Delivery management system

• US 7,457,761 B2
• Filed: 12/30/1999
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Hume, Jeffrey Allen, Smith, Timothy Jay, Ellington, Gregory, Stout, Terry Ray
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes; John W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CAMPBELL, SHANNON S
• Application Number:
  US09/475,961
• Publication Number:
  US 20040225507A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,253 Days
• Field of Search: 705/27, 705/28, 705/37, 705/1, 705/26, 705/5, 705/6, 707/7, 707/100, 707/101, 707/104
• US Class Current: 705/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• 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 30/018 Certifying business or products

Abstract

The method of managing the delivery of an order from at least one supplier to a respective delivery agent, and from the delivery agent to a respective buyer, given a requested order date and the respective buyers address, consisting of the steps including: determining a first potential arrival date of the order at a respective delivery agents location based on the order request date and the buyer'"'"'s address; calculating the capacity of the delivery agent to ship the order based the first potential arrive date request; and finally, determining when there is sufficient capacity to ship the order to the buyer'"'"'s address.

Claims

1. A method of managing a delivery schedule of an order using a system configured with a server which includes a goods delivery system, the system including at least one computing unit networked to the server, the order being delivered from at least one supplier to a respective delivery agent, and from the respective delivery agent to a respective buyer, wherein the order comprises order information, said method comprising the steps of:

(1) calculating a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location using the server system networked to the computing unit based on an order request date, a respective buyer'"'"'s address, and a fixed delay;

(2) generating a work unit matrix, wherein each work unit in the work unit matrix is a multiplication factor of a size and a degree of difficulty of installation associated with each item in the order;

(3)determining a number of delivery slots needed for the order by multiplying, each item in the order by a work unit selected from the work unit matrix;

(4) determining an ability of the respective delivery agent to ship the order based on the first potential arrival date and the number of delivery slots;

(5) determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient delivery agent capacity to ship the order to the respective buyer'"'"'s address;

(6) updating an electronic manifest indicating the delivery date of the order and a change in delivery agent capacity for the delivery date; and

(7) determining whether an order change that affects the delivery date of the order has been requested, wherein the request is made by a user that is authorized by one of the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, a store, or a logistics intermediary, wherein allowance of the order change is based on;

(a) a type of order change, (b) whether the user is acting as the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, the store, or the logistics intermediary, (c) a level of the user, and (d) a security code, wherein, upon allowance of the order change, steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) are repeated to determine a new delivery date.

2. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient capacity to ship the order further comprises the step of determining a first available date to completely ship the order to the respective buyer based on a capacity matrix and based on a number of available slots.

3. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of getting a zip code to which the order is to be delivered and a brand of a respective good in the order.

4. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 3, further comprising the step of getting the supplier ship schedule based on the zip code and the brand of the respective good ordered.

5. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 4, further comprising the step of selecting the respective delivery agent and a respective capacity matrix based on the zip code of the order.

6. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 5, further comprising the step of determining a first potential ship date to the respective buyer'"'"'s address based on the capacity of the respective delivery agent and the delivery schedule of the respective delivery agent.

7. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of allowing an order change that affects the delivery date of the order to be made further comprises the step of allowing the order change to be made using an external order interface.

8. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of updating the electronic manifest with status information.

9. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of calculating a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location further comprises calculating a first potential arrival date of the order, wherein the order information comprises the order request date, a model number, a quantity of items, a brand of an item, a service to be selected, a requested delivery date, the respective buyer'"'"'s delivery address, a security level clearance, and status information.

10. A method of managing a delivery schedule of an order using a system configured with a server which includes a goods delivery system, the system including at least one computing unit networked to the server, the order being delivered from at least one supplier to a respective delivery agent, and from the respective delivery agent to a respective buyer, wherein the order comprises order information, said method comprising the steps of:

(1) calculating a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location using the server system networked to the computing unit based on an order request date, a respective buyer'"'"'s address, and a fixed delay;

(2) generating a work unit matrix, wherein each work unit in the work unit matrix is a multiplication factor of a size and a degree of difficulty of installation associated with each item in the order;

(3) determining a number of delivery slots needed for the order by multiplying each item in the order by a work unit selected from the work unit matrix;

(4) determining an ability of the respective delivery agent to ship the order within a set of potential delivery dates based on the first potential arrival date, a first date the respective delivery agent is prepared to ship the order, and a number of slots available for shipping the order;

(5) selecting an actual delivery date from the set of potential delivery dates;

(6) updating an electronic manifest indicating the actual delivery date of the order and a change in delivery agent capacity for the delivery date; and

(7) determining whether an order change that affects the delivery date of the order has been requested, wherein the request is made by a user that is authorized by one of the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, a store, or a logistics intermediary, wherein allowance of the order change is based on;

(a) a type of order change, (b) whether the user is acting as the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, the store, or the logistics intermediary, (c) a level of the user, and (d) a security code, wherein, upon allowance of the order change, steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) are repeated to determine a new delivery date.

11. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 10, wherein the step of selecting an actual delivery date from the set of potential delivery dates further comprises the step of determining a first available date to completely ship the order to the respective buyer based on a capacity matrix and based on a number of available slots.

12. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 10, further comprising the step of getting a zip code to which the order is to be delivered and a brand of a respective good in the order.

13. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 12, further comprising the step of getting the respective supplier ship schedule based on the zip code and the brand of the respective good ordered.

14. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 13, further comprising the step of selecting the respective delivery agent and a respective capacity matrix based on the zip code of the order.

15. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of determining a first potential ship date to the respective buyer'"'"'s address based on the capacity of the respective delivery agent and a delivery schedule of the respective delivery agent.

16. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 10, wherein the step of calculating a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location further comprises calculating a first potential arrival date of the order, wherein the order information comprises the order request date, a model number, a quantity of items, a brand of an item, a service to be selected, a requested delivery date, the respective buyer'"'"'s delivery address, a security level clearance, and status information.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program instructions for managing deliveries of a goods delivery system, the system employed to deliver an order from at least one supplier to a respective delivery agent, and from the respective delivery agent to a respective buyer, given order information, said computer readable program instructions comprising the steps of:

(1) determining a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location, based on an order request date, a respective buyer'"'"'s address, and a fixed delay;

(2) generating a work unit matrix, wherein each work unit in the work unit matrix is a multiplication factor of a size and a degree of difficulty of installation associated with each item in the order;

(3) determining a number of delivery slots needed for the order by multiplying each item in the order by a work unit selected from the a work unit matrix;

(4) determining an ability of the respective delivery agent to ship the order based on the first potential arrival date and a number of slots;

(5) determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient delivery agent capacity to ship the order to the respective buyer'"'"'s address;

(6) updating an electronic manifest indicating the delivery date of the order and a change in delivery agent capacity for the delivery date; and

(7) determining whether an order change that affects the delivery date of the order has been requested, wherein the request is made by a user that is authorized by one of the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, a store, or a logistics intermediary, wherein allowance of the order change is based on;

(a) a type of order change, (b) whether the user is acting as the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, the store, or the logistics intermediary, (c) a level of the user, and (d) a security code, wherein, upon allowance of the order change, steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) are repeated to determine a new delivery date.

18. The computer process as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient capacity to ship the order further comprises the step of determining a first available date to completely ship the order to the respective buyer based on a capacity matrix and based on the number of available slots.

19. The computer process as recited in claim 17, further comprising the step of getting a zip code to which the order is to be delivered and a brand of a respective good in the order.

20. The computer process as recited in claim 19, further comprising the step of getting the supplier ship schedule based on the zip code and the brand of the respective good ordered.

21. The computer process as recited in claim 20, further comprising the step of selecting the respective delivery agent and a respective capacity matrix based on the zip code of the order.

22. The computer process as recited in claim 21, further comprising the step of determining a first potential ship date to the respective buyer'"'"'s address based on the capacity of the respective delivery agent and the delivery schedule of the respective delivery agent.

23. The computer process as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of allowing an order change that affects the delivery date of the order to be made further comprises the step of allowing the order change to be made using an external order interface.

24. The computer process as recited in claim 23, further comprising the step of updating the electronic manifest with status information.

25. The computer process as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of determining a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location further comprises determining a first potential arrival date of the order, wherein the order information comprises the order request date, a model number, a quantity of items, a brand of an item, a service to be selected, a requested delivery date, the respective buyer'"'"'s delivery address, a security level clearance, and status information.

26. An apparatus for managing the delivery of an order from at least one supplier to a respective delivery agent, and from the respective delivery agent to a respective buyer, given order information, said apparatus comprising:

means for determining a first potential arrival date of the order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location, based on an order request date, a respective buyer'"'"'s address, and a fixed delay;

means for generating a work unit matrix, wherein each work unit in the work unit matrix is a multiplication factor of a size and a degree of difficulty of installation associated with each item in the order;

means for determining a number of delivery slots needed for the order by multiplying each item in the order by a work unit selected from the work unit matrix;

means for determining an ability of the respective delivery agent to ship the order based on the first potential arrival date and a number of slots available for shipping the order;

means for determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient delivery agent capacity to ship the order to the respective buyer'"'"'s address;

means for updating an electronic manifest indicating an order ship date and a change in delivery agent capacity for the delivery date; and

means for determining whether an order change that affects the delivery date of the order has been requested, wherein the request is made by a user that is authorized by one of the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, a store, or a logistics intermediary, wherein allowance of the order change is based on;

(a) a type of order change, (b) whether the user is acting as the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least one supplier, the store, or the logistics intermediary, (c) a level of the user, and (d) a security code, wherein, upon allowance of the order change, said apparatus determines a new delivery date and updates the electronic manifest.

27. A method of managing a delivery schedule of a multiple brand order using a system configured with a server which includes a goods delivery system, the system including at least one computing unit networked to the server, the multiple brand order being delivered from at least two suppliers to a respective delivery agent, and from the respective delivery agent to a respective buyer, wherein the multiple brand order comprises order information, said method comprising the steps of:

(1) calculating a first potential arrival date of the multiple brand order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location using the server system networked to the computing unit based on an order request date, a respective buyer'"'"'s address, and a fixed delay;

(2) generating a work unit matrix, wherein each work unit in the work unit matrix is a multiplication factor of a size and a degree of difficulty of installation associated with each item in the order;

(3) determining a number of delivery slots needed for the order by multiplying each item in the order by. a work unit Selected from a work unit matrix;

(4) determining an ability of the respective delivery agent to ship the multiple brand order from the at least two suppliers based on the first potential arrival date and a number of slots available for shipping the order;

(5) determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient delivery agent capacity to ship the multiple brand order to the respective buyer'"'"'s address;

(6) updating an electronic manifest indicating the delivery date of the multiple brand order and a change in delivery agent capacity for the delivery date; and

(7) determining whether an order change that affects the delivery date of the order has been requested, wherein the request is made by a user that is authorized by one of the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least two suppliers, a store, or a logistics intermediary, wherein allowance of the order change is based on;

(a) a type of order change, (b) whether the user is acting as the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, one of the at least two suppliers, the store, or the logistics intermediary, (c) a level of the user, and (d) a security code, wherein, upon allowance of the order change, steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) are repeated to determine a new delivery date.

28. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 27, wherein the step of determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient capacity to ship the multiple brand order further comprises the step of determining a first available date to completely ship the multiple brand order to the respective buyer based on a capacity matrix and based on the number of available slots.

29. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 27, further comprising the step of getting a zip code to which the multiple brand order is to be delivered and a brand of at least one respective good in the multiple brand order.

30. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 29, further comprising the step of getting each of the supplier ship schedules based on the zip code and the brand of the at least one respective good ordered.

31. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of selecting the respective delivery agent and the respective capacity matrix based on the zip code of the multiple brand order.

32. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of determining a first potential ship date to the respective buyer'"'"'s address based on the capacity of the respective delivery agent and the delivery schedule of the respective delivery agent.

33. A method of managing a delivery schedule of a multiple brand order using a system configured with a server which includes a goods delivery system, the system including at least one computing unit networked to the server, the order being delivered from at least two suppliers to a respective delivery agent, and from the respective delivery agent to a respective buyer, wherein the multiple brand order comprises order information, said method comprising the steps of:

(1) calculating a first potential arrival date of the multiple brand order to a respective delivery agent'"'"'s location using the server system networked to the computing unit based on an order request date, a respective buyer'"'"'s address, and a fixed delay;

(2) generating a work unit matrix, wherein each work unit in the work unit matrix is a multiplication factor of a size and a degree of difficulty of installation associated with each item in the order;

(3) determining a number of deliver,/ slots needed for the order by multiplying each item in the order by a work unit selected from a work unit matrix;

(4) determining an ability of the respective delivery agent to ship the multiple brand order from the at least two suppliers based on the first potential arrival date and a number of slots available for shipping the order;

(5) determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient delivery agent capacity to ship the multiple brand order to the respective buyer'"'"'s address;

(6) updating an electronic manifest indicating the delivery date of the multiple brand order and a change in delivery agent capacity for the delivery date; and

(7) determining whether an order change that affects the delivery date of the order has been requested, wherein the request is made by a user that is authorized by one of the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, the at least two suppliers, a store, or a logistics intermediary, wherein allowance of the order change is based on;

(a) a type of order change, (b) whether the user is acting as the respective delivery agent, the respective buyer, one of the at least two suppliers, the store, or the logistics intermediary, (c) a level of the user, and (d) a security code, wherein, upon allowance of the order change, steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) are repeated to determine a new delivery date.

34. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 33, wherein the step of determining a delivery date to the respective buyer when there is sufficient capacity to ship the multiple brand order further comprises the step of determining a first available date to completely ship the multiple brand order to the respective buyer based on a capacity matrix and based on the number of available slots.

35. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 33, further comprising the step of getting a zip code to which the multiple brand order is to be delivered and a brand of at least one respective good in the multiple brand order.

36. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 35, further comprising the step of getting each of the supplier ship schedule based on the zip code and the brand of the at least one respective good ordered.

37. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 36, further comprising the step of selecting the respective delivery agent and the respective capacity matrix based on the zip code of the multiple brand order.

38. The method of managing the delivery schedule as recited in claim 37, further comprising the step of determining a first potential ship date to the respective buyer'"'"'s address based on the capacity of the respective delivery agent and the delivery schedule of the respective delivery agent.