Placement of inventory in a materials handling facility

• US 8,024,064 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Issued: 09/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Desai, Pradeep, Sanghavi, Kaushal A., Lee, Han S., Shouraboura, Nadia, Prasad, Kalyanaraman, Li, Xiao Yu
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford; Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): CUMBESS, YOLANDA RENEE
• Application Number:
  US12/164,636
• Time in Patent Office: 1,177 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

In various embodiments, approaches for the placement of inbound inventory in a materials handling facility are described. A product identifier is input from inbound inventory into a computer system, where the inbound inventory is to be stocked in a materials handling facility. At least one available inventory location is identified in the computer system that presents a lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility. The inbound inventory is stocked in the at least one available inventory location contemporaneously with the determination of the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility.

Claims

1. A method, comprising the steps of:

scanning a product identifier from an inbound inventory into a computer system, where the inbound inventory is to be stocked in a materials handling facility;

determining, in the computer system, at least one available inventory location in the materials handling facility that presents a lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory by performing the steps of;

identifying a plurality of available inventory locations for storage of the inbound inventory;

calculating a cost associated with the storage of the inbound inventory in each one of the available inventory locations using a cost function wherein cost is calculated as a function of at least a stocking productivity associated with the inbound inventory in the respective available inventory locations; and

identifying the at least one available inventory location as the available inventory location associated with a lowest calculated cost;

stocking the inbound inventory in the at least one available inventory location contemporaneously with the determination of the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility; and

where a pool of the available inventory locations that may be used to store the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility changes over time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stocking of the inbound inventory occurs immediately after the determination of the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility.

9. The method of claim 1, where the stocking productivity relates to a stocking of a plurality of inventory items included in the inbound inventory.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the cost is calculated as a function of a location of an inventory location in the materials handling facility.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the cost is calculated as a function of throughput of the inbound inventory through the materials handling facility.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the cost is calculated as a function of pre-shipment activity implemented before the inbound inventory is shipped from the materials handling facility to a destination.

13. The method of claim 1, where the at least one available inventory location that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility comprises the inventory location for which a lowest one of the costs is calculated.

3. A method, comprising the steps of:

inputting a product identifier from an inbound inventory into a computer system, where the inbound inventory is to be stocked in a materials handling facility;

determining at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents a lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility by determining a plurality of available inventory locations for storage of the inbound inventory and calculating a cost associated with the storage of the inbound inventory in each one of the available inventory locations using a cost function wherein cost is calculated as a function of at least a stocking productivity associated with the inbound inventory in the respective available inventory locations; and

stocking the inbound inventory in the at least one available inventory location contemporaneously with the determination of the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility further comprises the steps of:

determining a plurality of available inventory locations for storage of the inbound inventory; and

calculating, for each one of a plurality of sets of the available inventory locations, a cost associated with the storage of the inbound inventory.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the cost is calculated using a cost function.

6. The method of claim 4, where the at least one available inventory location that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility comprises the set of available inventory locations for which a lowest one of the costs is calculated.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of stocking the inbound inventory in the at least one available inventory location contemporaneously with the determination of the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility further comprises determining the at least one available inventory location immediately before stocking the inbound inventory in the at least one available inventory location.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the inputting of the product identifier from the inbound inventory into the computer system further comprises the step of scanning an identifier associated with the inbound inventory.

14. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of stocking the inbound inventory in the at least one available inventory location is implemented before a substantial change occurs in a pool of the available inventory locations that may be used to store the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility.

15. A system, comprising:

a computer system;

an input device configured to input a product identifier from an inbound inventory into the computer system contemporaneously with a stocking of the inbound inventory in a materials handling facility; and

an inventory placement system executed in the computer system to determine the placement of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility having a plurality of inventory locations, the inventory placement system comprising;

logic that calculates, with a cost function, a cost for each one of a plurality of storage configurations that may be employed for the storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility, the cost function determining the cost for each one of the storage configurations as a function of at least a stocking productivity calculated for the inbound inventory, each storage configuration comprising at least one of the inventory locations; and

logic that outputs a selected one of the storage configurations for the storage of the inbound inventory based upon the costs calculated for each of the storage configurations.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the selected one of the storage configurations comprises one of the inventory locations.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the selected one of the storage configurations comprises a plurality of the inventory locations.

18. The system of claim 15, where the input device further comprises a scanner.

19. The system of claim 15, where the stocking productivity relates to a stocking of a group of inventory items included in the inbound inventory.

20. The system of claim 15, where the cost function determines the cost for each one of the storage configurations as a function of a location of an inventory location in the materials handling facility.

21. The system of claim 15, where the cost function determines the cost for each one of the storage configurations as a function of throughput of the inbound inventory through the materials handling facility.

22. The system of claim 15, where the cost function determines the cost for each one of the storage configurations as a function of pre-shipment activity implemented before the inbound inventory is shipped from the materials handling facility to a destination.

23. The system of claim 15, where the cost function determines the cost for each one of the storage configurations as a function of a stocking productivity associated with the inbound inventory.