of length of each respective unit;

a measure of width of each respective unit;

a measure of depth of each respective unit;

a measure of surface area of each respective unit;

a measure of volume of each respective unit;

a measure of fragility of each respective unit;

or

a measure of weight of each respective unit.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, where said evaluating comprises:

for each unit of the shipment, multiplying a length of that unit by a width of that unit to determine a footprint value; and

generating said order such that the order indicates the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station in order of descending footprint value.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the length of a given unit is the largest dimension of that unit relative to other dimensions of that unit, wherein the width of a given unit is the second largest dimension of that unit relative to other dimensions of that unit.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein said material handling facility comprises one or more induction stations for placing single units of said shipment into respective receptacles and conveying each receptacle to said storage area, wherein the method comprises generating said order for said shipment upon arrival of one or more units of the shipment at one or more of said induction stations.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the method comprises providing the generated instruction to a computer system controlling the removal of units from said storage area.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the computer system controlling the removal of units from said storage area maintains stored records that associate identifiers of the receptacles with a common shipment identifier, wherein the method comprises providing that shipment identifier along with the generated instruction to specify the shipment to which the generated order applies.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions computer-executable on a computer system to:

determine that a shipment including multiple units is expected to be conveyed from a storage area to a packing station in a materials handling facility;

evaluate each respective unit of the shipment according to one or more criteria related to physical characteristics of the unit in order to generate an order in which the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station; and

generate an instruction to provide the units of the shipment to said packing station according to said order.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein said criteria includes one or more of:

a measure of length of each respective unit;

a measure of width of each respective unit;

a measure of depth of each respective unit;

a measure of surface area of each respective unit;

a measure of volume of each respective unit;

a measure of fragility of each respective unit;

or

a measure of weight of each respective unit.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, where to perform said evaluation the program instructions are configured to:

for each unit of the shipment, multiply a length of that unit by a width of that unit to determine a footprint value; and

generate said order such that the order indicates the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station in order of descending footprint value.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the length of a given unit is the largest dimension of that unit relative to other dimensions of that unit, wherein the width of a given unit is the second largest dimension of that unit relative to other dimensions of that unit.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein said material handling facility comprises one or more induction stations for placing single units of said shipment into respective receptacles and conveying each receptacle to said storage area, wherein the program instructions are configured to generate said order for said shipment upon arrival of one or more units of the shipment at one or more of said induction stations.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the program instructions are configured to provide the generated instruction to a computer system controlling the removal of units from said storage area.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer system controlling the removal of units from said storage area maintains stored records that associate identifiers of the receptacles with a common shipment identifier, wherein the program instructions are configured to provide that shipment identifier along with the generated instruction to specify the shipment to which the generated order applies.