Cross-dock management system, method and apparatus
First Claim
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1. A cross-dock management system comprising:
- a cross-dock having a plurality of doors for accommodating trailers,wherein the cross-dock comprises a plurality of separated spaces arranged in a grid pattern comprising at least three rows and at least three columns;
a plurality of doors at opposing ends of the cross-dock for receiving inbound trailers and outbound trailers;
a plurality of movable platforms arranged on the cross-dock in the separated spaces,wherein an area of the movable platforms is substantially the same as an area of the separated spaces;
a plurality of cargo arranged on at least one of the movable platforms,wherein the cargo, the movable platforms, and the spaces are assigned at least one unique identifier;
at least one conveyance vehicle for moving the cargo and the movable platforms,wherein the at least one conveyance vehicle comprises a reader for reading the unique identifiers;
a local database for storing received manifest data; and
an initial setup optimization server for determining a plurality of ordered move instructions for moving the cargo and the movable platforms on the cross-dock based upon the manifest data,wherein the ordered move instructions are stored in an instructions database,wherein the ordered move instructions are performed by the at least one conveyance vehicle, andwherein, the reader is utilized to verify that each ordered move instruction is performed correctly.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a cross-dock management system comprises: a plurality of movable platforms configured to hold one or more pallets or parcels; at least one barcode or RFID tag positioned on each of said movable platforms, pallets, or parcels, wherein the barcode readers are configured to read the barcodes and RFID readers are configured to read the RFID tags. The data scanned by the barcode readers and RFID readers is stored in a local warehouse database and is used to determine an optimized placement and load for each movable platform in the warehouse.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A cross-dock management system comprising:
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a cross-dock having a plurality of doors for accommodating trailers, wherein the cross-dock comprises a plurality of separated spaces arranged in a grid pattern comprising at least three rows and at least three columns; a plurality of doors at opposing ends of the cross-dock for receiving inbound trailers and outbound trailers; a plurality of movable platforms arranged on the cross-dock in the separated spaces, wherein an area of the movable platforms is substantially the same as an area of the separated spaces; a plurality of cargo arranged on at least one of the movable platforms, wherein the cargo, the movable platforms, and the spaces are assigned at least one unique identifier; at least one conveyance vehicle for moving the cargo and the movable platforms, wherein the at least one conveyance vehicle comprises a reader for reading the unique identifiers; a local database for storing received manifest data; and an initial setup optimization server for determining a plurality of ordered move instructions for moving the cargo and the movable platforms on the cross-dock based upon the manifest data, wherein the ordered move instructions are stored in an instructions database, wherein the ordered move instructions are performed by the at least one conveyance vehicle, and wherein, the reader is utilized to verify that each ordered move instruction is performed correctly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for performing transfer of a movable platform and cargo across a cross-dock from an inbound trailer to an outbound trailer, the method comprising:
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a. calculating a plurality of moving instructions based upon inbound manifest data; b. directing the inbound trailer to a door in accordance with moving instructions received from an instruction database; c. unloading the movable platform from the inbound trailer using a conveyance vehicle and moving the movable platform to an assigned space on the cross-dock in accordance with moving instructions received from the instruction database; d. loading and unloading cargo from the movable platform using conveyance vehicles in accordance with moving instructions received from the instruction database, wherein at least a portion of the cargo is not removed from the movable platform; e. verifying that all moving instructions have been completed for the movable platform; f. conveying the movable platform to the outbound trailer in accordance with the moving instructions; and g. loading the movable platform in the inbound trailer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification