Systems and methods for rules based shipping
First Claim
1. A method for generating shipping rules configured to make shipping decisions on behalf of a user, said method comprising:
- compiling, by a processor-based system of a shipping services operator, raw shipping data based on shipments made by a plurality of shippers, wherein, for each of the shipments made by the plurality of shippers, the raw shipping data comprises at least one of shipment weight information, address information, shipment size information, shipping container type information, and item type information;
compiling, by the processor-based system, user defined data comprising information associated with at least one of one or more customer categories, one or more pricing categories, one or more delivery time categories, and one or more quality of service levels provided to said processor-based system by said user;
deriving information associated with one or more shipments to generate derived data, the derived data comprising at least one of calculated shipping rates, delivery dates, and delivery times;
automatically constructing, by said processor-based system for said user, a plurality of shipping processing rules for making shipping decisions, wherein the plurality of shipping processing rules are constructed based on rule parameters and a data set, wherein the rule parameters comprise conditions and operators, the conditions comprising shipping attribute information for making shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, the operators comprising at least one of logical operators and mathematical operators that are applied to said conditions to make said shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, determinations, or both, wherein the data set comprises the raw shipping data, the user defined data, and the derived data, and wherein constructing, by said processor-based system, the plurality of shipping processing rules comprises constructing at least one shipping processing rule configured to select, based on an amount of time that a customer has been using a service offered by said user, a type of shipping service for shipment of an item purchased from said user by said customer;
analyzing, by said processor-based system, the plurality of shipping processing rules to select shipping processing rules that define a set of shipping processing rules for generating postage indicia for said user, wherein said set of shipping processing rules includes said at least one shipping processing rule constructed based, at least in part, on said amount of time that said customer has been using said service, wherein said analyzing comprises;
analyzing, by said processor-based system, said plurality of shipping processing rules to identify whether a conflict exists between at least two shipping processing rules, wherein a conflict is identified based on a determination that applying the same conditions to said at least two shipping processing rules presents different shipping decisions; and
automatically resolving, by said processor-based system, said conflict between said at least two shipping processing rules based on a conflict resolution parameter that specifies an outcome criterion, wherein automatically resolving the conflict comprises;
identifying, by said processor-based system, a particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a time-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a most rapid delivery time, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a cost-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a lowest shipping cost, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a level of service-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a highest level of service; and
selecting, by said processor-based system, the particular shipping processing rule that satisfies the outcome criterion for inclusion in the set of shipping processing rules; and
generating a postage indicium for an item to be shipped, wherein said generating comprises;
receiving shipping information for said item to be shipped, andutilizing said set of shipping processing rules and said shipping information to generate said postage indicium for said item to be shipped.
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Abstract
Systems and methods which implement a rules based engine for processing items for shipping are shown. Embodiments implement a series of rules that are executed in a particular order to address decision points in processing individual items of a plurality of items for shipping. A user interface adapted to allow a user to create rules, weigh or order the rules, revise rules, enable/disable rules, etc. is provided according to embodiments. By selecting and associating various rule parameters, such as conditions, operators, and/or outcomes, through the rules interface a user may create and revise rules as desired. The rules interface of embodiments provides a hierarchical rules environment in which the resulting rules are weighted or ordered for hierarchical implementation.
199 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for generating shipping rules configured to make shipping decisions on behalf of a user, said method comprising:
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compiling, by a processor-based system of a shipping services operator, raw shipping data based on shipments made by a plurality of shippers, wherein, for each of the shipments made by the plurality of shippers, the raw shipping data comprises at least one of shipment weight information, address information, shipment size information, shipping container type information, and item type information; compiling, by the processor-based system, user defined data comprising information associated with at least one of one or more customer categories, one or more pricing categories, one or more delivery time categories, and one or more quality of service levels provided to said processor-based system by said user; deriving information associated with one or more shipments to generate derived data, the derived data comprising at least one of calculated shipping rates, delivery dates, and delivery times; automatically constructing, by said processor-based system for said user, a plurality of shipping processing rules for making shipping decisions, wherein the plurality of shipping processing rules are constructed based on rule parameters and a data set, wherein the rule parameters comprise conditions and operators, the conditions comprising shipping attribute information for making shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, the operators comprising at least one of logical operators and mathematical operators that are applied to said conditions to make said shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, determinations, or both, wherein the data set comprises the raw shipping data, the user defined data, and the derived data, and wherein constructing, by said processor-based system, the plurality of shipping processing rules comprises constructing at least one shipping processing rule configured to select, based on an amount of time that a customer has been using a service offered by said user, a type of shipping service for shipment of an item purchased from said user by said customer; analyzing, by said processor-based system, the plurality of shipping processing rules to select shipping processing rules that define a set of shipping processing rules for generating postage indicia for said user, wherein said set of shipping processing rules includes said at least one shipping processing rule constructed based, at least in part, on said amount of time that said customer has been using said service, wherein said analyzing comprises; analyzing, by said processor-based system, said plurality of shipping processing rules to identify whether a conflict exists between at least two shipping processing rules, wherein a conflict is identified based on a determination that applying the same conditions to said at least two shipping processing rules presents different shipping decisions; and automatically resolving, by said processor-based system, said conflict between said at least two shipping processing rules based on a conflict resolution parameter that specifies an outcome criterion, wherein automatically resolving the conflict comprises; identifying, by said processor-based system, a particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a time-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a most rapid delivery time, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a cost-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a lowest shipping cost, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a level of service-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a highest level of service; and selecting, by said processor-based system, the particular shipping processing rule that satisfies the outcome criterion for inclusion in the set of shipping processing rules; and generating a postage indicium for an item to be shipped, wherein said generating comprises; receiving shipping information for said item to be shipped, and utilizing said set of shipping processing rules and said shipping information to generate said postage indicium for said item to be shipped. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system configured to make shipping processing decisions on behalf of a user, said system comprising:
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a rules engine configured to create, for said user, a set of shipping processing rules for making shipping decisions for said user, wherein said set of shipping processing rules is generated by; automatically constructing a plurality of shipping processing rules based on rule parameters and a data set, wherein the rule parameters comprise conditions and operators, wherein the conditions comprise shipping attribute information for making shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, and the operators comprise at least one of logical operators and mathematical operators that are applied to said conditions to make said shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, wherein the data set comprises; raw shipping data comprising at least one of shipment weight information, address information, shipment size information, shipping container type information, and item type information, user defined data comprising information associated with at least one of one or more customer categories, one or more pricing categories, one or more delivery time categories, and one or more quality of service levels provided by said user, and derived data comprising at least one of calculated shipping rates, delivery dates, delivery times, and wherein construction of the plurality of shipping processing rules by said rules engine comprises constructing at least one shipping processing rule configured to select, based on an amount of time that a customer has been using a service offered by said user, a type of shipping service for shipment of an item purchased from said user by said customer; analyzing the plurality of shipping processing rules to define said set of shipping processing rules, wherein said set of shipping processing rules includes said at least one shipping processing rule constructed based, at least in part, on said amount of time that said customer has been using said service, wherein said analyzing comprises; analyzing, by a processor-based system, said plurality of shipping processing rules to identify whether a conflict exists between at least two shipping processing rules, wherein a conflict is identified based on a determination that applying the same conditions to said at least two shipping processing rules presents different shipping decisions; and automatically resolving, by said processor-based system, said conflict between said at least two shipping processing rules based on a conflict resolution parameter that specifies an outcome criterion, wherein automatically resolving the conflict comprises; identifying, by said processor-based system, a particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a time-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a most rapid delivery time, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a cost-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a lowest shipping cost, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a level of service-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a highest level of service; and selecting, by said processor-based system, the particular shipping processing rule that satisfies the outcome criterion for inclusion in the set of shipping processing rules; and a computer processor configured to perform shipment processing for an item to be shipped, wherein said shipment processing comprises; receiving shipping information for said item to be shipped, and utilizing said set of shipping processing rules and said received shipping information to generate a postage indicium for said item to be shipped. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system configured to make shipping decisions on behalf of a user, said system comprising:
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means for creating a data set comprising raw shipping data, user defined data, and derived data, wherein the raw shipping data is created based on shipments made by a plurality of shippers, wherein, for each of the shipments made by the plurality of shippers, the raw shipping data comprises shipment weight information, address information, shipment size information, shipping container type information, item type information, or a combination thereof, wherein the user defined data comprises information associated with one or more customer categories, one or more pricing categories, one or more delivery time categories, one or more quality of service levels, or a combination thereof, wherein said user defined data is provided to said system by users of said system, wherein said derived data comprises calculated shipping rates, delivery dates, delivery times, or a combination thereof; means for creating, for said user, a plurality of shipping processing rules for making shipping decisions using rule parameters and said data set, wherein the rule parameters comprise conditions and operators, wherein the conditions comprise shipping attribute information for making shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, wherein the operators comprise at least one of logical operators and mathematical operators that are applied to said conditions to make said shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, and wherein creation of the plurality of shipping processing rules comprises creating at least one rule configured to select, based on an amount of time that a customer has been using a service offered by said user, a type of shipping service for shipment of an item purchased from said user by said customer; means for analyzing said plurality of shipping processing rules to define a rules set for generating postage indicia for said user, wherein said rules set includes said at least one rule constructed based, at least in part, on said amount of time that said customer has been using said service, said means for analyzing further comprising; means for analyzing said plurality of shipping processing rules to identify whether a conflict between two or more shipping processing rules of said plurality of shipping processing rules exists, wherein a conflict is identified based on a determination that applying the same conditions to said at least two shipping processing rules presents different shipping decisions; and means for automatically resolving said conflict between said two or more shipping processing rules based on a conflict resolution parameter that specifies an outcome criterion, wherein said means for automatically resolving said conflict comprises; means for identifying a particular shipping processing rule of said two or more shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion, the outcome criterion comprising at least one of;
a time-based outcome criterion, a cost-based outcome criterion, and a level of service-based outcome criterion, wherein, when the outcome criterion is said time-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of said two or more shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a most rapid delivery time, wherein, when the outcome criterion is said cost-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of said two or more shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a lowest shipping cost, wherein, when the outcome criterion is said level of service-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of said two or more shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a highest level of service; andmeans for selecting the particular shipping processing rule that satisfies the outcome criterion for inclusion in said rules set; and means for performing shipment processing of an item to be shipped, wherein said performing comprises; means for receiving information about said item to be shipped; and means for utilizing said rule set and said received information to generate a postage indicium for said item to be shipped. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification