System and method for visual verification of order processing

• US 7,689,465 B1
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rouaix, Francois M., Kaufman, Donald L., Shakes, Jonathan J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen; Nicholas D
• Application Number:
  US11/076,842
• Time in Patent Office: 1,846 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/500
• US Class Current: 705/27.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

One or more images of items for an order being processed at processing station of an order fulfillment center may be captured and associated with the order. Alternatively, a short video clip may be captured of the order being packaged. An electronic notification that the order has been processed may be sent to a customer associated with the order. The electronic notification may include a reference to one or more of the captured images or video clips. The customer may use a reference included in the notification to view the captured images. The customer may view captured images to verify that the order has been correctly processed. The captured images may include images of the items being packaged for shipment and may show the shipping address on the package allowing the customer to verify that indeed it is his package in the images.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

picking a plurality of finished inventory items from an inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in an order fulfillment center to fulfill an order from a customer, wherein the plurality of finished inventory items for the order include at least one of;

a book, a food item, a bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry;

sorting out from among other picked finished inventory items, the plurality of finished inventory items for the order, including the at least one book, food item, bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry;

subsequent to said picking and said sorting, capturing one or more images of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order, wherein the captured one or more images show a plurality of the finished inventory items for the order in or being placed into a final shipping container for shipment prior to the final shipping container being sealed for shipment, wherein;

each one of the finished inventory items for the order is individually visible in the captured one or more images; and

the captured one or more images are captured within the order fulfillment center prior to the final shipping container being loaded onto a carrier for shipping;

associating the captured one or more images with the order; and

making available to the customer associated with the order an electronic notification that the order has been processed, wherein the electronic notification references one or more images for the order, including one or more of the captured one or more images.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured one or more images comprise one or more video clips.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured one or more images comprise one or more still images.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more images are captured in a packing station of the order fulfillment center.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more images are captured in a shipping station of the order fulfillment center.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said making available an electronic notification comprises sending an email message to the customer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the email message comprises the captured one or more images.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the email message includes information to access the captured one or more images.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the captured one or more images to be accessible via a network accessible server; and

wherein the electronic notification comprises information usable to access the stored one or more images via the network accessible server, wherein the information usable to access the stored one or more images includes a link or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) corresponding to the network accessible server.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information usable to access the stored one or more images comprises account information for the network accessible server, further comprising the customer accessing the captured one or more images via the network accessible server, wherein said accessing comprises the customer accessing the network accessible server using the account information.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the customer accessing the network accessible server using pre-existing account information; and

the customer accessing the captured one or more images via the network accessible server.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured one or more images referenced by the electronic notification comprise one or more images of personnel processing the order.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the captured one or more images referenced by the electronic notification show the finished inventory items for the order being placed into the final shipping container for shipment.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more of the captured one or more images referenced by the electronic notification show the finished inventory items for the order in the final shipping container for shipment.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more of the captured one or more images referenced by the electronic notification comprise one or more images of packing material being put into the final shipping container for shipment.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more images for the order referenced by the electronic notification comprise one or more images of addressing information on the final shipping container, wherein the addressing information corresponds to the customer associated with the order.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more images for the order referenced by the electronic notification comprise one or more images of the order being loaded on a delivery vehicle.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more images for the order referenced by the electronic notification comprise one or more images of one or more value-added services associated with the order.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic notification includes information to access the captured one or more images.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding an indication of a weight for the final shipping container into one or more of the one or more images for the order referenced by the electronic notification.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating a timestamp with the captured one or more images.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

including an indication of the timestamp in one or more of the captured one or more images referenced by the electronic notification.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising beginning said capturing based on a motion sensor detecting the finished inventory items for the order arriving at a location where the one or more images are captured.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising ending said capturing based on a motion sensor detecting the order leaving a location where the one or more images are captured.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

continually recording images of a location where the one or more images are captured;

analyzing the continually recorded images to locate a particular order process operation; and

beginning said capturing based on said analyzing.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising ending said capturing based on said analyzing.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising beginning said capturing based on a manual triggering at a location where the one or more images are captured.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising ending said capturing based on a manual triggering at a location where the one or more images are captured.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising reviewing the captured one or more images to verify adherence to a quality assurance policy.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said reviewing is performed at a location remote from the order fulfillment center.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising reviewing the captured one or more images to verify an amount of packing material in the final shipping container for the order.

32. The method of claim 1, further comprising reviewing the captured one or more images to verify one or more collateral items in the final shipping container for the order, wherein the one or more collateral items comprise one or more of a flyer, an advertisement, a packing slip, a receipt, or an offer.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising reviewing the captured one or more images in response to a customer complaint regarding the order.

34. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the captured one or more images in a database for captured images.

35. A system, comprising:

a computer system configured to receive a notification of a plurality of finished inventory items arriving for processing subsequent to the plurality of finished inventory items having been;

picked from an inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in an order fulfillment center to fulfill an order from a customer, wherein the plurality of finished inventory items for the order include at least one of;

a book, a food item, a bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry; and

sorted out from among other picked finished inventory items to include the plurality of finished inventory items for the order, including the at least one book, food item, bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry; and

an image capture device coupled to the computer system

wherein the computer system is further configured to;

in response to receiving the notification, control the image capture device to capture one or more images of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order, so that the captured one or more images show the plurality of finished inventory items for the order in or being placed into a final shipping container for shipment prior to the final shipping container being sealed for shipment, wherein;

each one of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order is individually visible in the captured one or more images; and

the captured one or more images are captured within the order fulfillment center prior to the final shipping container being loaded onto a carrier for shipping;

associate the captured one or more images with the order; and

make available to a customer associated with the order an electronic notification indicating that the order has been processed, wherein the electronic notification comprises a reference to one or more images for the order, including one or more of the captured one or more images.

36. The system of claim 35, further comprising:

one or more motion sensing devices coupled to the computer system and configured to;

detect the plurality of finished inventory items for the order arriving at a location where the one or more images are captured; and

notify the computer system of the arrival of the one or more finished inventory items for the order at the processing station; and

wherein the computer system is further configured to control the image capture device to capture the one or more images based on notification from the one or more motion sensing devices.

37. The system of claim 35, further comprising one or more manual signaling devices coupled to the computer system, wherein each of the one or more manual signaling devices is configured to notify the computer system in response to being activated;

and wherein the computer system is further configured to control the image capture device to capture the one or more images based on notification from the one or more manual signaling devices.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein the image capture device is configured to continually capture images at a location where the one or more images are captured, and wherein the computer system is configured to:

analyze the continually captured images, and

select the one or more of the captured one or more images of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order for which to include a reference in the electronic notification.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the captured one or more images comprise one or more video clips.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein the captured one or more images comprise one or more still images.

41. The system of claim 35, wherein the one or more images are captured in a packing station of the order fulfillment center.

42. The system of claim 35, wherein the one or more images are captured in a shipping station of the order fulfillment center.

43. The system of claim 35, wherein to make available the electronic notification, the computer system is further configured to send an email message to the customer.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the email message comprises the captured one or more images.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the email message includes information to access the captured one or more images.

46. The system of claim 35, wherein the computer system is further configured to

store the captured one or more images to be accessible via a network accessible server;

wherein the electronic notification comprises information usable to access the stored images via the network accessible server, wherein the information usable to access the stored images includes a link or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) corresponding to the network accessible server.

47. A computer accessible medium, comprising program instructions configured to implement:

receiving a notification of a plurality of finished inventory items arriving for processing subsequent to the plurality of finished inventory items having been;

picked from an inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in an order fulfillment center to fulfill an order from a customer, wherein the plurality of finished inventory items for the order include at least one of;

a book, a food item, a bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry; and

sorted out from among other picked finished inventory items to include the plurality of finished inventory items for the order, including the at least one book, food item, bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry;

in response to receiving the notification, controlling a device to capture one or more images of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order, wherein a final shipping container is associated with the order, so that the captured one or more images show the plurality of finished inventory items for the order in or being placed into the final shipping container for shipment prior to the final shipping container being sealed for shipment, wherein;

each one of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order is individually visible in the captured one or more images; and

the captured one or more images are captured within the order fulfillment center prior to the final shipping container being loaded onto a carrier for shipping;

associating the captured one or more images with the order; and

making available to a customer associated with the order an electronic notification that the order has been packaged, wherein the electronic notification includes a reference to one or more images for the order, including one or more of the captured one or more images.

48. A method, comprising:

capturing verification data usable to verify correct completion of a packing and shipping stage of processing a plurality of finished inventory items picked from an inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in an order fulfillment center to fulfill an order from a customer,

wherein the plurality of finished inventory items include a book, a food item, a bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry;

wherein the plurality of finished inventory items is sorted out from among other picked finished inventory items to locate the plurality of finished inventory items for the order; and

wherein the verification data comprises one or more images pertaining to the packing and shipping stage of processing;

wherein the one or more images are captured subsequent to the finished inventory items for the order having been picked and sorted from the inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in the order fulfillment center; and

wherein the one or more images show the finished inventory items for the order in or being placed into a final shipping container for shipment prior to the final shipping container being sealed for shipment, wherein;

each one of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order is individually visible in the captured one or more images; and

the captured one or more images are captured within the order fulfillment center prior to the final shipping container being loaded onto a carrier for shipping; and

associating the verification data with the order; and

generating a notification to an entity associated with the order, wherein the notification includes information to enable the entity to access the verification data.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising storing the verification data on a network accessible server, wherein the notification includes information usable to access the verification data via the network accessible server.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the verification data comprises non-image data pertaining to the packing and shipping stage of processing.

51. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises program instructions configured to;

capture verification data usable to verify correct completion of a packing and shipping stage of processing a plurality of finished inventory items picked from an inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in an order fulfillment center to fulfill an order from a customer,

wherein the plurality of finished inventory items include a book, a food item, a bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry;

wherein the plurality of finished inventory items is sorted out from among other picked finished inventory items to locate the plurality of finished inventory items for the order; and

wherein the verification data comprises one or more images pertaining to the packing and shipping stage of processing;

wherein the one or more images are captured subsequent to the finished inventory items for the order having been picked and sorted from the inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in the order fulfillment center; and

wherein the one or more images show the finished inventory items for the order in or being placed into a final shipping container for shipment prior to the final shipping container being sealed for shipment, wherein;

each one of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order is individually visible in the captured one or more images; and

the captured one or more images are captured within the order fulfillment center prior to the final shipping container being loaded onto a carrier for shipping; and

associate the verification data with the order; and

generate a notification to an entity associated with the order, wherein the notification includes information to enable the entity to access the verification data.

52. The device of claim 51, wherein the program instructions are further configured to store the verification data on a network accessible server, wherein the notification includes information usable to access the verification data via the network accessible server.

53. The device of claim 51, wherein the verification data comprises non-image data pertaining to the packing and shipping stage of processing.

54. A computer accessible medium, comprising program instructions configured to implement:

capturing verification data usable to verify correct completion of a packing and shipping stage of processing a plurality of finished inventory items picked from an inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in an order fulfillment center to fulfill an order from a customer,

wherein the plurality of finished inventory items include a book, a food item, a bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry;

wherein the plurality of finished inventory items is sorted out from among other picked finished inventory items to locate the plurality of finished inventory items for the order; and

wherein the verification data comprises one or more images pertaining to the packing and shipping stage of processing;

wherein the one or more images are captured subsequent to the finished inventory items for the order having been picked and sorted from the inventory stock storage area of finished inventory items in the order fulfillment center; and

wherein the one or more images show the finished inventory items for the order in or being placed into a final shipping container for shipment prior to the final shipping container being sealed for shipment, wherein;

each one of the plurality of finished inventory items for the order is individually visible in the captured one or more images; and

the captured one or more images are captured within the order fulfillment center prior to the final shipping container being loaded onto a carrier for shipping; and

associating the verification data with the order; and

generating a notification to an entity associated with the order, wherein the notification includes information to enable the entity to access the verification data.

55. The computer accessible medium of claim 54, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement storing the verification data on a network accessible server, wherein the notification includes information usable to access the verification data via the network accessible server.

56. The computer accessible medium of claim 54 wherein the verification data comprises non-image data pertaining to the stage of processing.