Internet based goods delivery system

• US 7,191,142 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1999
• Issued: 03/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Shirkness, Mark Daniel, Sandell, Randall Joseph, Ellington, Gregory Todd, Gigliotti, Frank Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Borissov; Igor N.
• Application Number:
  US09/475,630
• Time in Patent Office: 2,630 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/26, 705/27, 705/28, 705/29, 705/500, 705/7, 705/8, 705/9, 705/10, 705/11, 705/22, 705/23, 705/400, 705/401, 705/402
• US Class Current: 705/7.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment

Abstract

This invention provides for a method of delivering goods from a plurality of suppliers to a plurality of buyer utilizing a system having a plurality delivery agents, a plurality of stores, a plurality of good brands, and a plurality of buyers, wherein the delivery agents, stores, and suppliers are linked to a communications network. The method comprises the steps of; each store communicating order information to a logistics intermediary; the logistics intermediary communicating invoice information from the order information to any one of the delivery agents based on an Internet based electronic manifest; the delivery agent noting exceptions and communicating the exceptions to the logistics intermediary; the logistics intermediary communicating exceptions to the supplier and to the store from which the goods were ordered; and, after shipping the goods the delivery agent communicating the status of the shipped goods to the logistics intermediary.

Claims

1. A method of delivering goods from a supplier to a buyer utilizing a system having at least one delivery agent, at least one store, at least one supplier, and a plurality of buyers, wherein the at least one delivery agent, the at least one store, and the at least one supplier are coupled to a communications network, said method comprising the steps of:

contemporaneously communicating respective order information from a respective store to a logistics intermediary;

generating respective invoice information from said respective order information;

electronically communicating said respective invoice information from said logistics intermediary to a respective delivery agent based on an electronic manifest;

noting exceptions and electronically communicating the exceptions to said logistics intermediary, wherein the exceptions are noted and electronically communicated by said respective delivery agent;

electronically communicating the exceptions from said logistics intermediary to a respective supplier and to the respective store from which goods were ordered;

electronically communicating a disposition status of respective shipped goods from said respective delivery agent to said logistics intermediary;

responding, by said respective supplier, based on conditions of the respective shipped goods provided by said respective delivery agent to said respective supplier via said logistics intermediary, wherein said responding based on the conditions includes rescheduling an order, by the respective supplier, based on the conditions reported via a graphical user interface by the respective delivery agent after the respective shipped goods are received by the respective delivery agent that delivers the respective shipped goods to one of the buyers of the respective shipped goods, wherein said rescheduling the order is based on at least one of;

a reception, via a graphical user interface, of whether the respective shipped goods are noticed as being damaged after the respective shipped goods are received by the respective delivery agent; and

a reception, via the graphical user interface, of whether the respective shipped goods shipped to the respective delivery agent are not expected to be received by the respective delivery agent; and

updating said electronic manifest, wherein said electronic manifest is updated by said logistics intermediary.

2. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1, wherein said step of electronically communicating the disposition status of the respective shipped goods further comprising the step of shipping said ordered goods from said respective delivery agent to a respective buyer.

3. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1, wherein said communications network is an Internet based communication system.

4. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 3, further comprising the step of selecting at least one delivery date based on available delivery capacity for each respective delivery agent.

5. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 4, further comprising the step of adding delivery information to said electronic manifest, wherein the delivery information is added by the respective supplier, and the delivery information comprises a quantity, type, and delivery date of respective goods to be delivered to said respective delivery agent.

6. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 5, wherein each respective buyer selects a delivery date for each respective good based on an available delivery schedule identified in said electronic manifest.

7. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1, wherein said order information communicated by a respective buyer comprises a brand of good, type of good selected, model number of the good selected, an installation service selected, a delivery address, and a delivery date selected.

8. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

generating a respective invoice, wherein said respective invoice is generated by said logistics intermediary; and

communicating the respective invoice from said logistics intermediary to said respective store.

9. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 8, further comprising the step of communicating respective master requisition labels and associated manufacturer shipping labels from said logistics intermediary to said respective delivery agent.

10. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 9, further comprising the step of communicating said respective master requisition labels and an associated manufacturer shipping number from said logistics intermediary to said respective store.

11. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 10, further comprising the step of communicating said respective manufacturer shipping number and associated shipping address from said respective store to said respective supplier.

12. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 11, further comprising the step of generating a respective purchase order, advance shipping notice, and purchase order label associated with a respective master requisition number, wherein the respective purchase order, the advance shipping notice, and the purchase order label are generated by said respective supplier.

13. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 12, further comprising the step of communicating a respective purchase order invoice from said respective supplier to said respective store.

14. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 9, further comprising the step of communicating a respective manufacturer shipping number and associated shipping address from said logistics intermediary to said respective store.

15. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of delivering respective goods from said respective supplier to said respective delivery agent.

16. The method of delivering goods as recited claim 15 further comprising the step of attaching the shipping labels obtained from said logistics intermediary to said respective good, wherein the shipping labels are attached by said respective delivery agent.

17. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 16, further comprising the step of communicating a shipping status and exceptions from said respective delivery agent to said logistics intermediary.

18. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 17, further comprising the step of communicating the shipping status and exceptions from said respective delivery agent to said respective store.

19. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 17, further comprising the step of communicating the shipping status and exceptions from said respective store to said respective supplier.

20. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 19, further comprising the step of confirming the respective good delivery date and associated delivery time of day with said respective buyer, wherein the respective good delivery date and associated delivery time of day are confirmed by said respective delivery agent.

21. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 20, further comprising the step of delivering the respective goods to the respective buyer, wherein the respective goods are delivered to the respective buyer by said respective delivery agent.

22. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 16, further comprising the step of communicating a shipping disposition from said respective delivery agent to said logistics intermediary.

23. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 7, wherein the installation service desired comprises a type of installation of a respective good at an address of the respective buyer.

24. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1 wherein the step of noting exceptions comprises the step of identifying “

overage”

, “

shortage”

, “

damage”

, and “

suspend”

.

25. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of recording a shipping disposition, wherein said recording the shipping disposition comprises the step of identifying “

complete”

, “

damage”

, “

refusal”

, and “

cancel”

.

51. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1 further comprising notifying the delivery agent of said rescheduling of the order via a graphical user interface.

52. The method of delivering goods as recited in claim 1, wherein the respective shipped goods are not expected to be received by the respective delivery agent based on one of a shipping notice sent to the respective delivery agent before the respective shipped goods are received by the respective delivery agent.

26. A system for delivering goods from a plurality of suppliers to a plurality of buyers based on respective orders placed by the plurality of buyers, said system comprising:

a communications network;

a logistics intermediary coupled to said communications network, said logistics intermediary having an electronic manifest;

wherein said logistics

intermediary is configured to adjust good deliveries based on an exception report;

at least one delivery agent coupled to said communications network, wherein said at least one delivery agent is configured to deliver and install a first set of goods ordered by a respective buyer based on information in said electronic manifest;

at least one supplier configured to generate order reschedules of a second set of goods based on conditions, of the first set of goods, provided by the at least one delivery agent to said at least one supplier via said logistics intermediary, wherein said at least one supplier is configured to generate the order reschedules by creating the order reschedules based on the conditions reported by the at least one delivery agent via a graphical user interface after the first set of goods are received by the at least one delivery agent that delivers the first set of goods to the respective buyer, wherein said at least one supplier is configured to generate the order schedules based on at least one of;

a reception, via a graphical user interface, of whether the goods within the first set are noticed as being damaged after the first set of goods is received by the at least one delivery agent; and

a reception, via the graphical user interface, of whether the first set of goods shipped to the at least one delivery agent is not expected to be received by the at least one delivery agent; and

at least one store coupled to said communications network, wherein said at least one store is adapted to receive order information generated by each respective buyer and communicate the order information to said logistics intermediary via said communications network.

27. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 26, wherein said communications network is an Internet based communications network.

28. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 27, wherein said communications network further comprises at least one computing unit A having a display and being adapted to be coupled to an Internet based server.

29. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 28, wherein said communications network further comprises a computing unit B having a display and being configured to communicate with said at least one computing unit A via the Internet based server.

30. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 29, wherein said computing unit B is adapted to house the electronic manifest and the system for delivery of goods.

31. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 29, wherein said computing unit A further comprises a scanner, said scanner being adapted to scan bar code labels and to uplink and unload data via said respective computing unit A to said logistics intermediary.

32. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 31, wherein said scanner further comprises a scanner display and keyboard input.

33. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 26, wherein said logistics intermediary is configured to generate a master requisition label, associated manufacturer shipping labels, and an advanced shipping notice.

34. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 26, wherein said logistics intermediary is configured to communicate with a respective store, a respective delivery agent, and a respective supplier.

35. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 34, wherein said logistics intermediary is configured to communicate with said respective store, said respective delivery agent, and said respective supplier in a manner selected from a group including, mail, courier, fax, and the Internet.

36. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 26, wherein a respective supplier is configured to generate a purchase order for a respective store based on the order information generated by the respective buyer.

37. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 30, wherein a scanner employs a computer program having an exception report and a disposition report.

38. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 37, wherein said scanner employs the computer program having an exception report comprising a overage menu, a shortage menu, a damaged menu, and a suspend menu, each respective menu being selectable from a display of said scanner.

39. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 37, wherein said scanner employs the computer program having a disposition report comprising a complete menu, a damage menu, a refusal menu, and a cancel menu, each respective menu being selectable from the display of said scanner.

46. The system for delivery of goods as recited in claim 26, wherein said logistics intermediary is further configured to adjust good deliveries based on a disposition report.

40. A system for integrating information for the delivery of goods from a supplier to a buyer, the system having at least one delivery agent, at least one store, at least one supplier, and a plurality of buyers, said system comprising:

means for utilizing a communications network to transfer order and shipping information between a respective supplier, a respective delivery agent, and a respective store;

means for utilizing a logistics intermediary coupled to said communications network, said logistics intermediary being configured to employ an electronic manifest;

means for providing order and shipping information to the at least one delivery agent and the at least one supplier, wherein said at least one delivery agent is configured to deliver and install a first set of goods ordered by the respective buyer based on information in said electronic manifest;

means for scheduling a shipment of a second set of goods produced by the at least one supplier based on said order and shipping information, and an exception report, wherein said at least one supplier is configured to generate order reschedules of the second set of goods based on conditions, of the first set of goods, provided by said at least one delivery agent to said at least one supplier via said logistics intermediary, and the at least one supplier is configured to generate the order reschedules by creating the order reschedules based on the conditions reported by the respective delivery agent via a graphical user interface after the first set of goods are received by the respective delivery agent that delivers the first set of goods to the respective buyer, wherein said at least one supplier is configured to generate the order scheduyles based on at least one of;

a reception, via a graphical user interface, of whether the goods within the first set are noticed as being damaged after the first set of goods is received by the at least-one delivery agent; and

a reception, via the graphical user interface, of whether the first set of goods shipped to the at least one delivery agent is not expected to be received by the at least one delivery agent; and

means for updating the electronic manifest after the order has been executed.

41. The system for integrating information as recited in claim 40, wherein said means for utilizing a communications network comprises means for the at least one store to receive said order information generated by each respective buyer and communicate the order information to said logistics intermediary.

42. The system for integrating information as recited in claim 40, wherein said means for utilizing a communications network further comprises means for said logistics intermediary communicating with the respective store, the respective delivery agent, and the respective supplier in a manner selected from a group including, mail, courier, fax, and the Internet.

43. The system for integrating information as recited in claim 42, wherein means for updating the electronic manifest further comprises means for generating said exception report.

44. The system for integrating information as recited in claim 43, wherein said exception report comprises a overage menu, a shortage menu, a damaged menu, and a suspend menu.

45. The system for integrating information as recited in claim 43, wherein means for updating the electronic manifest further comprises means for generating a disposition report.

47. A system having at least one delivery agent, at least one store, at least one supplier, and a plurality of buyers, wherein the at least one delivery agent, the at least one store, and the at least one supplier are coupled to a communications network, said system comprising:

a logistics intermediary configured to electronically communicate respective invoice information to a respective delivery agent based on an electronic manifest, said logistics intermediary further configured to electronically communicate said respective invoice information via a server to said respective delivery agent, said respective invoice information generated from respective order information, said respective delivery agent configured to note exceptions and electronically communicate via the server the exceptions to said logistics intermediary, said at least one supplier configured to respond based on conditions, of a plurality of shipped goods, provided by said respective delivery agent to said at least one supplier via said logistics intermediary, and the at least one supplier configured to generate a plurality of order reschedules by creating the order reschedules based on the conditions reported by the respective delivery agent via a graphical user interface after the goods are received by the respective delivery agent that delivers the goods to one of the buyers, wherein the at least one supplier configured to schedule a pick-up of an overage good upon receiving an entry, via a graphical user interface, of the overage good, wherein the overage good is received by the respective delivery agent and is not expected to be received by the respective delivery agent; and

a respective store configured to contemporaneously communicate via the server respective order information to said logistics intermediary.

48. The system as recited in claim 47, wherein said logistics intermediary further configured to electronically communicate exceptions to a respective supplier.

49. The system as recited in claim 48, wherein said logistics intermediary configured to electronically communicate exceptions to a respective store from which goods were ordered.

50. The system as recited in claim 48, wherein said respective delivery agent configured to electronically communicate a disposition status of respective shipped goods to said logistics intermediary and said logistics intermediary configured to update said electronic manifest.