Systems and methods for end-to-end article management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11409267-B2
Application number	US-201916684478-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 14, 2019
Priority date	Nov 16, 2018
Publication date	Aug 9, 2022
Grant date	Aug 9, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for managing articles. The systems and methods described herein may comprise an example method for manufacturing an article. The systems and methods provides an end-to-end manufacturing value chain as a closed system and feedback loop.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for attribution and/or traceability, the method comprising:
receiving order data associated with one or more first consumer orders;
disposing one or more unique identifiers on at least a portion of a material, wherein the one or more unique identifiers are invisible to a human eye and visible with the aid of a predetermined vision method, and wherein the one or more unique identifiers represent article data comprising at least a portion of the order data; and
processing, via one or more manufacturing processes, the material to form at least a portion of an article, wherein the article data represented by the one or more unique identifiers is updated based on each manufacturing process to comprise information associated with the respective manufacturing process;
wherein each of the manufacturing processes comprise reading the article data and adjusting one or more actions associated with the respective manufacturing process based on the article data; and
wherein the article data indicates a provenance of the article.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting the material based at least on the order data and a batching data associated with one or more second consumer orders, wherein the one or more unique identifiers is disposed on at least a portion of the select material.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more unique identifiers indicate a registration mechanism for one or more components of the article.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the order data comprises one or more of: biometric information associated with the one or more consumers, color data associated with a color of the article, or material information indicating the material to be processed.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise a chemical pre-treatment process, and wherein the chemical pre-treatment process is selected and implemented based on at least the article data prior to the chemical pre-treatment process, and wherein the article data is updated to indicate the implemented chemical pre-treatment process.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise a drop on demand process, wherein the color of at least a portion of the material is evaluated after the drop on demand process based on at least the article data and remedial action is taken if the evaluated color is not within tolerance.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise a finishing process, wherein at least the one or more unique identifiers indicate a first spatial characteristic of the material prior to the finishing process and wherein the article data is updated to indicate a second spatial characteristic of the material after the finishing process.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise one or more of a laser cutting process or a material handling process.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the article data comprises grade information indicating quality of one or more preceding processes of the one or more manufacturing processes.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the grade information is at least partially derived from a physical characteristic of the one or more unique identifiers.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more unique identifiers are disposed on at least a portion of the material to indicate a defective condition or a defect location, or both.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise remediating a defect based on one or more of the defective condition or the defect location.

13. An article formed using the method of claim 1 .

14. A system configured to implement the method of claim 1 .

15. A method for attribution and/or traceability, the method comprising:
receiving order data associated with one or more first consumer orders;
disposing one or more unique identifiers on at least a portion of a material, wherein the one or more unique identifiers are visible to the human eye and configured to be concealed via one or more manufacturing processes, and wherein the one or more unique identifiers represent article data comprising at least a portion of the order data; and
processing, via the one or more manufacturing processes, the material to form at least a portion of an article and to conceal at least a portion of the one or more unique identifier, wherein the article data represented by the one or more unique identifiers is updated based on each manufacturing process to comprise information associated with the respective manufacturing process;
wherein each of the manufacturing processes comprise reading the article data and adjusting one or more actions associated with the respective manufacturing process based on the article data; and
wherein the article data indicates a provenance of the article.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the order data comprises one or more of: biometric information associated with the one or more consumers, color data associated with a color of the article, or material information indicating the material to be processed.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise a chemical pre-treatment process, and wherein the chemical pre-treatment process is selected and implemented based on at least the article data prior to the chemical pre-treatment process, and wherein the article data is updated to indicate the implemented chemical pre-treatment process.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise a drop on demand process, wherein the color of at least a portion of the material is evaluated after the drop on demand process based on at least the article data and remedial action is taken if the evaluated color is not within tolerance.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise a finishing process, wherein at least the one or more unique identifiers indicate a first spatial characteristic of the material prior to the finishing process and wherein the article data is updated to indicate a second spatial characteristic of the material after the finishing process.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise one or more of a laser cutting process or a material handling process.

21. The method of claim 15 , wherein the article data comprises grade information indicating quality of one or more preceding processes of the one or more manufacturing processes.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the grade information is at least partially derived from a physical characteristic of the one or more unique identifiers.

23. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more unique identifiers are disposed on at least a portion of the material to indicate a defective condition or a defect location, or both.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the one or more manufacturing processes comprise remediating a defect based on one or more of the defective condition or the defect location.

25. An article formed using the method of claim 15 .

26. A system configured to implement the method of claim 15 .

Assignees

• North Face Apparel Corp

Inventors

• Page Graham
• Perez Anthony
• Dietz Angelique
• Rogers Charles
• Aghanouri Abolfazl
• Goparaju Subra
• Balabanov Demitri

Classifications

• D06M10/02

  Sonic or ultrasonic waves; Corona discharge · CPC title

• G06Q30/0621

  by configuring or customising goods or services · CPC title

• D10B2401/021

  hydrophobic · CPC title

• A41H3/00

  Patterns for cutting-out; Methods of drafting or marking-out such patterns, e.g. on the cloth · CPC title

• G05B2219/45196

  Textile, embroidery, stitching machine · CPC title