Inbound receiving system

• US 7,938,325 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2008
• Issued: 05/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lynch Marks LLC
• Original Assignee: Lynch Marks LLC
• Inventors: Emery, Ryan T., Marks, Peter R., O'Brien, Duane, Gibby, Roger J., Lune, River C.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAIL, ALLYSON NEEL
• Application Number:
  US12/290,375
• Publication Number:
  US 20090057403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 235/385, 235/380, 235/487, 235/439, 705/7, 705/26, 705/28
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present invention for receiving inbound shipments are provided. Bar code information may be decoded, and various types of information can be identified from the decoded bar code information. Such information may include, for example, recipient name, recipient address, a sender account number with the shipping vendor, etc. A database is searched based on such identified information. The database may further include other information associated with the identified information. A report including such information may be generated concerning the shipment. Such report may be stored and retrieved for reference when a future shipment with similar information is received.

Claims

1. A method for managing inbound shipments, further comprising:

receiving an electronic data feed from a shipping vendor concerning at least one shipment, the data feed being encrypted based on a tracking number of the at least one shipment; and

executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor;

decodes the data feed using the tracking number as maintained in a table of tracking numbers, the table of tracking numbers stored in memory;

identifies shipping information from the decoded data feed; and

matches the identified shipping information from the decoded data feed to identified shipping information from decoded bar code information associated with a received shipment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

decoding the bar code information associated with the received shipment;

identifying shipping information from the decoded bar code information;

searching a database for information associated with the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information; and

generating a report concerning the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information and associated information found in the database.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the shipping information from the decoded bar code information comprises information concerning a recipient of the inbound shipment and wherein the associated information in the database includes contact information for the recipient.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the shipping information from the decoded bar code information comprises information concerning a sender account number for a shipping vendor and wherein the associated information in the database includes contact information for the sender.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a report further comprises generating a display of the report.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving shipping information not included in the decoded bar code information from user input; and

storing the shipping information received from the user input, wherein a next shipment associated with at least some of the identified shipping information is automatically associated with the shipping information received from the user input.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining that shipping information not included in the decoded bar code is not present in the database; and

requesting user input concerning the shipping information not included in the decoded bar code information and determined not to be present in the database.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a data feed from a shipping vendor including shipping information concerning one or more packages; and

storing the data feed shipping information in the database, wherein searching the database for information associated with the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information includes searching the data feed shipping information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an email address associated with a recipient of the shipment;

generating an email notification concerning the shipment; and

sending the generated email notification to the determined recipient email address, wherein the recipient can access and view information associated with the shipment.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication from a user concerning a new destination for the shipment;

storing the indication in the database; and

retrieving the indication during a next search for the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the table after a predetermined period of time.

12. A system for managing inbound shipments, the system comprising:

a memory configured to maintain a table of tracking numbers associated with shipments;

an interface configured to receive an electronic data feed from a shipping vendor concerning at least one shipment, the data feed being encrypted based on a tracking number of the at least one shipment; and

a processor is further configured to;

decode the data feed using the tracking number as maintained in the table of tracking numbers in memory;

identify shipping information from the decoded data feed; and

match the identified shipping information from the decoded data feed to identified shipping information from decoded bar code information associated with a received shipment.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the memory is further configured to store shipping information;

the processor is further configured to;

decode the bar code information associated with the received shipment,

identify shipping information from the decoded bar code information,

search memory for information associated with the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information, and

generate a report concerning the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information and associated information found in memory; and

the interface is further configured to display the generated report concerning the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information and the associated information found in memory.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a scanner configured to read a bar code associated with the shipment.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the bar code is two-dimensional and the scanner is further configured to read two-dimensional bar codes.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the interface further comprises an input device configured to receive the sender information from a user.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the interface is further configured to receive shipping information not included in the decoded bar code information from user input,

the memory is further configured to store the shipping information received from the user input, and

a next shipment associated with at least some of the identified shipping information is further associated with the shipping information received from the user input.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine that shipping information not included in the decoded bar code is not present in memory and

request user input concerning the shipping information not included in the decoded bar code information and determined not to be present in the database.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the interface is further configured to receive an indication from a user concerning a new destination for the shipment,

the memory is further configured to store the indication; and

the processor is further configured to retrieve the indication from memory during a next search for the identified shipping information from the decoded bar code information.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for receiving inbound shipments, the method comprising:

receiving an electronic data feed from a shipping vendor concerning at least one shipment, the data feed being encrypted based on a tracking number of the at least one shipment;

decoding the data feed using the tracking number as maintained in a table of tracking numbers;

identifying shipping information from the decoded data feed; and

matching the identified shipping information from the decoded data feed to identified shipping information from decoded bar code information associated with a received shipment.