Platform using instruction engine to simulate and perform warehouse processes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11544658-B2
Application number	US-202016806699-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 2, 2020
Priority date	Apr 18, 2019
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

In some implementations, a method performed by data processing apparatuses includes receiving order data that represents a plurality of ordered items for delivery to a location; selecting a first policy from a store of first policies; transforming at least a portion of the order data into a plurality of item units, based on rules associated with the selected first policy; selecting a second policy from a store of second policies; for each item unit, based on rules associated with the selected second policy, modifying the item unit to include annotated information that corresponds to operations to be performed on the item unit; and generating instructions for grouping the plurality of item units for delivery to the location, based on the annotated information for the item units.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for generating instructions for performing warehousing operations for fulfilling orders, the method comprising:
receiving, by a computer system, order data that represents a plurality of ordered items for delivery to a location;
selecting, by the computer system, from a data store of first policies, a selected first policy, each first policy in the data store of first policies including different rules for grouping items represented in the order data into item units;
transforming, by the computer system, at least a portion of the order data into first output data that includes item unit data that defines a plurality of item units in which items represented in the order data have been grouped, comprising (i) receiving first parameter values that correspond to parameters accepted by the selected first policy, (ii) generating the first output data, based on rules associated with the selected first policy and according to the first parameter values, and (iii) adding, to a data pool that is maintained for use by multiple different downstream policies, the first output data that includes the item unit data, wherein each item unit datum in the item unit data represents a grouping of items represented in the order data according to an execution of the rules of the selected first policy using the first parameter values;
selecting, by the computer system, from a data store of second policies, a selected second policy, each second policy in the data store of second policies including different rules for performing initial operations on an item unit for moving the item unit through a warehouse;
annotating, by the computer system, the item unit data, comprising (i) receiving, from the data pool to which the first output data has been added, second parameter values that correspond to parameters accepted by the selected second policy, (ii) for each item unit, based on rules associated with the selected second policy and according to the second parameter values, modifying an item unit datum that represents the item unit to include annotated information that corresponds to the initial operations to be performed on the item unit for moving the item unit through the warehouse, and (iii) adding, to the data pool, second output data that includes the annotated item unit data, wherein each annotated item unit datum in the item unit data represents a grouping of items represented in the order data that is to be moved through the warehouse according to an execution of the rules of the selected second policy using the second parameter values;
selecting, by the computer system, from a data store of third policies, a selected third policy, each third policy in the data store of third policies including different rules for performing subsequent operations on the item unit for packing the item unit into a container;
annotating, by the computer system, the item unit data, comprising (i) receiving, from the data pool to which the first output data and the second output data has been added, third parameter values that correspond to parameters accepted by the selected third policy, and (ii) for each item unit, based on rules associated with the selected third policy and according to the third parameter values, modifying the item unit datum that represents the item unit to include annotated information that corresponds to the subsequent operations to be performed on the item unit, wherein each annotated item datum in the item unit data represents a grouping of items represented in the order data that is to be packed into a container according to an execution of the rules of the selected third policy using the third parameter values;
generating, by the computer system, instructions for (i) grouping items represented in the order data into item units, based on the item unit data that defines the plurality of item units per the selected first policy, (ii) moving the item units through the warehouse, based on the annotated information that corresponds to the initial operations to be performed on the item units per the selected second policy, and (iii) packing the item units into containers for delivery to the location, based on the annotated information that corresponds to the subsequent operations to be performed on the item units per the selected third policy;
performing an automated simulation using the generated instructions for (i) grouping items represented in the order data into item units, (ii) moving the items units through the warehouse, and (iii) packing the item units into containers for delivery to the location;
determining simulation results for the automated simulation;
evaluating the simulation results based on one or more metrics; and
modifying one or more of the selected first policy, the selected second policy, and the selected third policy, based on evaluating the simulation results,
wherein selecting the selected second policy and the selected third policy is based on selection rules that (i) specify policies based on the order data, and (ii) define combinations of first, second, and third policies, wherein the combinations are defined based at least in part on a comparison of simulation results of previously performed simulations of warehousing operations for fulfilling orders.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the order data is received from an order generation simulation.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the rules of the selected first policy is performed using only a portion of data from the data pool as the first parameter values.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein at least two of the first policies in the data store of first policies accept different parameters.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the generated instructions for (i) grouping items represented in the order data into item units, (ii) moving the items units through the warehouse, and (iii) packing the item units into containers for delivery to the location are executable by one or more servers that are configured to perform a simulation of performing the warehousing operations.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting one or more of a different selected first policy, a different selected second policy, and a different selected third policy;
generating different instructions for (i) grouping items represented in the order data into item units, (ii) moving the item units through the warehouse, and (iii) packing the item units into containers for delivery to the location;
performing a different simulation using the different generated instructions, and determining different simulation results for the different simulation;
comparing the simulation results with the different simulation results; and
based on the comparing, selecting an optimized policy combination from among a policy combination used in the simulation and a different policy combination used in the different simulation.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving additional order data from an order generation system; and
generating additional instructions for (i) grouping additional items represented in the additional order data into item units, (ii) moving the item units through the warehouse, and (iii) packing the item units into containers for delivery to the location.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising providing the additional generated instructions for presentation on a display of a computing device.

9. A computer system for generating instructions for performing warehousing operations for fulfilling orders, the system comprising:
one or more data processin

Assignees

• Target Brands Inc

Inventors

• Rorro Michael
• Jelvis Tikhon
• Cooks Bryce
• Khodjasteh Lakelayeh Kaveh

Classifications

• G06Q30/0635

  replenishment orders; recurring orders · CPC title

• G06Q10/067 Primary

  Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title