DYNAMIC QUEUEING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A queueing and management system for order fulfillment, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
- receive an order from a customer, andprioritize the fulfillment of said order within a fulfillment queue based on the desired completion time of said order.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure describes a dynamic queueing and management system. The system utilizes the desired completion time in determining where to place new orders into the queue of orders to be fulfilled. If the desired completion time changes, the position of the corresponding order is adjusted within the queue. In some embodiments, the desired completion time is determined based on the location of the customer, either within the store or en route to the store. The queueing and management system may also separate the order input function from the order fulfillment and delivery functions. This may optimize each part of the process and allow faster service.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A queueing and management system for order fulfillment, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
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receive an order from a customer, and prioritize the fulfillment of said order within a fulfillment queue based on the desired completion time of said order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of fulfilling customer orders, comprising:
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receiving an order from a customer, said order having a desired completion time; using a processing unit to prioritize said received order based on said desired completion time in a queue with other previously received orders; and fulfilling said order when said order reaches the top of said queue. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A queueing and management system for order fulfillment, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
receive a plurality of orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each of said orders comprises one or more items, and prioritize the fulfillment of said items in said orders so that items that are common to more than one of said orders are fulfilled consecutively. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A management system for fulfillment of orders, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
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receive a plurality of orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each of said orders comprising one or more items; monitor the number and type of items ordered as a function of time; predict future ordering trends, based on said monitoring; and request the fulfillment of certain items based on said prediction, prior to a customer ordering said items. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A queueing and management system for fulfillment of orders, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
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receive a plurality of orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each of said orders comprises one or more items; receive information concerning the staffing of the fulfillment department; place said plurality of orders in a queue; monitoring current order demand and said staffing level; and identifying a discrepancy between said current order demand and the capacity of said current staffing level. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A queueing and management system for fulfillment of orders, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
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receive a plurality of orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each of said orders comprising one or more items, and has a desired completion time; estimate the fulfillment time of each of said plurality of orders; and place said plurality of orders in a queue based on said estimated fulfillment time and said desired completion time. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A queueing and management system for fulfillment of orders, comprising a processing unit and a memory element having instructions adapted to:
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receive information concerning the initial inventory level of each of said items; receive a plurality of orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each of said orders comprising one or more items; place each of said plurality of orders in a queue; and update said inventory level of an item as an order comprising said item is fulfilled. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
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Specification