System and method for managing shipment release from a storage area of a material handling facility

Abstract

Various embodiments of a system and method for managing shipment release from a storage area in a materials handling facility are described. Embodiments may include a system configured to determine that a shipment including multiple units is expected to be conveyed from a storage area to a packing station in a materials handling facility. The system may also be configured to evaluate each respective unit of the shipment according to one or more criteria related to physical characteristics of the unit in order to generate an order in which the units of the shipment are to be provided to the packing station. The system may also be configured to generate an instruction to provide the units of the shipment to the packing station according to the generated order.

1 .- 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . A system, comprising:
 a memory; and   one or more processors, wherein the memory comprises program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to:
 identify multiple complete shipments of a plurality of shipments stored in a storage area that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to an available packing station of a plurality of different packing stations in a materials handling facility, wherein the available packing station has a capability to pack the multiple complete shipments; 
 evaluate the multiple complete shipments according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of the multiple complete shipments; 
 determine a highest ranked shipment of the ranking of the multiple complete shipments; and 
 generate an instruction to convey one or more units of the highest ranked shipment from the storage area to the available packing station to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility. 
   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the capability to pack the multiple complete shipments is a secondary packing station capability, wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 prior to the identification of the multiple complete shipments, determine that there are no complete shipments that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to the available packing station that are packed according to a primary packing station capability for the available packing station.   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein for each respective shipment, said one or more shipment-related criteria include one or more of:
 a priority level assigned to the respective shipment;   a shipping deadline associated with the respective shipment;   a quantity of units that are part of the respective shipment; and   a quantity of time that the respective shipment has been located within the storage area.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein to generate said ranking, the program instructions cause the one or more processors to:
 for each of at least some of said multiple complete shipments:
 generate a subscore for each of multiple shipment-related criteria, and 
 generate a composite score based on each subscore; 
 generate said ranking by ranking said multiple complete shipments according to the respective composite scores of the multiple complete shipments. 
   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein to determine the highest ranked shipment, the program instructions cause the one or more processors to randomly select one of two or more complete shipments of the multiple complete shipments that are tied for a highest ranking as the highest ranked shipment. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein to evaluate the multiple complete shipments the program instructions cause the one or more processors to dynamically change the shipment-related criteria from a previous version of the shipment-related criteria used for evaluating previously identified complete shipments for a different packing station to the shipment-related criteria. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored and wherein an eligible shipment is a shipment for which all units are stored within said storage area. 
     
     
         32 . A method, comprising:
 performing, by one or more computing devices:
 identifying multiple complete shipments of a plurality of shipments stored in a storage area that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to an available packing station of a plurality of different packing stations in a materials handling facility, wherein the available packing station has a capability to pack the multiple complete shipments; 
 evaluating the multiple complete shipments according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of the multiple complete shipments; 
 determining a highest ranked shipment of the ranking of the multiple complete shipments; and 
 generating an instruction to convey one or more units of the highest ranked shipment from the storage area to the available packing station to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility. 
   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the capability to pack the multiple complete shipments is a secondary packing station capability and wherein the method further comprises:
 prior to identifying the multiple complete shipments, determining that there are no complete shipments that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to the available packing station that are packed according to a primary packing station capability for the available packing station.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein for each respective shipment, said one or more shipment-related criteria include one or more of:
 a priority level assigned to the respective shipment;   a shipping deadline associated with the respective shipment;   a quantity of units that are part of the respective shipment; and   a quantity of time that the respective shipment has been located within the storage area.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein generating the ranking comprises:
 for each of at least some of said multiple complete shipments:
 generating a sub score for each of multiple shipment-related criteria, and 
 generating a composite score based on each subscore; 
   generating the ranking by ranking the multiple complete shipments according to the respective composite scores of the multiple complete shipments.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein determining the highest ranked shipment comprises randomly selecting one of two or more complete shipments of the multiple complete shipments that are tied for a highest ranking as the highest ranked shipment. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein said evaluating the multiple complete shipments comprises dynamically changing the shipment-related criteria from a previous version of the shipment-related criteria used for evaluating previously identified complete shipments for a different packing station to the shipment-related criteria. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein said storage area includes a random access storage buffer comprising multiple locations at which units are stored and wherein an eligible shipment is a shipment for which all units are stored within said storage area. 
     
     
         39 . A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions that when executed by one or more computing devices causes the one or more computing devices to implement:
 identifying multiple complete shipments of a plurality of shipments stored in a storage area that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to an available packing station of a plurality of different packing stations in a materials handling facility, wherein the available packing station has a capability to pack the multiple complete shipments;   evaluating the multiple complete shipments according to one or more shipment-related criteria to generate a ranking of the multiple complete shipments;   determining a highest ranked shipment of the ranking of the multiple complete shipments; and   generating an instruction to convey one or more units of the highest ranked shipment from the storage area to the available packing station to be prepared for shipment from the materials handling facility.   
     
     
         40 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 39 , wherein the capability to pack the multiple complete shipments is a secondary packing station capability and wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more computing devices to further implement:
 prior to identifying the multiple complete shipments, determining that there are no complete shipments that are eligible to be conveyed from the storage area to the available packing station that are packed according to a primary packing station capability for the available packing station.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein for each respective shipment, said one or more shipment-related criteria include one or more of:
 a priority level assigned to the respective shipment;   a shipping deadline associated with the respective shipment;   a quantity of units that are part of the respective shipment; and   a quantity of time that the respective shipment has been located within the storage area.   
     
     
         42 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 39 , wherein, in generating the ranking, the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to implement:
 for each of at least some of said multiple complete shipments:
 generating a sub score for each of multiple shipment-related criteria, and 
 generating a composite score based on each subscore; 
   generating the ranking by ranking the multiple complete shipments according to the respective composite scores of the multiple complete shipments.   
     
     
         43 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 39 , wherein, in determining the highest ranked shipment, the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to implement randomly selecting one of two or more complete shipments of the multiple complete shipments that are tied for a highest ranking as the highest ranked shipment. 
     
     
         44 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of  claim 39 , wherein in evaluating the multiple complete shipments, the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to implement dynamically changing the shipment-related criteria from a previous version of the shipment-related criteria used for evaluating previously identified complete shipments for a different packing station to the shipment-related criteria.