Managing shipment release from a storage area to a packing station in a materials handling facility

• US 8,855,806 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2010
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• 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: Hara, Yusuke, Nguyen, Natalie T., Rotella, Christopher David, Wong, Cherie G., Dean, Arlen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pats, Justin M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Puri, Venay
• Application Number:
  US12/788,124
• Publication Number:
  US 20110295412A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,595 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7, 705/216
• US Class Current: 700/216
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

Various embodiments of a system and method for managing shipment release from a storage area in a materials handling facility are described. Embodiments may include a system configured to identify multiple shipments that each includes one or more units that are eligible to be conveyed from a storage area to a respective packing station in a materials handling facility. The identification of a given shipment may include determining that shipment is compatible with a packing capability of the packing station. The system may be configured to evaluate each respective shipment according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of at least some of the multiple shipments. The system may, in response to determining that a particular shipment is ranked highest relative to other shipments of the ranking, generate an instruction to convey the units of that particular shipment from the storage area to the respective packing station.

Claims

1. A computing 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 multiple complete shipments of a plurality of shipments stored at a storage area that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to a respective packing station of a plurality of different of packing stations in a materials handling facility, wherein each shipment includes one or more units to be packed together in a same package, and wherein shipments are not identified as eligible until all units to be packed together for the shipment are present in the storage area such that fewer than all shipments stored at the storage area are determined to be eligible;

determine a reduced domain portion of the eligible shipments, wherein to determine the reduced domain portion, the program instructions are configured to exclude each eligible shipment for which there is not at least one available packing station having a capability to pack that shipment from the eligible shipments, wherein at least some of the plurality of different packing stations have one or more packing capabilities not provided at one or more other packing stations of the plurality of packing stations;

evaluate each respective shipment of the reduced domain portion of eligible shipments according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of at least some of the multiple shipments, wherein shipments at the storage area that are not part of the reduced domain portion of eligible shipments are not included in the ranking; and

in response to determining that a particular shipment is ranked highest relative to other shipments of the ranking, generate an instruction to convey the one or more units of that particular shipment from the storage area to a respective packing station of the one or more packing stations to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.

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

3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein to exclude each eligible shipment for which there is not at least one available packing station having the capability to pack that shipment, the program instructions are configured to:

determine that at least one available packing station is configured to pack shipments of one or more particular shipment sizes;

enforce a restriction requiring that each respective shipment of the reduced portion of eligible shipments have a size compatible with said one or more particular shipment sizes.

4. The computing system of claim 1, wherein for each respective shipment, said one or more shipment-related criteria include one or more of:

a priority level assigned to the respective shipment;

a shipping deadline associated with the respective shipment;

a quantity of units that are part of the respective shipment; and

a quantity of time that the respective shipment has been located within the storage area.

5. The computing system of claim 1, wherein to generate said ranking, the program instructions are configured to:

for each of at least some of said multiple shipments;

generate a subscore for each of multiple shipment-related criteria, and

generate a composite score based on each subscore;

generate said ranking by ranking said multiple shipments according to the respective composite scores of the multiple shipments.

6. The computing system of claim 5, wherein each composite score for a given shipment is generated as the sum of the respective subscores for the given shipment.

7. The computing system of claim 6, wherein said sum of the respective subscores is a weighted sum, wherein at least one subscore is weighted differently than other subscores in the weighted sum.

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

determine that the quantity of units stored in said storage area has reached a threshold quantity; and

in response to that determination, change the shipment-related criteria utilized to evaluate each respective shipment such that shipments with larger quantities of units are assigned a higher position in said ranking than shipments with smaller quantities of units.

9. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are configured to send the generated instruction to a computer system that controls the release of units from said storage area.

10. The computing system of claim 1, wherein to generate said ranking, the program instructions are configured to:

generate a preliminary ranking of the shipments according to a first shipment related criterion; and

utilize a second shipment criterion to break a tie among two or more shipments ranked equivalently in the preliminary ranking.

11. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one packing station is associated with a primary packing station capability and a secondary packing station capability, wherein to determine the reduced domain portion of the eligible shipments, the program instructions are further configured to:

subsequent to determining that the at least one packing station is not configured to pack any shipments of a group of the multiple complete shipments based on the primary packing station capability associated with the at least one packing station, identify one or more shipments from the group of shipments that the at least one packing station is configured to pack based on the secondary packing station capability associated with the at least one packing station.

12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying multiple complete shipments of a plurality of shipments stored at a storage area that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to a respective packing station of a plurality of different of packing stations in a materials handling facility, wherein each shipment includes one or more units to be packed together in a same package, and wherein shipments are not identified as eligible until all units to be packed together for the shipment are present in the storage area such that fewer than all shipments stored at the storage area are determined to be eligible;

determining a reduced domain portion of the eligible shipments, wherein said determining comprises excluding each eligible shipment for which there is not at least one available packing station having a capability to pack that shipment from the eligible shipments, wherein at least some of the plurality of different packing stations have one or more packing capabilities not provided at one or more other packing stations of the plurality of packing stations;

evaluating each respective shipment of the reduced domain portion of eligible shipments according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of at least some of the multiple shipments, wherein shipments at the storage area that are not part of the reduced domain portion of eligible shipments are not included in the ranking; and

in response to determining that a particular shipment is ranked highest relative to other shipments of the ranking, generating an instruction to convey the one or more units of that particular shipment from the storage area to a respective packing station of the one or more packing stations to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein said excluding each eligible shipment for which there is not at least one available packing station having the capability to pack that shipment comprises:

determining that at least one available packing station is configured to pack shipments of one or more particular shipment sizes;

enforcing a restriction requiring that each respective shipment of the reduced portion of eligible shipments have a size compatible with said one or more particular shipment sizes.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein for each respective shipment, said one or more shipment-related criteria include one or more of:

a priority level assigned to the respective shipment;

a shipping deadline associated with the respective shipment;

a quantity of units that are part of the respective shipment; and

a quantity of time that the respective shipment has been located within the storage area.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein to generate said ranking, the method comprises:

for each of at least some of said multiple shipments;

generating a subscore for each of multiple shipment-related criteria, and

generating a composite score based on each subscore;

generating said ranking by ranking said multiple shipments according to the respective composite scores of the multiple shipments.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein each composite score for a given shipment is generated as the sum of the respective subscores for the given shipment.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein said sum of the respective subscores is a weighted sum, wherein at least one subscore is weighted differently than other subscores in the weighted sum.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the method comprises:

determining that the quantity of units stored in said storage area has reached a threshold quantity; and

in response to that determination, changing the shipment-related criteria utilized to evaluate each respective shipment such that shipments with larger quantities of units are assigned a higher position in said ranking than shipments with smaller quantities of units.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the method comprises sending the generated instruction to a computer system that controls the release of units from said storage area.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein generating said ranking comprises:

generating a preliminary ranking of the shipments according to a first shipment related criterion; and

utilizing a second shipment criterion to break a tie among two or more shipments ranked equivalently in the preliminary ranking.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the at least one packing station is associated with a primary packing station capability and a secondary packing station capability, wherein said determining the reduced domain portion of the eligible shipments comprises:

subsequent to determining that the at least one packing station is not configured to pack any shipments of a group of the multiple complete shipments based on the primary packing station capability associated with the at least one packing station, identify one or more shipments from the group of shipments that the at least one packing station is configured to pack based on the secondary packing station capability associated with the at least one packing station.

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

identify multiple complete shipments of a plurality of shipments stored at a storage area that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to a respective packing station of a plurality of different of packing stations in a materials handling facility, wherein each shipment includes one or more units to be packed together in a same package, and wherein shipments are not identified as eligible until all units to be packed together for the shipment are present in the storage area such that fewer than all shipments stored at the storage area are determined to be eligible;

determine a reduced domain portion of the eligible shipments, wherein to determine the reduced domain portion the program instructions are configured to exclude each eligible shipment for which there is not at least one available packing station having a capability to pack that shipment from the eligible shipments, wherein at least some of the plurality of different packing stations have one or more packing capabilities not provided at one or more other packing stations of the plurality of packing stations;

evaluate each respective shipment of the reduced domain portion of eligible shipments according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of at least some of the multiple shipments, wherein shipments at the storage area that are not part of the reduced domain portion of eligible shipments are not included in the ranking; and

in response to determining that a particular shipment is ranked highest relative to other shipments of the ranking, generate an instruction to convey the one or more units of that particular shipment from the storage area to a respective packing station of the one or more packing stations to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.

24. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored.

25. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein to exclude each eligible shipment for which there is not at least one available packing station having the capability to pack that shipment, the program instructions are configured to:

determine that at least one available packing station is configured to pack shipments of one or more particular shipment sizes;

enforce a restriction requiring that each respective shipment of the reduced portion of eligible shipments have a size compatible with said one or more particular shipment sizes.

26. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein for each respective shipment, said one or more shipment-related criteria include one or more of:

a priority level assigned to the respective shipment;

a shipping deadline associated with the respective shipment;

a quantity of units that are part of the respective shipment; and

a quantity of time that the respective shipment has been located within the storage area.

27. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein to generate said ranking, the program instructions are configured to:

for each of at least some of said multiple shipments;

generate a subscore for each of multiple shipment-related criteria, and

generate a composite score based on each subscore;

generate said ranking by ranking said multiple shipments according to the respective composite scores of the multiple shipments.

28. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein each composite score for a given shipment is generated as the sum of the respective subscores for the given shipment.

29. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein said sum of the respective subscores is a weighted sum, wherein at least one subscore is weighted differently than other subscores in the weighted sum.

30. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the program instruction are configured to:

determine that the quantity of units stored in said storage area has reached a threshold quantity; and

in response to that determination, change the shipment-related criteria utilized to evaluate each respective shipment such that shipments with larger quantities of units are assigned a higher position in said ranking than shipments with smaller quantities of units.

31. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the program instructions are configured to send the generated instruction to a computer system that controls the release of units from said storage area.

32. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein to generate said ranking, the program instructions are configured to:

generate a preliminary ranking of the shipments according to a first shipment related criterion; and

utilize a second shipment criterion to break a tie among two or more shipments ranked equivalently in the preliminary ranking.

33. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the respective packing station is associated with a primary packing station capability and a secondary packing station capability, wherein to determine the reduced domain portion of the eligible shipments, the program instructions are further configured to:

subsequent to determining that the at least one packing station is not configured to pack any shipments of a group of the multiple complete shipments based on the primary packing station capability associated with the at least one packing station, identify one or more shipments from the group of shipments that the at least one packing station is configured to pack based on the secondary packing station capability associated with the at least one packing station.