Method and system for order fulfillment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9733633-B2
Application number	US-201414459558-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2014
Priority date	Apr 29, 2014
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A method and system for order fulfillment is disclosed. In one embodiment, the order fulfillment system aggregates and consolidates the picking of products in a wave picking process, followed by a consolidated sortation system to enable automatic sorting of picked items by order.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of fulfilling at least one customer order request, the method comprising:
receiving, by a warehouse management system managing inventory in a warehouse, at least one customer request to fulfill a plurality of orders, wherein each order comprises one or more parts;
storing, by the warehouse management system, the customer request;
de-consolidating, by the warehouse management system, the customer request into the one or more parts of each of the plurality of orders;
grouping, by the warehouse management system, the one or more parts of each of the plurality of orders into picking waves based on at least one attribute associated with the one or more parts, wherein the picking waves are sequentially ordered;
directing, by the warehouse management system, a hardware/equipment subsystem to pick the picking waves from inventory within the warehouse based on the sequential ordering;
providing the picked parts to an order consolidation sort area;
a fixed mount scanner scanning a barcode to identify each of the picked parts;
based on the barcode, the warehouse management system automatically sending each of the picked parts to one of a plurality of sort lines, wherein each sort line comprises a second scanner that verifies the picked part provided to the sort line is part of an order associated with the part, wherein each sort line fulfills one of the plurality orders; and
automatically moving, via a conveyor belt associated with the sort line, the picked part to a packing station to pack the picked part into a box with at least one other picked part to fulfill the order.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one picking wave comprises one or more parts from a plurality of orders.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the picking waves are influenced by attributes of the plurality of orders, wherein the attributes comprise route to market (RTM) and manufacturer part number (MPN).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the picking waves are influenced by a state of an environment where the one or more parts of each order are located.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the picking waves comprise a sequence of picking waves.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the directing step further comprises picking the picking waves in the sequence of picking waves.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parts are stored in a warehouse.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the warehouse comprises one or more sensors that provide state data of one or more areas of the warehouse housing the one or more parts, the state data influencing the grouping step.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the equipment subsystem comprises one or more sensors that provide state data of one or more areas of the warehouse housing the one or more parts used to fulfill the customer request, the state data influencing the grouping step.

10. A system to fulfill at least one a customer order request, the system comprising:
a warehouse management system configured to:
manage inventory within a warehouse;
receive a customer request to fulfill a plurality of orders, wherein each order comprises one or more parts;
store the customer request;
de-consolidate the customer request into one or more parts of each of the plurality of orders from the respective order;
group the one or more parts of each of the plurality of orders into picking waves based on at least one attribute associated with the one or more parts, wherein the picking waves are sequentially ordered; and
create a picking wave directive to send to an equipment subsystem, wherein the picking wave picks parts from inventory within the warehouse based on the sequential ordering; and

an equipment subsystem configured to fulfill a plurality of orders, the equipment subsystem configured to:
receive a picking wave directive from the warehouse management system to pick parts from inventory within the warehouse based on the sequential ordering;
providing the picked parts to an order consolidation sort area;
a fixed mount scanner scanning a barcode to identify each of the picked parts;
based on the barcode, the warehouse management system automatically sending each of the picked parts to one of a plurality of sort lines, wherein each sort line comprises a second scanner that verifies the picked part provided to the sort line is part of an order associated with the part, wherein each sort line fulfills one of the plurality orders; and
automatically moving, via a conveyor belt associated with the sort line, the picked part to a packing station to pack the picked part into a box with at least one other picked part to fulfill the order.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one picking wave comprises one or more parts from a plurality of orders.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the picking waves are influenced by attributes of the plurality of orders, wherein the attributes comprise route to market (RTM) and manufacturer part number (MPN).

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the picking waves are influenced by a state of an environment where the one or more parts of each order are located.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the picking waves comprise a sequence of picking waves.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the picking waves are a sequence of picking waves.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more parts are stored in a warehouse.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the warehouse comprises one or more sensors that provide state data of one or more areas of the warehouse housing the one or more parts, the state data influencing the grouping step.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the equipment subsystem comprises one or more sensors that provide a state data of one or more areas of the warehouse housing the one or more parts, the state data influencing the grouping step.

Assignees

• Flextronics Ap Llc

Inventors

• Wickham Brian F
• Minella Marco

Classifications

• G05B15/00

  Systems controlled by a computer (G05B13/00, G05B19/00 take precedence; automatic controllers with particular characteristics G05B11/00) · CPC title

• G05B13/047

  the criterion being a time optimal performance criterion · CPC title

• G05B13/041

  in which a variable is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance · CPC title

• G05B15/02 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• G06Q10/08741 Primary

  by picking of items from inventory for fulfillment · CPC title