System and method for managing reassignment of units among shipments in a materials handling facility

• US 8,682,474 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2010
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rotella, Christopher David, Wong, Cherie G., Alyea, Joseph M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford, Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jones, Yolanda
• Application Number:
  US12/788,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20110295411A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/216
• 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

Various embodiments of a system and method for managing reassignment of units among shipments in a materials handling facility are described. Embodiments may include a system configured to identify a first unit of a particular item that has been picked from inventory of a materials handling facility and assigned to a first shipment. The system may also, from multiple candidate shipments, identify a second shipment that requires a given unit of the particular item in order to become a complete shipment. For each candidate shipment, at least one unit of that shipment may be stored within a defined storage area of a materials handling facility. The system may, in response to identifying both shipments, generate an instruction to reassign the first unit of the particular item from the first shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment from an incomplete shipment to a complete shipment.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory comprises program instructions executable by the one or more processors to;

identify a first unit of a particular item that has been picked from inventory of a materials handling facility and assigned to a first shipment;

from a plurality of candidate shipments, identify a second shipment that requires a given unit of said particular item in order to become a complete shipment;

wherein for each candidate shipment, at least one unit assigned to that candidate shipment has already been picked from inventory and subsequently stored within a defined storage area of the materials handling facility;

wherein for a given shipment to become a complete shipment, all units of the given shipment must be present within the defined storage area; and

in response to identifying the first and second shipments, generate an instruction to reassign the first unit of the particular item from the first shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment from an incomplete shipment to a complete shipment.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said defined storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further configured to:

determine that the second shipment additionally requires a unit of an other item in order to become a complete shipment within said defined storage area;

determine that a third shipment is assigned a particular unit of said other item, wherein that particular unit is stored within said defined storage area; and

in response to the determinations, generate an instruction to reassign the particular unit from the third shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment to a complete shipment.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instruction are configured to:

prior to identifying the second shipment among said candidate shipments, eliminate at least some of the plurality of candidate shipments from consideration.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the program instructions are configured to:

eliminate at least one candidate shipment from consideration in response to determining that said at least one candidate shipment does not require a unit of the particular item in order to become a complete shipment.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein to eliminate at least some of the plurality of candidate shipments from consideration, the program instructions are configured to enforce one or more constraints including one or more of:

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment is associated with a priority level that is higher than a priority level to which the other shipment is associated;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment if all units of the given shipment are present within the defined storage area;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment is associated with a shipping deadline that requires the given shipment to be shipped within a threshold period of time from a current time;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment includes one or more items that have resided within said defined storage area for more than a threshold period of time;

or

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when a second unit to replace the given unit has not been picked from said inventory;

wherein the second unit and said given unit are units of a common item.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the program instruction are configured to:

categorize subsets of said plurality of candidate shipments into different groups of candidate shipments on the basis of the quantity of units that each candidate shipment requires to become a complete shipment.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the program instructions are configured to evaluate the different groups of candidate shipments in a sequential manner in order to identify said second shipment among one of the different groups;

wherein to evaluate the different groups in a sequential manner, the program instructions are configured to evaluate all candidate shipments within one of said different groups prior to evaluating a subsequent group of said different groups.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the program instructions are configured to:

prior to evaluating a given one of said different groups of candidate shipments, sort the candidate shipments of that group into a respective order based on one or more criteria.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said one or more criteria include one or more of:

a quantity of units for each shipment;

a quantity of time each shipment has resided within said defined storage area;

a priority level assigned to each shipment;

or

a shipping deadline assigned to each shipment.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the program instructions are configured to evaluate the candidate shipments according to the respective order to identify the second shipment.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the materials handling facility comprises one or more induction stations for receiving units picked from said inventory and for subsequently providing the units to the defined storage area, wherein the program instructions are configured to identify said first unit subsequent to the arrival of that unit at one of said induction stations and prior to the storing of that unit within said defined storage area.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are configured to identify said first unit while the first unit resides within said defined storage area of the materials handling facility.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are configured to update a shipment model stored with said memory, wherein for each shipment of multiple shipments processed by the materials handling facility, the shipment model includes information that specifies the units that are assigned to that shipment;

wherein said instruction is an instruction to update the shipment model such that the shipment model indicates the first unit has been reassigned from the first shipment to the second shipment.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are configured to:

subsequent to said second shipment becoming a complete shipment, generate an instruction to release the second shipment from the defined storage area to a respective packing station to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.

15. The system of 1, wherein units stored within said defined storage area are controlled by a particular component configured to update a storage area model stored within a memory;

wherein for each shipment that has at least one unit stored within said defined storage area, the storage area model includes information that associates that unit with a respective shipment;

wherein said instruction is an instruction to update said storage area model such that the storage area model indicates that said first unit has been assigned to said second shipment.

17. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying a first unit of a particular item that has been picked from inventory of a materials handling facility and assigned to a first shipment;

from a plurality of candidate shipments, identifying a second shipment that requires a given unit of said particular item in order to become a complete shipment;

wherein for each candidate shipment, at least one unit assigned to that candidate shipment has already been picked from inventory and subsequently stored within a defined storage area of the materials handling facility;

wherein for a given shipment to become a complete shipment, all units of the given shipment must be present within the defined storage area; and

in response to identifying the first and second shipments, generating an instruction to reassign the first unit of the particular item from the first shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment from an incomplete shipment to a complete shipment.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein said defined storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the method comprises:

determining that the second shipment additionally requires a unit of an other item in order to become a complete shipment within said defined storage area;

determining that a third shipment is assigned a particular unit of said other item, wherein that particular unit is stored within said defined storage area; and

in response to the determinations, generating an instruction to reassign the particular unit from the third shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment to a complete shipment.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the method comprises:

prior to identifying the second shipment among said candidate shipments, eliminating at least some of the plurality of candidate shipments from consideration.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the method comprises:

eliminating at least one candidate shipment from consideration in response to determining that said at least one candidate shipment does not require a unit of the particular item in order to become a complete shipment.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein eliminating at least some of the plurality of candidate shipments from consideration comprises enforcing one or more constraints including one or more of:

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment is associated with a priority level that is higher than a priority level to which the other shipment is associated;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment if all units of the given shipment are present within the defined storage area;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment is associated with a shipping deadline that requires the given shipment to be shipped within a threshold period of time from a current time;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment includes one or more items that have resided within said defined storage area for more than a threshold period of time;

or

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when a second unit to replace the given unit has not been picked from said inventory;

wherein the second unit and said given unit are units of a common item.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the method comprises:

categorizing subsets of said plurality of candidate shipments into different groups of candidate shipments on the basis of the quantity of units that each candidate shipment requires to become a complete shipment.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the method comprises evaluating the different groups of candidate shipments in a sequential manner in order to identify said second shipment among one of the different groups;

wherein evaluating the different groups in a sequential manner comprises evaluating all candidate shipments within one of said different groups prior to evaluating a subsequent group of said different groups.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein the method comprises:

prior to evaluating a given one of said different groups of candidate shipments, sorting the candidate shipments of that group into a respective order based on one or more criteria.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein said one or more criteria include one or more of:

a quantity of units for each shipment;

a quantity of time each shipment has resided within said defined storage area;

a priority level assigned to each shipment;

or

a shipping deadline assigned to each shipment.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the method comprises evaluating the candidate shipments according to the respective order to identify the second shipment.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the materials handling facility comprises one or more induction stations for receiving units picked from said inventory and for subsequently providing the units to the defined storage area, wherein the method comprises identifying said first unit subsequent to the arrival of that unit at one of said induction stations and prior to the storing of that unit within said defined storage area.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the method comprises identifying said first unit while the first unit resides within said defined storage area of the materials handling facility.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein method includes updating a shipment model stored with a memory, wherein for each shipment of multiple shipments processed by the materials handling facility, the shipment model includes information that specifies the units that are assigned to that shipment;

wherein said instruction is an instruction to update the shipment model such that the shipment model indicates the first unit has been reassigned from the first shipment to the second shipment.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the method comprises:

subsequent to said second shipment becoming a complete shipment, generating an instruction to release the second shipment from the defined storage area to a respective packing station to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.

31. The computer-implemented method of 17, wherein units stored within said defined storage area are controlled by a particular component configured to update a storage area model stored within a memory;

wherein for each shipment that has at least one unit stored within said defined storage area, the storage area model includes information that associates that unit with a respective shipment;

wherein said instruction is an instruction to update said storage area model such that the storage area model indicates that said first unit has been assigned to said second shipment.

33. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions computer-executable on a computer system to:

identify a first unit of a particular item that has been picked from inventory of a materials handling facility and assigned to a first shipment;

from a plurality of candidate shipments, identify a second shipment that requires a given unit of said particular item in order to become a complete shipment;

wherein for each candidate shipment, at least one unit assigned to that candidate shipment has already been picked from inventory and subsequently stored within a defined storage area of the materials handling facility;

wherein for a given shipment to become a complete shipment, all units of the given shipment must be present within the defined storage area; and

in response to identifying the first and second shipments, generate an instruction to reassign the first unit of the particular item from the first shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment from an incomplete shipment to a complete shipment.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein said defined storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the program instructions are further configured to:

determine that the second shipment additionally requires a unit of an other item in order to become a complete shipment within said defined storage area;

determine that a third shipment is assigned a particular unit of said other item, wherein that particular unit is stored within said defined storage area; and

in response to the determinations, generate an instruction to reassign the particular unit from the third shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment to a complete shipment.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the program instruction are configured to:

prior to identifying the second shipment among said candidate shipments, eliminate at least some of the plurality of candidate shipments from consideration.

37. The non-transitory system of claim 36, wherein the program instructions are configured to:

eliminate at least one candidate shipment from consideration in response to determining that said at least one candidate shipment does not require a unit of the particular item in order to become a complete shipment.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein to eliminate at least some of the plurality of candidate shipments from consideration, the program instructions are configured to enforce one or more constraints including one or more of:

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment is associated with a priority level that is higher than a priority level to which the other shipment is associated;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment if all units of the given shipment are present within the defined storage area;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment is associated with a shipping deadline that requires the given shipment to be shipped within a threshold period of time from a current time;

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when the given shipment includes one or more items that have resided within said defined storage area for more than a threshold period of time;

or

a constraint that specifies a given unit cannot be reassigned from a given shipment to an other shipment when a second unit to replace the given unit has not been picked from said inventory;

wherein the second unit and said given unit are units of a common item.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein the program instruction are configured to:

categorize subsets of said plurality of candidate shipments into different groups of candidate shipments on the basis of the quantity of units that each candidate shipment requires to become a complete shipment.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 39, wherein the program instructions are configured to evaluate the different groups of candidate shipments in a sequential manner in order to identify said second shipment among one of the different groups;

wherein to evaluate the different groups in a sequential manner, the program instructions are configured to evaluate all candidate shipments within one of said different groups prior to evaluating a subsequent group of said different groups.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 40, wherein the program instructions are configured to:

prior to evaluating a given one of said different groups of candidate shipments, sort the candidate shipments of that group into a respective order based on one or more criteria.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41, wherein said one or more criteria include one or more of:

a quantity of units for each shipment;

a quantity of time each shipment has resided within said defined storage area;

a priority level assigned to each shipment;

or

a shipping deadline assigned to each shipment.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41, wherein the program instructions are configured to evaluate the candidate shipments according to the respective order to identify the second shipment.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the materials handling facility comprises one or more induction stations for receiving units picked from said inventory and for subsequently providing the units to the defined storage area, wherein the program instructions are configured to identify said first unit subsequent to the arrival of that unit at one of said induction stations and prior to the storing of that unit within said defined storage area.

45. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the program instructions are configured to identify said first unit while the first unit resides within said defined storage area of the materials handling facility.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the program instructions are configured to update a shipment model stored with a memory, wherein for each shipment of multiple shipments processed by the materials handling facility, the shipment model includes information that specifies the units that are assigned to that shipment;

wherein said instruction is an instruction to update the shipment model such that the shipment model indicates the first unit has been reassigned from the first shipment to the second shipment.

48. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the program instructions are configured to:

subsequent to said second shipment becoming a complete shipment, generate an instruction to release the second shipment from the defined storage area to a respective packing station to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.

47. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of 33, wherein units stored within said defined storage area are controlled by a particular component configured to update a storage area model stored within a memory;

wherein for each shipment that has at least one unit stored within said defined storage area, the storage area model includes information that associates that unit with a respective shipment;

wherein said instruction is an instruction to update said storage area model such that the storage area model indicates that said first unit has been assigned to said second shipment.