Load balancing for a fulfillment network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method for processing requests in a fulfillment network having plural fulfillment resources with which to fulfill the requests, the computer-implemented method comprising:
- under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,defining, via an outer loop, at least one set point target defining at least one load balancing target; and
allocating requests, via a series of inner loops, to respective fulfillment resources in the fulfillment network, the series of inner loops to;
receive the at least one set point target that defines the at least one load balancing target for at least one of the fulfillment resources;
monitor existing assignments in the fulfillment network to determine a cost value for each of the fulfillment resources, the cost value based at least in part on an error value that represents a difference between the set point target and a volume of orders that have been assigned to a respective fulfillment resource; and
assign each of the requests to one or more of the fulfillment resources based at least in part on the assignment information and said at least one set point target,wherein the inner loops that determine the error value, determine the cost value, and assign the orders operate independent from one another, and wherein the requests correspond to respective instructions by entities to perform one or more actions with respect to one or more items of merchandise,wherein the series of inner loops process individual merchandise orders while the outer loop processes aggregated merchandise orders representing an operation of the fulfillment network as a whole.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A load balancing system for a merchandise fulfillment network is described. The load balancing system employs PID (Proportional, Integral, Derivative) load balancing functionality or other kind of closed loop control functionality to select, on an order-by-order basis, which fulfillment resources (such as fulfillment centers) are to handle customer orders.
72 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method for processing requests in a fulfillment network having plural fulfillment resources with which to fulfill the requests, the computer-implemented method comprising:
-
under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, defining, via an outer loop, at least one set point target defining at least one load balancing target; and allocating requests, via a series of inner loops, to respective fulfillment resources in the fulfillment network, the series of inner loops to; receive the at least one set point target that defines the at least one load balancing target for at least one of the fulfillment resources; monitor existing assignments in the fulfillment network to determine a cost value for each of the fulfillment resources, the cost value based at least in part on an error value that represents a difference between the set point target and a volume of orders that have been assigned to a respective fulfillment resource; and assign each of the requests to one or more of the fulfillment resources based at least in part on the assignment information and said at least one set point target, wherein the inner loops that determine the error value, determine the cost value, and assign the orders operate independent from one another, and wherein the requests correspond to respective instructions by entities to perform one or more actions with respect to one or more items of merchandise, wherein the series of inner loops process individual merchandise orders while the outer loop processes aggregated merchandise orders representing an operation of the fulfillment network as a whole. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A computer-implemented method for processing requests in a fulfillment network, wherein the requests correspond to respective instructions by entities to perform one or more actions on one or more items of merchandise, the computer-implemented method comprising:
-
under control of one or more servers configured with executable instructions; allocating requests, via a series of inner loops, to respective fulfillment resources in the fulfillment network using a load balancing target for each merchandise order, the series of inner loops to; compute an error value for each of the respective fulfillment resources as a difference between a load balancing target and order assignments to the respective fulfillment resources, compute a cost value based at least in part, on the error value, and assign an order request to one of the respective fulfillment resources based at least in part on the cost value, wherein the inner loops that compute the error value, compute the cost value, and assign the order operate independent from one another; and defining, via an outer loop, at least one set point target defining the load balancing target used by the series of inner loops to govern the allocation of requests to respective fulfillment resources, wherein the series of inner loops process individual merchandise orders while the outer loop processes aggregated merchandise orders reflecting an operation of the fulfillment network as a whole. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
-
-
19. One or more computer media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
-
allocating requests, via a series of inner loops, to respective fulfillment resources in the fulfillment network using a load balancing target for each merchandise order, the series of inner loops to; compute an error value for each of the respective fulfillment resources as a difference between a load balancing target and order assignments to the respective fulfillment resources, compute a cost value based at least in part, on the error value, and assign an order request to one of the respective fulfillment resources based at least in part on the cost value, wherein the inner loops that compute the error value, compute the cost value, and assign the order operate independent from one another; and defining, via an outer loop, at least one set point target defining the load balancing target used by the series of inner loops to govern the allocation of requests to respective fulfillment resources, wherein the series of inner loops process individual merchandise orders while the outer loop processes aggregated merchandise orders reflecting an operation of the fulfillment network as a whole.
-
Specification