Access point triangulation for task assignment of warehouse employees

• US 8,626,548 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2005
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Patel, Surilkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Sterrett, Jonathan G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lan, Tzu-Hsiang
• Application Number:
  US11/230,816
• Publication Number:
  US 20070067200A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,032 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group

Abstract

Systems, methods, and machine-readable media are disclosed to assign one or more tasks to a plurality of warehouse employees. In one embodiment, a method is provided which comprises receiving an order for an item stored in a warehouse. A location of the item in the warehouse can be determined. A current location of each of the warehouse employees can be determined based on a strength of a signal from a wireless device assigned to each of the warehouse employees. The signal can be detected by at least two wireless access points at different location in the warehouse. At least one of the warehouse employees can be selected to fill the order based on the current location of each of the warehouse employees and the locations of the item.

Claims

1. A method of assigning one or more tasks to a plurality of warehouse employees, the method comprising:

receiving at a warehouse management system an order for an item stored in a warehouse;

determining with the warehouse management system a stored X-Y coordinate location of the item in the warehouse, wherein the warehouse management system stores for each item a rack, row, and bin location within the warehouse and the X-Y coordinate location of the item in the warehouse;

determining with the warehouse management system a current X-Y coordinate location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees within the warehouse, the current X-Y coordinate location determined at a time of receiving the order and based on a strength of a signal from a wireless device assigned to each of the plurality of warehouse employees, the signal detected by at least two wireless access points at different known locations in the warehouse;

assigning with the warehouse management system a weighted distance score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on a distance between the X-Y coordinate location of the item and the current X-Y coordinate location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees, wherein the employees of the plurality of employees are not assigned to zones within the warehouse;

accumulating an overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees including the weighted distance score; and

selecting with the warehouse management system at least one of the plurality of warehouse employees to fill the order based on the overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees, wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of warehouse employees to fill the order further comprises determining whether the selected warehouse employee is available based on a time schedule for the selected warehouse employee, wherein the selected employee is considered available for a pre-defined period of time prior to a start time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee and wherein the selected employee is considered unavailable for a pre-determined period of time prior to a quitting time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding with the warehouse management system a pick task identifying the item and the rack, row, and bin location of the item to an individual queue associated with the selected warehouse employee, wherein the contents of the queue are viewable by the selected warehouse employee via the wireless device assigned to the selected warehouse employee.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining with the warehouse management system a current workload for each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on a number of pending pick tasks assigned to each of the plurality of warehouse employees the current workload determined at a time of receiving the order; and

assigning with the warehouse management system a weighted workload score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on the current workload for each of the plurality of warehouse employees.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein accumulating the overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees further includes the weighted workload score.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining with the warehouse management system one or more qualifications for each of the plurality of warehouse employees; and

assigning with the warehouse management system a weighted qualification score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on the one or more qualifications for each of the plurality of warehouse employees and one or more criteria for handling the item.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein accumulating the overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees further includes the weighted qualification score.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining with the warehouse management system whether the task has been completed within an allowed time and responsive to determining that the task is not completed and the allowed time has expired, selecting at least one new warehouse employee to fill the order.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the weighted distance score is weighted based on a relative importance of distance in assigning pick tasks to the plurality of warehouse employees.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the weighted distance score and the weighted workload score are weighted based on an importance relative to each other.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the weighted distance score, the weighted workload score, and the weighted qualification score are weighted based on an importance relative to each other.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the relative importance of the weighted distance score, the weighted workload score, and the weighted qualification score is customizable.

20. The method of claim 7, wherein the distance between the coordinate location of the item and the current location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees is based on one of a Euclidean distance, a rectilinear distance, a Manhattan distance, or an L_m distance between the coordinate location of the item and the current location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees.

22. The method of claim 7, wherein the quitting time is a time of a break for the selected employee.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the starting time is an end time of the break for the selected employee.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-determined period of time prior to a quitting time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee during which the selected employee is considered to be unavailable is determined based on one or more of a size of the warehouse, an expected time to fill the order, or a nature of the order.

8. A machine readable medium having stored thereon a series of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to assign one or more tasks to a plurality of warehouse employees by:

receiving an order for an item stored in a warehouse;

determining a stored X-Y coordinate location of the item in the warehouse, wherein the warehouse management system stores for each item a rack, row, and bin location within the warehouse and the X-Y coordinate location of the item in the warehouse;

determining a current X-Y coordinate location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees within the warehouse, the current X-Y coordinate location determined at a time of receiving the order and based on a strength of a signal from a wireless device assigned to each of the plurality of warehouse employees, the signal detected by at least two wireless access points at different known location in the warehouse;

assigning a weighted distance score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on a distance between the stored X-Y coordinate location of the item and the current X-Y coordinate location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees, wherein the employees of the plurality of employees are not assigned to zones within the warehouse;

determining a current workload for each of the plurality of warehouse employees the current workload determined at a time of receiving the order and based on a number of pending pick tasks assigned to each of the plurality of warehouse employees;

assigning a weighted workload score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on the current workload for each of the plurality of warehouse employees;

determining one or more qualifications for each of the plurality of warehouse employees;

assigning a weighted qualification score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on the one or more qualifications for each of the plurality of warehouse employees and one or more criteria for handling the item, wherein the weighted distance score, the weighted workload score, and the weighted qualification score are weighted based on an importance relative to each other;

accumulating an overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees including at least the weighted distance score, the weighted workload score, and the weighted qualification score;

selecting at least one first employee of the plurality of warehouse employees to fill the order based on the overall score of each of the plurality of warehouse employees;

determining whether the first warehouse employee is available based on a time schedule for the first warehouse employee, wherein the selected employee is considered available for a pre-defined period of time prior to a start time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee and wherein the selected employee is considered unavailable for a pre-determined period of time prior to a break time or a quitting time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee; and

in response to determining the first warehouse employee is available, adding a pick task identifying the item to an individual queue associated with the first warehouse employee, wherein the contents of the queue are viewable by the first warehouse employee via the wireless device assigned to the first warehouse employee.

9. The machine readable medium of claim 8, further comprising determining whether the task has been completed within an allowed time and responsive to determining that the task is not completed and the allowed time has expired, selecting at least one second warehouse employee to fill the order based on the overall score of each of the plurality of warehouse employees.

18. The machine readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:

in response to determining the first warehouse employee is not available, selecting at least one second warehouse employee of the plurality of warehouse employees to fill the order based on the overall score of each of the plurality of warehouse employees;

determining whether the second warehouse employee is available based on a time schedule for the second warehouse employee; and

in response to determining the second warehouse employee is available, adding the pick task identifying the item to an individual queue associated with the second warehouse employee, wherein the contents of the queue are viewable by the second warehouse employee via the wireless device assigned to the second warehouse employee.

19. The machine readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

determining whether the pick task has been completed before an allowed time has expired; and

responsive to determining the pick task has not been completed before the allowed time has expired, selecting a third warehouse employee from the plurality of warehouse employees to fill the order based on the overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees.

21. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the distance between the location of the item and the current location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees is based on one of a Euclidean distance, a rectilinear distance, a Manhattan distance, or an L_m distance between the location of the item and the current location of each of the plurality of warehouse employees.

25. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the pre-determined period of time prior to a break time or a quitting time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee during which the selected employee is considered to be unavailable is determined based on one or more of a size of the warehouse, an expected time to fill the order, or a nature of the order.

10. A system comprising:

a plurality of wireless access points, each wireless access point positioned at a different known location in a warehouse;

a plurality of wireless devices communicatively coupled with the wireless access points, each wireless device assigned to a different warehouse employee of a plurality of warehouse employees;

a warehouse management system communicatively coupled with the wireless access points and comprising a memory containing instructions which, when executed by the warehouse management system, cause the warehouse management system to determine a stored X-Y coordinate location of the item in the warehouse, wherein the warehouse management system stores for each item a rack, row, and bin location within the warehouse and the X-Y coordinate location of the item in the warehouse, determine a current X-Y coordinate location of each of the warehouse employees within the warehouse at a time of receiving the order and based on a strength of a signal from each wireless device as detected by at least two of the wireless access points, assign a weighted distance score to each of the plurality of warehouse employees based on a distance between the X-Y coordinate location of the item and the current X-Y coordinate location of each of the warehouse employees, accumulate an overall score for each of the plurality of warehouse employees, the overall score including at least the weighted distance score, select at least one of the warehouse employees to fill the order based on the overall score of each of the warehouse employees, wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of warehouse employees to fill the order further comprises determining whether the selected warehouse employee is available based on a time schedule for the selected warehouse employee, wherein the selected employee is considered available for a pre-defined period of time prior to a start time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee and wherein the selected employee is considered unavailable for a pre-determined period of time prior to a quitting time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee, and add a pick task identifying the item to an individual queue associated with the selected warehouse employee, wherein the contents of the queue are viewable by the selected warehouse employee via the wireless device assigned to the selected warehouse employee.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the warehouse management system further:

determines a current workload for each of the warehouse employees based on a number of pending pick tasks assigned to each of the warehouse employees; and

assigns a weighted workload score to each of the warehouse employees based on the current workload for each of the warehouse employees, wherein the overall score for each warehouse employee further includes the weighted workload score for each employee.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the warehouse management system further:

determines one or more qualifications for each of the warehouse employees; and

assigns a weighted qualification score to each of the warehouse employees based on the one or more qualifications for each of the warehouse employees and one or more criteria for handling the item, wherein the overall score for each warehouse employee further includes the weighted qualification score for each employee.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the warehouse management system further:

determines whether the task has been completed within an allowed time; and

responsive to determining that the task is not completed and the allowed time has expired, selects at least one new warehouse employee to fill the order.

26. The system of claim 10, wherein the pre-determined period of time prior to a quitting time indicated by the time schedule for the selected employee during which the selected employee is considered to be unavailable is determined based on one or more of a size of the warehouse, an expected time to fill the order, or a nature of the order.