Radio frequency identification (RFID) driven stocking priority determination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12373770-B2
Application number	US-202217708334-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2022
Priority date	Mar 31, 2021
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

A system and method for radiofrequency identification (RFID) driven stocking priority determination. The method includes associating a first plurality of items with a first set of containers, analyzing first item data associated with the first plurality of items associated with the first set of containers and second item data for a second plurality of items associated with a second container, calculating a plurality of priorities for the first set of containers based on the analyzed first item data, the analyzed second item data, and a set of prioritization rules, assigning the plurality of priorities to the first set of containers, and transmitting the plurality of priorities to a user interface device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
displaying, via a user interface of a radio frequency identification (RFID) scanning device, a map of display containers on a sales floor of a retail facility that need to be scanned for inventory tracking and restocking, the RFID scanning device being a component of an RFID driven inventory restocking system,
scanning, by the RFID scanning device, RFID tags on the display containers to obtain item display area data indicating quantities of apparel items stocked in the display containers, wherein restocking the apparel items in the display containers includes transporting storage containers from a storage location of the retail facility to the sales floor and transferring the apparel items from the storage containers to the display containers;
determining, by the user interface of the RFID scanning device, that a scan of an individual one of the display containers is complete based on a percentage of data collected by the RFID scanning device at the individual display container exceeding a threshold;
responsive to determining that the scan of the individual display container is complete, displaying or emitting, by the user interface of the RFID scanning device, a visual or audio cue to indicate that the scan of the individual display container is complete and updating the map of the display containers to reflect that the individual display container has been scanned for inventory tracking and restocking;
scanning, via the RFID scanning device, RFID tags on the storage containers and ArUco markers on the storage containers to obtain storage location data, each of the RFID tags on the storage containers identifying which specific apparel items are carried by a corresponding one of the storage containers, each of the ArUco markers on the storage containers identifying one or more of the display containers associated with the specific apparel items carried by the corresponding storage container, wherein each of the ArUco markers is a synthetic marker that includes a matrix that is scanned to determine an identifier of the corresponding ArUco marker;
assigning, by the RFID driven inventory restocking system, priorities to the storage containers based on the item display area data and the storage location data, the priorities assigned to the storage containers identifying an order in which to transport the storage containers from the storage location to the sales floor for purposes of restocking the display containers;
displaying, via the user interface of the RFID scanning device, a list of the storage containers in order of restocking priority based on the priorities assigned to the storage containers, wherein a highest priority storage container is positioned at the beginning of the list of storage containers;
receiving, via the user interface of the RFID scanning device, a user input confirming that inventory items carried by the highest priority storage container have been replenished on the sales floor; and
updating, via the user interface of the RFID scanning device, the list of the storage containers in response to the user input, wherein a next-highest priority storage container is positioned at the beginning of the updated list of the storage containers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface of the RFID scanning device includes a touch screen display configured to receive the user input.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface of the RFID scanning device includes a natural user interface configured to receive the user input.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface of the RFID scanning device uses different color icons to differentiate display container(s) that need to be scanned for inventory tracking and restocking from display container(s) that have been scanned for inventory tracking and restocking.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying, via the user interface of the RFID scanning device, a location of a display container on the sales floor that is associated with the inventory items carried by the highest priority storage container.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the RFID driven inventory restocking system, dynamic data associated with the retail facility;
identifying, by the RFID driven inventory restocking system, a local event or forecast condition indicated by the dynamic data, wherein assigning the priorities to the storage containers includes increasing a priority level of a storage container carrying apparel items having a utility specific to the local event or forecast condition indicated by the dynamic data.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the dynamic data further identifies a sales promotion associated with the apparel items having the utility specific to the local event or forecast condition indicated by the dynamic data, and wherein assigning the priorities to the storage containers further includes further increasing the priority level of the storage container carrying the apparel items, having the utility specific to the local event or forecast condition indicated by the dynamic data, based on the sales promotion.

8. A system adapted for radio frequency identification (RFID) driven inventory restocking, the system comprising:
a radio frequency identification (RFID) scanning device that includes a user interface;
one or more processors; and
memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform the following operations:
displaying, via the user interface of the RFID scanning device, a map of display containers on a sales floor of a retail facility that need to be scanned for inventory tracking and restocking;
scanning, by the RFID scanning device, RFID tags on the display containers to obtain item display area data indicating quantities of apparel items stocked in the display containers, wherein restocking the apparel items in the display containers includes transporting storage containers from a storage location of the retail facility to the sales floor and transferring the apparel items from the storage containers to the display containers;
determining, by the user interface of the RFID scanning device, that a scan of an individual one of the display containers is complete based on a percentage of data collected by the RFID scanning device at the individual display container exceeding a threshold;
responsive to determining that the scan of the individual display container is complete, displaying or emitting, by the user interface of the RFID scanning device, a visual or audio cue to indicate that the scan of the individual display container is complete and updating the map of the display containers to reflect that the individual display container has been scanned for inventory tracking and restocking;
scanning, via the RFID scanning device, RFID tags on the storage containers and ArUco markers on the storage containers to obtain storage location data, each of the RFID tags on the storage containers identifying which specific apparel items are carried by a corresponding one of the storage containers, each of the ArUco markers on the storage containers identifying one or more of the display containers associated with the specific apparel items carried by the corresponding storage container, wherein each of the ArUco markers is a synthetic marker that includes a matrix that is scanned to determine an identifier of the corresponding ArUco marker;
assigning priorities to the storage containers based on the item display area data and the storage location data, the priorities assigned to the storage containers identifying an order in whic

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Cruz Jeffrey S
• Vaught Sara
• Magnusson Ryan Sands

Classifications

• G06K7/10366

  the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title