SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR PROVIDING REAL-TIME VALIDATION OF CONTAINER LOADING AND POSITIONING DATA

• US 20150254604A1
• Filed: 03/06/2014
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2014
• 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: Arora, Shikha, Guilford, Todd, Lam, Wai, Peck, Cindy
• Granted Patent: US 10,210,473 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 9/00 Equipment for handling freight; Equipment for facilitating passenger embarkation or the like emergency equipment B64D17/00, B64D19/00, B64D25/00; structures integral with fuselage to facilitate loading, fuselage floors specially adapted for freight, steps mounted on and retractable within aircraft B64C; ground installations B64F
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/40 with provisions for indicating, recording, or computing price or other quantities dependent on the weight indicating means for weighing apparatus G01G23/18; recording means for weighing apparatus G01G23/18; computers in general G06
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods

Abstract

Various embodiments provide systems, methods, and computer program products for providing dynamic real-time verification and validation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle. One or more computer processors are configured to: receive actual load data associated with at least one container; retrieve at least a portion of expected load data associated with the container for which actual load data has been received; verify the actual weight of the one of the plurality of packages and in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight discrepancies, validate the actual load position of the one of the plurality of packages. In response to a successful validation, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages may be generated. If validation is unsuccessful, further loading may be prevented.

Claims

1. A load to position system for providing dynamic real-time verification and validation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle, said system comprising:

one or more memory storage areas containing expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, and an expected load position for each of the plurality of containers; and

one or more computer processors configured to;

receive actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number and one or more of an actual load weight and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;

retrieve at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;

verify the actual weight of the one of the plurality of packages, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight for the one of the plurality of packages against the actual load weight so as to determine whether a load weight discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight discrepancies, validate the actual load position of the one of the plurality of packages, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of packages against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, generate at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying at least one of the weight discrepancy or the load position discrepancy, generate at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation and being configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the verification and the validation are performed in a substantially real-time fashion by one or more users of the system as said one or more users coordinating loading of the plurality of packages upon the transport vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the verification and the validation are performed via one or more mobile devices associated with the system, so as to enable one or more users of the system to flexibly capture and record the actual load data throughout the process of loading the plurality of packages upon the transport vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer processors are, in response to the successful verification and the successful validation, further configured to:

conduct a final comparison of the actual load data against the expected load data, the final comparison being configured to compare a plurality of parameters within the actual load data against a corresponding plurality of parameters within the expected load data so as to determine whether one or more accuracy discrepancies exist;

in response to a successful confirmation of no accuracy discrepancies, generate at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying one or more accuracy discrepancies, generate at least one communication indicative of an unsuccessful confirmation and configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein, upon the successful confirmation, the one or more processors are further configured to generate a finalized manifest comprising at least the actual load to position data.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit at least one of the finalized manifest or an indication thereof to one or more users of the system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more users of the system comprise at least a flight crew that may rely at least in part upon the finalized manifest for authorizing departure of the transport vehicle.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the final comparison comprises an electronically processed side-by-side comparison of a plurality of parameters associated with the actual load data against a plurality of parameters associated with the expected load data.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more computer processors are, in response to at least one of an unsuccessful verification, an unsuccessful validation, or an unsuccessful confirmation, further configured, upon generation of the at least one communication indicative thereof, to:

retrieve a plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;

determine whether one or more of the mitigating actions exist are configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification, validation, or confirmation; and

upon determining that one or more of the mitigating actions is so configured, generate at least one communication configured to facilitate initiation of the identified one or more of the mitigating actions.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more computer processors are further configured to transmit the at least one communication to at least one user of the system upon generation thereof.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the transmission is electronically and the at least one communication is an alert message.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more identified mitigating actions comprises at least two identified mitigating actions and the at least one communication comprises a listing thereof for user selection of one of the at least two identified mitigating actions for initiation thereof.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer processors are, in response to at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation, further configured, upon generation of the at least one communication indicative thereof, to:

retrieve a plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;

determine whether one or more of the mitigating actions exist are configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification or validation; and

upon determining that one or more of the mitigating actions is so configured, generate at least one communication configured to facilitate initiation of the identified one or more of the mitigating actions.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the identified load position or weight discrepancies are configured such that anything less than an exact match between the expected load data and the actual load data comprises a discrepancy.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the identified load position or weight discrepancies are configured such that any difference in excess of a pre-established threshold between the expected load data and the actual load data comprises a discrepancy.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one communication indicative of the unsuccessful verification is transmitted to a first user of the system; and

the at least one communication indicative of the unsuccessful validation is transmitted to a second user of the system.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first user is a ramp supervisor and the second user is a load personnel.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the transport vehicle is an aircraft.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the generated communications are further, via the one or more computer processors, transmitted electronically, automatically, and in a near real-time fashion to one or more users of the system.

20. A computer-implemented method for providing dynamic real-time verification and validation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing within one or more memory storage areas;

expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, and an expected load position for each of the plurality of container; and

actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number and one or more of an actual load weight and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;

retrieving, via at least one computer processor, at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;

verifying, via the at least one computer processor, the actual weight of the one of the plurality of packages, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight for the one of the plurality of packages against the actual load weight so as to determine whether a load weight discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight discrepancies, validating, via the at least one computer processor, the actual load position of the one of the plurality of packages, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of packages against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying at least one of the weight discrepancy or the load position discrepancy, generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation and being configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the verification and the validation are performed in a substantially real-time fashion by one or more users of the system as said one or more users coordinating loading of the plurality of packages upon the transport vehicle.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the verification and the validation are performed via one or more mobile devices associated with the system, so as to enable one or more users of the system to flexibly capture and record the actual load data throughout the process of loading the plurality of packages upon the transport vehicle.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

conducting, via the at least one computer processor, a final comparison of the actual load data against the expected load data, the final comparison being configured to compare a plurality of parameters within the actual load data against a corresponding plurality of parameters within the expected load data so as to determine whether one or more accuracy discrepancies exist;

in response to a successful confirmation of no accuracy discrepancies, generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying one or more accuracy discrepancies, generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication indicative of an unsuccessful confirmation and configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, further comprising the step of, upon the successful confirmation, generating, via the at least one computer processor a finalized manifest comprising at least the actual load to position data.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the final comparison comprises an electronically processed side-by-side comparison of a plurality of parameters associated with the actual load data against a plurality of parameters associated with the expected load data.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, further comprising, in response to at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation and upon generation of the at least one communication indicative thereof, the steps of:

retrieving, via the one or more computer processors, a plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;

determining, via the one or more computer processors, whether one or more of the mitigating actions exist are configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification or validation; and

upon determining that one or more of the mitigating actions is so configured, generating, via the one or more computer processors, at least one communication configured to facilitate initiation of the identified one or more of the mitigating actions.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting, via the one or more computer processors, the at least one communication to at least one user of the system upon generation thereof;

receiving an indication that the one or more of the identified mitigating actions has been completed; and

in response to receiving said indication, repeating at least one of the verification or validation steps so as to determine whether execution and completion of the identified mitigation action has sufficiently at least one of alleviated or eliminated the identified discrepancies.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the generated communications are further, via the one or more computer processors, transmitted electronically, automatically, and in a near real-time fashion to one or more users of the system.

29. A non-transitory computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured for receiving a plurality of data, wherein said data comprises;

(i) expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, and an expected load position for each of the plurality of container; and

(ii) actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number and one or more of an actual load weight and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;

an executable portion configured for retrieving at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;

an executable portion configured for verifying the actual weight of the one of the plurality of packages, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight for the one of the plurality of packages against the actual load weight so as to determine whether a load weight discrepancy exists there-between;

an executable portion configured for, in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight discrepancies, validating the actual load position of the one of the plurality of packages, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of packages against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;

an executable portion configured for, in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, generating at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle; and

an executable portion configured for, in response to identifying at least one of the weight discrepancy or the load position discrepancy, generating at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation and being configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages or departure of the transport vehicle.