Inventory management system and method of use

Abstract

A system for monitoring inventory items, with each inventory item being associated with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The system comprises a check-in station for checking in inventory items. The check-in station comprises a first reader antenna for receiving information from RFID tags of inventory items being checked in, and a first indicator for providing an indication of the inventory items being checked in. The system additionally comprises a check-out station for checking out inventory items. The check-out station comprises a second reader antenna for receiving information from RFID tags of inventory items being checked out, and a second indicator for providing an indication of the inventory items being checked out.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 604,202, filed May 24, 2017, entitled INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE, which is a continuation of and claims benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, of earlier-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 364,069, filed Nov. 29, 2016, entitled INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE, which claims benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, of earlier-filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 261,060, filed Nov. 30, 2015, and entitled “AUTOMATED VENDOR MANAGED INVENTORY SYSTEM.” Each of the above-cited, earlier-filed patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention[0002]Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a system and method for managing inventory. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system incorporat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a system and method for monitoring inventory items that are associated with RFID tags. The system includes a check-in station for checking in inventory items and a check-out station for checking out inventory items. The check-in station has a reader antenna and indicator to receive and indicate the information from the RFID tag of the inventory item being checked in. The check-out station has a reader antenna and indicator to receive and indicate the information from the RFID tag of the inventory item being checked out. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a more efficient and accurate system for managing inventory items.

Problems solved by technology

Inventory management is common issue for any organization involved in the manufacture or distribution of goods.

Inadequate inventory management can lead to inventory being out-of-stock, which can result in production deficiencies and lost sales.

If the automotive manufacturer runs out of even one of the required small parts, then it may be required to halt production of its vehicles until such required parts have been re-ordered and delivered by a vendor.

However, overstocked conditions can also be costly, as the manufacture must devote space and resources to storing and managing such extra inventory.

Furthermore, even with inventory being overstocked, if the manufacturer does not accurately track its inventory, the manufacturer can easily run out of inventory and create an out-of-stock condition.

However, most of such previously-used computer-implemented systems require information related to the inventory to be manually entered into the system by a user.

Such manual entry requirements can lead to errors in the management of the manufacturer's inventory.

However, previously-used RFID systems have significant drawbacks.

For example, accurate RFID systems are often expensive because RFID antennas and readers used in such systems are required to operate at high power levels (e.g., such RFID antennas are configured to emit and receive high-power electromagnetic signals).

In addition, many previously-used RFID systems are configured to be permanently built into a facility and are restricted from being moved within the facility.

To facilitate efficiency, such portals are generally positioned near an entrance and / or an exit of a facility; however, such portals are not generally moveable from such locations.

As such, previously-used RFID systems are often inflexible, as they do not permit reconfigurations or rearrangements of a facility's layout or workflow.

Furthermore, users of such previously-used RFID systems generally do not know when an inventory item has been properly read into the system.

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