An electronic label picking management system

Abstract

The present invention discloses an electronic tag picking management system, including a management computer, a base station, an electronic tag, a guide rail, a first information reading device and a second information reading device; a picking allocation module allocates picking requests to picking machines or picking personnel according to the current task volume of each picking machine and the remaining use time of the corresponding electronic tag; a tag control module is used to generate a picking request task screen according to the allocation result and refresh the display content of the electronic tag. The present invention manages the picking information contained in the order from the perspective of the picking executor. On the one hand, the electronic tag displays the picking progress in real time to assist the picking personnel in reducing the error rate. On the other hand, under the premise of ensuring that the picking machine is running at full load, combined with historical shipping data, the battery usage of all electronic tags is considered, and the power consumption of the electronic tags is made as consistent as possible by reasonably allocating the picking requests, thereby reducing the number of operation and maintenance times.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of electronic paper labels, and in particular to an electronic label picking management system. Background Art

[0002] Electronic tags using electronic paper are currently widely used in the retail, manufacturing, and warehousing and logistics industries because of their low power consumption and high contrast. In most areas, electronic tags can display the product information on the corresponding shelves for a long time without consuming power. They can also refresh the display content of multiple or all electronic tags uniformly through the background, reducing the various risks brought about by manual adjustment of price tags. Taking supermarkets as an example, during big sales, staff only need to generate new price tags in the background and send the generated information to the corresponding electronic tags according to the address, so that they can replace the display content of dozens or even hundreds of electronic tags at one time, greatly reducing labor costs.

[0003] In the field of warehousing and logistics, electronic tags are still mostly used to display product information. When the product information changes, the background will make remote adjustments. Some researchers have proposed that the characteristics of electronic tags can be used to provide more information assistance in the logistics industry, such as assisting in displaying information such as shipping progress. However, the current warehousing environment is still quite complex. The types of goods and storage scales of various warehouses are different, resulting in different picking methods. In the online retail industry, its warehousing system is becoming increasingly intelligent, and it is increasingly inclined to use machines to complete picking and shipping, and then arrange a small number of personnel to be responsible for operation monitoring and auxiliary picking at the same time; in some areas, due to many limiting factors, manual picking is still the main method, for example, spare parts warehouses and pharmaceutical warehouses that require certain professional knowledge, warehouses where the site is not suitable for the full deployment of picking machines, etc. However, in order to reduce the burden on pickers and improve shipping efficiency, a certain amount of picking machines will still be deployed under limited conditions, and manual picking is still the main method, combined with some picking machines to assist pickers in handling some relatively simple picking tasks with large shipments.

[0004] Theoretically, the normal service life of electronic tags in the warehousing and logistics industry can reach about 3 years, but in actual application, for example, for common 4-inch electronic tags, when the output voltage of the button battery drops below 2.4V, display errors and other problems are prone to occur. At present, electronic tags are designed to be detachable to facilitate battery replacement. With the further intelligence and complexity of the smart label system, in order to ensure the normal operation of the entire system, users usually contact the operation and maintenance personnel of the smart label system directly to replace the battery or directly replace the electronic tag. However, as mentioned earlier, different warehouse types exist, and even in the same warehouse, there are a large number of different types of goods. The shipment volume and shipment frequency of each product are different. Even if the electronic tags installed in the same batch are different, the time of insufficient power is inconsistent due to different usage conditions, and the operation and maintenance personnel need to come for maintenance frequently, which is quite inconvenient for the manufacturer of the label system and will also increase the operation and maintenance costs. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides an electronic tag picking management system, which manages the picking information contained in the order from the perspective of the picker. On the one hand, the picking progress is displayed in real time by the electronic tags to assist the pickers in reducing the error rate. On the other hand, under the premise of ensuring that the picking machine runs at full load, the battery usage of all electronic tags is taken into consideration in combination with historical shipping data, and the picking requests are reasonably allocated to make the power consumption of the electronic tags as consistent as possible, thereby reducing the number of operation and maintenance times.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] An electronic tag picking management system, the management system comprising a management computer, a base station, an electronic tag, a guide rail, a first information reading device and a second information reading device;

[0008] The base stations are distributed in the warehouse, and a number of shelves are arranged in the warehouse. A guide rail is installed on the outer side of the shelf, and a certain amount of electronic tags are detachably installed on the guide rail. Each electronic tag includes a picking reminder light and an electronic paper display screen. During the picking process, the picking reminder light is always on; when the picking request is completed by the picking machine, the electronic paper display screen is used to display the task status; when the picking request is completed manually, the electronic paper display screen is used to dynamically display the amount of completed picking tasks and the amount of uncompleted picking tasks according to the picking action feedback from the information reading device; the shelves are divided into a number of picking units according to the type of goods, and the picking units correspond to the electronic tags one by one; each base station establishes a communication connection with one or more electronic tags, and the management computer exchanges data with the corresponding electronic tags through the base station;

[0009] The first information reading device is distributed and installed on the shelves, each of which corresponds to a number of picking units and is used to read the product information of the picking units picked up by the picking personnel; the second information reading device is installed on the picking machine and is used to read the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking machine;

[0010] The management computer includes a base station management module, a label management module, an information reading device management module, an order management module, an order analysis module, a picking and allocation module, and a label control module;

[0011] The base station management module is used to manage the base stations in the warehouse; the tag management module is used to manage the electronic tags in the warehouse, and the management content includes the electronic tag number, the picking unit number corresponding to each electronic tag, the remaining usage time of each electronic tag, the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs, and the minimum theoretical remaining time of the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs; the information reading device management module is used to manage all first information reading devices and second information reading devices; the order management module is used to manage all received picking orders;

[0012] The order parsing module is used to parse the received new order, generate a corresponding picking request, and send it to the picking allocation module. The picking request at least includes a picking unit number and a picking task quantity;

[0013] The picking allocation module receives the picking request sent by the order parsing module, and on the basis of meeting the latest delivery deadline, allocates the picking request to the picking machine or the picking personnel according to the current task volume of each picking machine and the remaining usage time of the corresponding electronic tag, so that the remaining usage time of each electronic tag is always greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time of the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs, and sends the allocation result to the tag control module;

[0014] The tag control module is used to generate a picking request task screen according to the allocation result, refresh the display content of the electronic tag, and during the picking task:

[0015] Receive the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking personnel fed back by the first information reading device, and adjust the display content of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit in real time in combination with the corresponding picking request to display the task progress; receive the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking machine fed back by the second information reading device, and refresh the display content of the electronic tag when the picking request is completed.

[0016] To optimize the above technical solutions, the specific measures taken also include:

[0017] Furthermore, the label control module activates picking reminder lights of different colors according to the type of the picking executor.

[0018] Furthermore, the management system includes a shipment detection terminal for re-reading the information of goods delivered by the picking personnel and the picking machine, and matching it with the corresponding picking request;

[0019] The order management module receives the matching result fed back by the shipment detection terminal, and adjusts the order status or regenerates a supplementary order according to the matching result.

[0020] Furthermore, the tag management module includes a power estimation unit, which is used to count the shipping frequency and shipping volume of each picking unit within a certain time range, and estimate the power consumption and service life of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit when only the machine is picking;

[0021] The tag management module divides the electronic tags into several categories according to the service life and minimum maintenance cycle estimated by the power estimation unit, and calculates the corresponding minimum theoretical remaining time for each category.

[0022] Furthermore, the process of the power estimation unit estimating the power consumption and service life of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit when only the machine is picking includes the following steps:

[0023] Assume that the current remaining power of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit is a i , the minimum allowable power is a i，min ;

[0024] The historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume are counted, with time as the horizontal axis and the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume as the vertical axis, to generate a fitting curve x of the historical shipment frequency. it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′;

[0025] Collect external influencing factors of the current cycle and fit the historical shipment frequency curve x it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it ;

[0026] According to the following formula, the service life T of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is used is calculated i :

[0027]

[0028] Then the maximum shipment quantity of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is performed is Y i :

[0029]

[0030] In the formula, Δa i1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display when it is refreshed once; Δa i2 It is the unit power consumption of the picking reminder light relative to the single shipment quantity when the machine is picking.

[0031] Furthermore, when it is estimated that there will be excess shipments in any period, the power estimation unit calculates the power consumption a′ of the electronic tag corresponding to the excess shipments. i , from the current power a i Subtract a′ from i , and then recalculate the service life when only machines are picking.

[0032] Furthermore, the picking allocation module allocates the picking request to the picking machine or the picking personnel based on the latest delivery deadline and according to the current task volume of each picking machine and the remaining usage time of the corresponding electronic tag, including the following steps:

[0033] Determine whether there is an idle picking machine. If so, directly assign the picking request to the idle picking machine. Otherwise, calculate the power consumption required for the new picking request to be executed by the picker and the remaining usage time T of the corresponding electronic tag according to the following formula i ′:

[0034]

[0035] In the formula, A i is the power consumption required by the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the new picking request, A i =y i ′×(Δa i1 +Δa i3 ), Δa i1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display when it is refreshed once; Δa i3 When picking manually, the power consumption of the picking indicator light relative to the unit quantity of a single shipment; i ′ is the shipment quantity of the i-th picking unit contained in the current picking request;

[0036] Retrieve the minimum theoretical remaining time of the category of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking list and determine the remaining usage time T i ′ is greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time. If so, the picking task is assigned to an idle picker. Otherwise, the picking request is sent to the request list and waits for processing by the picking machine.

[0037] Further, the guide rail includes a label fixing portion and a shelf fixing portion connected to each other;

[0038] The tag fixing part is in a U-shaped structure, and a plurality of protrusions are arranged on the inner side of the tag fixing part, and the positions and sizes of the protrusions match the plurality of grooves on the electronic tag housing, so as to fix the electronic tag in the tag fixing part;

[0039] The shelf fixing part is connected to the outer side of the label fixing part away from the electronic tag, and there is a first gap between the main part of the shelf fixing part and the label fixing part, or the main part of the shelf fixing part constitutes a second gap; the guide rail is fixed on the shelf by clamping the edge of the shelf in the first gap or the second gap.

[0040] Furthermore, the shelf fixing portion is connected to the label fixing portion via soft glue, and the soft glue adjusts the angle between the shelf fixing portion and the label fixing portion under the action of external force to adjust the width of the first gap.

[0041] Furthermore, soft glue is installed on the side wall of the second gap formed by the shelf fixing part.

[0042] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0043] The present invention manages the picking information contained in the order from the perspective of the picker. On the one hand, the electronic tag displays the picking progress in real time to assist the picker in reducing the error rate. On the other hand, under the premise of ensuring that the picking machine runs at full load, the historical shipping data is combined, the battery usage of all electronic tags is considered, and the picking requests are reasonably allocated to make the power consumption of the electronic tags as consistent as possible, thereby reducing the number of operation and maintenance. The present invention is applicable to almost all warehousing and logistics industries that include both picking machines and pickers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of an electronic label picking management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of a guide rail according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0046] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of another guide rail according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0048] It should be noted that the terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", etc. cited in the invention are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. Changes or adjustments in their relative relationships should be regarded as the scope of implementation of the present invention without substantially changing the technical content.

[0049] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic label picking management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 The management system includes a management computer, a base station, an electronic tag, a guide rail, a first information reading device and a second information reading device.

[0050] (I) Storage facilities

[0051] The base stations are distributed in the warehouse. Several shelves are arranged in the warehouse. Guide rails are installed on the outside of the shelves. A certain amount of electronic tags are detachably installed on the guide rails. Each electronic tag includes a picking reminder light and an electronic paper display screen. During the picking process, the picking reminder light is always on; when the picking request is completed by the picking machine, the electronic paper display screen is used to display the task status; when the picking request is completed manually, the electronic paper display screen is used to dynamically display the completed picking task volume and the uncompleted picking task volume according to the picking action feedback from the information reading device; the shelves are divided into several picking units according to the type of goods, and the picking units correspond to the electronic tags one by one; each base station establishes a communication connection with one or more electronic tags, and the management computer exchanges data with the corresponding electronic tags through the base station.

[0052] The first information reading device is distributed and installed on the shelves, and each first information reading device corresponds to a number of picking units, and is used to read the product information of the picking units picked up by the picking personnel; the second information reading device is installed on the picking machine, and is used to read the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking machine. Preferably, the information reading device can use a scanner to enter the product information by scanning the barcode attached to the product or the product packaging.

[0053] In actual applications, one or more goods are usually placed on each shelf, and each product corresponds to an electronic tag. In actual applications, the name, number, origin, inventory quantity, storage location, and management personnel of the goods can be displayed on the electronic paper display screen as needed. On-site warehouse management personnel can quickly obtain the status of the current goods by reading the tag. When the type of goods or product information on the shelf changes, the management personnel only need to modify it in the background.

[0054] A picking task usually includes the shipment of multiple items. Unlike machines, when people pick, a considerable part of their energy is spent on counting the number of items picked. In order to assist the picking operation of the picker, this embodiment proposes the following design: the electronic tag includes a picking reminder light and an electronic paper display screen. During the picking process, the picking reminder light is always on to indicate that the current picking unit is performing a picking operation; preferably, different colors of picking reminder lights can be activated according to the type of the picking executor (picker and picking machine). In addition, a first information reading device is installed on the shelf at the same time. When the picking request is completed by the picking machine, the electronic paper display screen is used to display the task status; when the picking request is completed manually, the first information reading device identifies the picking action of the picker and feeds back the identification results to the management computer, so that the management computer dynamically refreshes the display content of the corresponding electronic tag according to the picking action fed back by the first information reading device. The picker can quickly obtain the current picking progress by viewing the number of items shipped and the number of items not shipped on the electronic paper display screen without having to count them separately. This design can greatly reduce the workload of pickers and improve picking accuracy, thus achieving paperless and highly timely management of goods in the entire warehouse.

[0055] It should be noted that, unlike traditional LCD screens, electronic paper displays consume power only when they are refreshed, which is the key to their long life. Therefore, when the shipment volume and shipment frequency of a certain type of goods are much higher than that of another type of goods, the remaining power difference will inevitably increase, resulting in the need for high-frequency maintenance, especially when the pickers are involved.

[0056] In this embodiment, the electronic tag is installed on the shelf through a guide rail. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The guide rail includes a label fixing part and a shelf fixing part connected to each other. The label fixing part is in a U-shaped structure, and a plurality of protrusions are arranged on the inner side of the label fixing part. The position and size of the protrusions match the plurality of grooves on the electronic label housing, and are used to fix the electronic label in the label fixing part.

[0057] The shelf fixing part is connected to the outer side of the label fixing part away from the electronic tag, and there is a first gap between the main part of the shelf fixing part and the label fixing part, or the main part of the shelf fixing part constitutes a second gap; the guide rail is fixed on the shelf by clamping the edge of the shelf in the first gap or the second gap.

[0058] Preferably, the shelf fixing portion is connected to the label fixing portion via soft glue, and the soft glue adjusts the angle between the shelf fixing portion and the label fixing portion under the action of external force to adjust the width of the first gap.

[0059] When the edge of the shelf is stuck in the second gap, soft rubber can be installed on the side wall of the second gap formed by the shelf fixing part. On the one hand, it can increase the friction and prevent the guide rail from shaking. On the other hand, it can also reduce the damage to the shelf caused by the guide rail installation.

[0060] (II) Management software related

[0061] The management computer includes a base station management module, a label management module, an information reading device management module, an order management module, an order parsing module, a picking and distributing module, and a label control module.

[0062] The base station management module is used to manage the base stations in the warehouse. The tag management module is used to manage the electronic tags in the warehouse, including the electronic tag number, the picking unit number corresponding to each electronic tag, the remaining usage time of each electronic tag, the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs, and the minimum theoretical remaining time of the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs. The information reading device management module is used to manage all first information reading devices and second information reading devices. The order management module is used to manage all received picking orders.

[0063] The order parsing module is used to parse the received new order, generate a corresponding picking request, and send it to the picking allocation module. The picking request at least includes the picking unit number and the picking task quantity.

[0064] The picking allocation module receives the picking requests sent by the order parsing module, and on the basis of meeting the latest shipping deadline, allocates the picking requests to the picking machines or pickers according to the current task volume of each picking machine and the remaining usage time of the corresponding electronic tags, so that the remaining usage time of each electronic tag is always greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time of the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs, and sends the allocation results to the tag control module.

[0065] The tag control module is used to generate a picking request task screen based on the allocation results, refresh the display content of the electronic tag, and during the picking task:

[0066] Receive the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking personnel fed back by the first information reading device, and adjust the display content of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit in real time in combination with the corresponding picking request to display the task progress; receive the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking machine fed back by the second information reading device, and refresh the display content of the electronic tag when the picking request is completed.

[0067] Preferably, the tag control module activates different colored picking prompt lights according to the type of picker. For example, for a picking request executed by a picking machine, the prompt light is red; for a picking request executed by a picking person, the prompt light is green. When the picking person is operating, if he sees an electronic tag with a red prompt light, he can also avoid the picking machine to reduce collisions.

[0068] In some examples, the management system includes a shipping detection terminal, which is used to read the information of goods delivered by the picking personnel and the picking machine again and match it with the corresponding picking request. The order management module receives the matching result fed back by the shipping detection terminal, and adjusts the order status or regenerates a supplementary order according to the matching result.

[0069] For example, the new order received by the management computer is 100 items A, 100 items B and 30 items C. The management computer parses the order and generates 3 picking requests, corresponding to items A, B and C respectively. Among them, the picking requests for items A and B are executed by picking machines, and the picking request for item C is executed by picking personnel. The picking allocation module allocates the picking requests to the corresponding picking personnel and picking machines, and records the allocation results. The allocation results include the work number of the picking personnel and the number of the picking machine, so as to facilitate the subsequent shipment verification and workload statistics. At the same time, the picking allocation module also sends the allocation results to the label control module and the corresponding information reading device. The label control module activates the red prompt lights of the electronic tags a and b corresponding to items A and B, and activates the green prompt light of the electronic tag c corresponding to item C; refreshes the electronic tags a, b and c to display the quantities to be shipped as 100, 100 and 30 respectively. During the picking process, electronic tags a and b always display the information "picking in progress", while electronic tag c continuously refreshes the current completed quantity and unfinished quantity as the picker performs the picking operation. When the picker picks the wrong goods, the first information reading device can also sound an alarm to prompt the user to pay attention. After the picking is completed, the picker and the picking machine will respectively transport the goods in the transit cargo hold to the shipping detection end. The shipping detection end will re-detect the goods in the transit cargo hold and match them with the corresponding picking request. The matching information includes the picking request, the type of goods, the quantity of goods and the executor. If the match is correct, the order management module will change the order status to completed in the background, otherwise it will generate a new supplementary order based on the deviation and re-pick the goods. This embodiment can use the automatic shipping equipment in the prior art to match and verify with the background data by reading the barcode of the goods.

[0070] (III) Picking Request Allocation

[0071] The tag management module includes a power estimation unit, which is used to count the shipping frequency and shipment volume of each picking unit within a certain time range, and estimate the power consumption and service life of the electronic tags corresponding to the picking units when only machines are picking. The tag management module divides the electronic tags into several categories according to the estimated service life and minimum maintenance cycle of the power estimation unit, and calculates the corresponding minimum theoretical remaining time for each category.

[0072] Example 1: Machine picking is the main method

[0073] The process of the power estimation unit estimating the power consumption and service life of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit when only the machine is picking includes the following steps:

[0074] Assume that the current remaining power of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit is a i , the minimum allowable power is a i，min . Statistic the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume, with time as the horizontal axis and the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume as the vertical axis, to generate a fitting curve x of the historical shipment frequency it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′. Collect the external influencing factors of the current cycle and fit the historical shipment frequency curve x it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it The service life T of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is used is calculated according to the following formula: i :

[0075]

[0076] Then the maximum shipment quantity of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is performed is Y i :

[0077]

[0078] In the formula, Δa i1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display when it is refreshed once; Δa i0 It is the power consumption of the picking reminder light relative to the single shipment quantity when the machine is picking.

[0079] Theoretically, it should also include the power consumption of the picking indicator light when the picking machine is finding the path. Considering that the shortest path allocation method is usually adopted at present, this part of the power consumption is extremely low. In order to simplify the calculation process, this part of the power consumption can be ignored. The power consumption of the electronic paper display screen when refreshing once includes the power consumption of refreshing the screen and the power consumption of data communication. This part of the power consumption is relatively stable and can be regarded as a fixed value. It is only related to the communication method and parameters of the electronic paper display screen. The picking indicator light is always on during the entire picking process, and for the same product, the picking speed of the machine is relatively stable, so the shipping time and unit power consumption of a single shipment can be regarded as fixed values.

[0080] According to statistics, the shipment volume of general warehouses has a certain regularity. In practical applications, for some warehouses with an increasing or decreasing trend caused by external factors, the fitting curve x of the historical shipment frequency can be combined with the actual situation. it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it , and then calculate the service life. For example, when the order volume of this year is estimated to increase by 20% compared with the previous year due to market conditions or main body expansion, this increase can be fed back to the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency of the current year. it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it Similarly, even if it only affects one of the sub-periods, the same method can be used to make an estimate. For some orders that exceed the estimate, they can be regarded as sudden orders. For sudden orders, they are regarded as special cases and calculated separately. For example, when it is estimated that there will be excess shipments in any period, the power consumption a′ of the electronic tag corresponding to the excess shipments is calculated. i , from the current power a i Subtract a′ from i , and then recalculate the service life when only machines are picking.

[0081] Exemplarily, in step S2, the electronic tags are divided into several categories according to the estimated service life and the minimum maintenance cycle, and the process of calculating the corresponding minimum theoretical remaining time for each category includes the following steps:

[0082] Sort the electronic tags in order of service life from shortest to longest;

[0083] Electronic tags are divided into several categories according to the following formula:

[0084]

[0085] Where, T j1 is the service life of the smallest ranked tag in the jth class, and is also the minimum theoretical remaining time of the jth class; T (j-1)1 is the lifetime of the smallest ranked tag in the j-1th class, is the service life of the largest ranked tag in the jth class; m j is the number of electronic tags contained in the jth class, m min is the minimum number of electronic tags allowed for each class; is the minimum maintenance cycle; It is the maximum service life difference allowed in the same category, which is affected by the shipment volume and shipment frequency of the picking unit corresponding to the electronic tag.

[0086] For example, a warehouse contains 500 electronic tags. First, find the service life of the smallest tag, which is 1 year. The minimum maintenance cycle of the manufacturer is half a year. Then set the electronic tags with a service life of 1 to 1.5 years as Class 1, and then count the electronic tags with a service life of 1.5 to 2 years, 2 to 2.5 years, etc. as Class 2 and Class 3 respectively. If the number of electronic tags in Class 1 is too small, the service life range can be appropriately relaxed to increase the total number of electronic tags in each class. It should be understood that the relaxation range of the service life is limited, and more emphasis should be placed on ensuring that any class of electronic tags can be used normally. Therefore, the relaxation range of the service life will be affected by the shipping characteristics of the goods corresponding to the electronic tag and the allowable floating voltage of the electronic tag, that is, the difference between the maximum service life and the minimum service life of each class of electronic tags must meet the maximum service life difference allowed in the same class.

[0087] S3, construct a label management database, the label management database is used to store the picking unit number, current power, category and the minimum theoretical remaining time of the corresponding category corresponding to each electronic tag. Preferably, the label management database is updated regularly according to a preset update cycle; wherein, after a certain amount of manual picking operations, the label management database is directly updated, and the current update cycle is refreshed. Since only the shipment volume and shipment frequency within a preset time range can be estimated, the picking request has a certain randomness and uncontrollability, so the label management database needs to be updated regularly to make it more in line with actual application requirements. For example, an additional order suddenly appears for a certain product, and frequent manual assistance is required. The additional power consumption of the electronic tag increases. After calculating the service life, it is very likely that the category to which it belongs needs to be adjusted, and it will be transferred to the next category, etc. In the present invention, the real-time performance of the label management database directly determines the accuracy of the picking request allocation, so it needs to be updated regularly, especially after one or more manual picking operations.

[0088] S4, receiving a new picking request, where the picking request at least includes a picking unit number and a picking task quantity.

[0089] S5, determine whether there is an idle picking machine, if yes, directly assign the picking request to the idle picking machine, otherwise, go to step S6. In this step, the picking request assignment method in the prior art can be directly referenced, for example, selecting an idle picking machine according to the path optimal principle.

[0090] S6, calculate the power consumption required for the new picking request and the remaining usage time of the corresponding electronic tag. If the calculated remaining usage time of the electronic tag is greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time, the picking task is assigned to an idle picker. Otherwise, the picking request is sent to the request list and waits for processing by the picking machine.

[0091] Step S6 specifically includes the following steps:

[0092] S61, using the following formula to calculate the power consumption A required by the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the new picking request: i :

[0093] A i =y i ′×(Δa1+Δa3)

[0094] Where Δa1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display screen when refreshing once; Δa3 is the power consumption of the picking reminder light relative to a single shipment when picking manually; y i ′ is the shipment quantity of the i-th picking unit contained in the current picking request.

[0095] S62, calculating the remaining usage time T of the corresponding electronic tag i ′:

[0096]

[0097] S63, retrieve the minimum theoretical remaining time of the category to which the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking list belongs, and determine the remaining usage time T i ' is greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time. If so, the picking task is assigned to an idle picker. Otherwise, the picking request is sent to the request list to wait for the picking machine to process. For example, for the picking requests in the request list, the picking machine is arranged to process them in a first-in-first-out order.

[0098] Example 2: People picking goods

[0099] Analyze the operable objects of each picking unit, and construct a first picking unit set that allows collaborative picking and a second picking unit set that only allows human operation. Count the shipping frequency and shipment volume of each picking unit within a certain time range, estimate the service life of the electronic tags corresponding to the picking units in the second picking unit set, and calculate one or more maintenance time nodes based on the estimated results and the minimum maintenance cycle; estimate the power consumption and service life of the electronic tags corresponding to the picking units in the first picking unit set when only machines are picking; revise the estimated service life based on the maximum theoretical workload of the picking machine; divide the electronic tags into several categories based on the revised estimated service life and maintenance time nodes, and calculate the corresponding minimum theoretical remaining time for each category; receive new A picking request, which includes at least a picking unit number and a picking task amount; determining whether the picking unit number belongs to the first picking unit set, if not, assigning the picking request to an idle picking person; otherwise, determining whether there is an idle picking machine, if so, assigning the picking request to the idle picking machine; otherwise, calculating the power consumption and the corresponding remaining usage time of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking request when it is executed by the picking person, and putting the picking requests whose remaining usage time is less than the minimum theoretical remaining time and whose completion time meets the corresponding latest completion time limit into the request list, waiting for the picking machine to process them, and other picking requests are assigned to idle picking persons.

[0100] Specifically, the process of counting the shipping frequency and shipping volume of each picking unit within a certain time range and estimating the service life of the electronic tags corresponding to the picking units in the second picking unit set includes the following steps:

[0101] Assume that the current remaining power of the electronic tag corresponding to the jth picking unit in the second picking unit set is a j , the minimum allowable power is a j，min . Statistic the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume, with time as the horizontal axis and the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume as the vertical axis, to generate a fitting curve x of the historical shipment frequency jt ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments jt ′. Collect the external influencing factors of the current cycle and fit the historical shipment frequency curve x jt ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments jt ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle jt and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume jt The estimated service life T of the electronic tag corresponding to the jth picking unit in the second picking unit set is calculated according to the following formula: 2，j :

[0102]

[0103] In the formula, Δa j1 is the power consumption of refreshing the electronic paper display screen of the electronic tag corresponding to the jth picking unit in the second picking unit set; Δa j3 When picking is done manually, the power consumption of the picking indicator light of the electronic tag corresponding to the jth picking unit in the second picking unit set is relative to the unit power consumption of a single shipment. In theory, it should also include the power consumption of the picking indicator light when the picker is looking for a path. Considering that the shortest path allocation method is usually adopted at present, this part of the power consumption is extremely low. In order to simplify the calculation process, this part of the power consumption can be ignored. The power consumption of the picking indicator light when the picking machine is looking for a path is also ignored. The power consumption of the electronic paper display screen when refreshing once includes the power consumption of refreshing the screen and the power consumption of data communication. This part of the power consumption is relatively stable and can be regarded as a fixed value. It is only related to the communication method and parameters of the electronic paper display screen. For example, the power consumption of the large screen will be slightly higher than that of the small screen. The picking indicator light is always on during the entire picking process. For the same product, the picking speed of the machine is relatively stable. Therefore, the shipping time and unit power consumption of a single shipment can be regarded as fixed values.

[0104] According to statistics, the shipment volume of general warehouses has a certain regularity. In practical applications, for some warehouses with an increasing or decreasing trend caused by external factors, the fitting curve x of the historical shipment frequency can be combined with the actual situation. it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it , and then calculate the service life. For example, when the order volume of this year is estimated to increase by 20% compared with the previous year due to market conditions or main body expansion, this increase can be fed back to the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency of the current year. it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it Similarly, even if it only affects one of the sub-periods, the same method can be used to make an estimate. For some orders that exceed the estimate, they can be regarded as sudden orders. For sudden orders, they are regarded as special cases and calculated separately. For example, when it is estimated that there will be excess shipments in any period, the power consumption a′ of the electronic tag corresponding to the excess shipments is calculated. i , from the current power a i Subtract a′ from i , and then recalculate the service life when only machines are picking.

[0105] The process of calculating one or more maintenance time nodes based on the estimated results and the minimum maintenance cycle includes the following steps:

[0106] Sort the electronic tags in the second picking unit set in order of estimated service life from small to large. Calculate one or more maintenance time nodes according to the following formula and divide them into multiple maintenance cycles:

[0107]

[0108] Where, T 2，p1 is the estimated service life of the tag with the smallest ranking in the pth maintenance cycle, and is also the minimum theoretical remaining time of the pth maintenance cycle; T 2，(p-1)1 is the estimated service life of the tag with the smallest ranking in the p-1th maintenance cycle, is the estimated service life of the tag with the largest ranking in the pth maintenance cycle; m p is the number of electronic tags included in the pth maintenance cycle, m min It is the minimum number of electronic tags allowed in each maintenance cycle; is the minimum maintenance cycle; It is the maximum service life difference allowed in the same maintenance cycle, which is affected by the shipment volume and shipment frequency of the picking unit corresponding to the electronic tag.

[0109] Exemplarily, a label management database can also be constructed, and the label management database is used to store the picking unit number, current power, category and the minimum theoretical remaining time of the corresponding category corresponding to each electronic tag. Preferably, the label management database is updated regularly according to a preset update cycle; wherein, after a certain amount of manual picking operations, the label management database is directly updated, and the current update cycle is refreshed. Since only the shipment volume and shipment frequency within a preset time range can be estimated, the picking request has a certain degree of randomness and uncontrollability, so the label management database needs to be updated regularly to make it more in line with actual application requirements. For example, additional orders suddenly appear for a certain product, and frequent manual assistance is required. The additional power consumption of the electronic tag increases. After calculating the service life, it is very likely that the category to which it belongs needs to be adjusted, and it will be transferred to the next category, etc. In the present invention, the real-time performance of the label management database directly determines the accuracy of the picking request allocation, so it needs to be updated regularly.

[0110] Specifically, the process of estimating the power consumption and service life of the electronic tags corresponding to the picking units in the first picking unit set when only the machine is picking includes the following steps:

[0111] Assume that the current remaining power of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the first picking unit set is b i , the minimum allowable power is bi，min . Statistic the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume, with time as the horizontal axis and the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume as the vertical axis, to generate a fitting curve of the historical shipment frequency X it ′ and the fitting curve Y of historical shipments it ′. Collect the external influencing factors of the current cycle and fit the historical shipment frequency curve X it ′ and the fitting curve Y of historical shipments it ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve X of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle it and the fitting curve Y of the estimated shipment volume it The service life T of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is used is calculated according to the following formula: 1，i :

[0112]

[0113] In the formula, Δb i1 is the power consumption of refreshing the electronic paper display screen of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the first picking unit set; Δb i2 It is the power consumption of the picking reminder light of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the first picking unit set relative to the unit power consumption of a single shipment when the machine is picking.

[0114] In this embodiment, since manual picking is the main method, the workload of the picking unit usually exceeds the maximum theoretical workload of the picking machine, so the estimated service life needs to be corrected in combination with the maximum theoretical workload of the picking machine. The correction process includes the following steps:

[0115] Calculate the maximum shipment quantity S of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the first picking unit set when only machine picking is used. i :

[0116]

[0117] Calculate the total excess shipment ΔQ:

[0118]

[0119] In the formula, Q max is the maximum theoretical workload of the picking machine; I is the number of picking units in the first picking unit set.

[0120] Calculate the excess total life ΔT:

[0121]

[0122] In the formula, Δc i3is the power consumption per unit of a single shipment of the electronic tag’s picking indicator corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the first picking unit set during manual picking; ω i is a weight, which is affected by the shipping priority of the picking unit.

[0123] The estimated useful life is corrected according to the following formula:

[0124]

[0125] In the formula, is the estimated service life after correction; ΔT 1，i is the correction difference; T 2，pmid It is the median value of the remaining duration of the pth maintenance cycle to which the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the first picking unit set belongs.

[0126] In actual applications, for such warehouses, since the number of picking machines is limited and they are usually assigned to handle picking units with large shipments, the picking machines will continue to be in a full-load state. At this time, the standard for idle picking machines can be appropriately relaxed. For example, if a picking machine completes the current task after a preset time (such as 3 minutes), it can be defined as an idle picking machine. This setting can further optimize the working state of the picking machine by allocating picking tasks in advance, so that it can continue to maintain a more reasonable full-load picking state.

[0127] The following formula is used to calculate the power consumption A required by the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the new picking request: i :

[0128] A i =Y i ′×(Δb i1 +Δb i3 )

[0129] In the formula, Δb i1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display when it is refreshed once; Δb i3 Y is the power consumption of the picking indicator light relative to the unit quantity of a single shipment during manual picking; i ′ is the shipment quantity of the i-th picking unit contained in the current picking request.

[0130] Calculate the remaining usage time T of the corresponding electronic tag i ′:

[0131]

[0132] Retrieve the minimum theoretical remaining time of the category to which the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit belongs, and determine the remaining usage time T i′ is greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time. If it is less than the minimum theoretical remaining time, the minimum remaining working time of the current picking machine is retrieved, and the sum of the minimum remaining working time and the estimated completion time of the picking request is calculated. If the calculated result is less than the latest completion time, the picking request is put into the request list.

[0133] Exemplarily, for the picking requests in the request list, the picking machines are arranged to process them in a first-in-first-out order.

[0134] It should be understood that either Example 1 or Example 2 can be selected, and neither affects the basic functions of the aforementioned system. The difference lies in the use of different picking request allocation methods according to different scenarios.

[0135] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions under the concept of the present invention belong to the protection scope of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, some improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electronic label picking management system, characterized in that: The management system includes a management computer, a base station, an electronic tag, a guide rail, a first information reading device and a second information reading device; The base stations are distributed in the warehouse, and a number of shelves are arranged in the warehouse. A guide rail is installed on the outer side of the shelf, and a certain amount of electronic tags are detachably installed on the guide rail. Each electronic tag includes a picking reminder light and an electronic paper display screen. During the picking process, the picking reminder light is always on; when the picking request is completed by the picking machine, the electronic paper display screen is used to display the task status; when the picking request is completed manually, the electronic paper display screen is used to dynamically display the amount of completed picking tasks and the amount of uncompleted picking tasks according to the picking action feedback from the information reading device; the shelves are divided into a number of picking units according to the type of goods, and the picking units correspond to the electronic tags one by one; each base station establishes a communication connection with one or more electronic tags, and the management computer exchanges data with the corresponding electronic tags through the base station; The first information reading device is distributed and installed on the shelves, each of which corresponds to a number of picking units and is used to read the product information of the picking units picked up by the picking personnel; the second information reading device is installed on the picking machine and is used to read the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking machine; The management computer includes a base station management module, a label management module, an information reading device management module, an order management module, an order analysis module, a picking and allocation module, and a label control module; The base station management module is used to manage the base stations in the warehouse; the tag management module is used to manage the electronic tags in the warehouse, and the management content includes the electronic tag number, the picking unit number corresponding to each electronic tag, the remaining usage time of each electronic tag, the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs, and the minimum theoretical remaining time of the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs; the information reading device management module is used to manage all first information reading devices and second information reading devices; the order management module is used to manage all received picking orders; The order parsing module is used to parse the received new order, generate a corresponding picking request, and send it to the picking allocation module. The picking request at least includes a picking unit number and a picking task quantity; The picking allocation module receives the picking request sent by the order parsing module, and on the basis of meeting the latest delivery deadline, allocates the picking request to the picking machine or the picking personnel according to the current task volume of each picking machine and the remaining usage time of the corresponding electronic tag, so that the remaining usage time of each electronic tag is always greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time of the operation and maintenance cycle to which it belongs, and sends the allocation result to the tag control module; The tag control module is used to generate a picking request task screen according to the allocation result, refresh the display content of the electronic tag, and during the picking task: Receive the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking personnel fed back by the first information reading device, and adjust the display content of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit in real time in combination with the corresponding picking request to display the task progress; receive the product information of the picking unit picked up by the picking machine fed back by the second information reading device, and refresh the display content of the electronic tag when the picking request is completed.

2. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The tag control module activates picking reminder lights of different colors according to the type of the picking executor.

3. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The management system includes a delivery detection terminal, which is used to read the information of goods delivered by the picking personnel and the picking machine again and match it with the corresponding picking request; The order management module receives the matching result fed back by the shipment detection terminal, and adjusts the order status or regenerates a supplementary order according to the matching result.

4. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tag management module includes a power estimation unit, which is used to count the shipping frequency and shipping volume of each picking unit within a certain time range, and estimate the power consumption and service life of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit when only the machine is picking; The tag management module divides the electronic tags into several categories according to the service life and minimum maintenance cycle estimated by the power estimation unit, and calculates the corresponding minimum theoretical remaining time for each category.

5. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The process of estimating the power consumption and service life of the electronic tag corresponding to the picking unit when only the machine is picking includes the following steps: Assume that the current remaining power of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit is a i , the minimum allowable power is a i，min ; The historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume are counted, with time as the horizontal axis and the historical shipment frequency and historical shipment volume as the vertical axis, to generate a fitting curve x of the historical shipment frequency. it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′; Collect external influencing factors of the current cycle and fit the historical shipment frequency curve x it ′ and the fitting curve y of historical shipments it ′ is corrected to obtain the fitting curve x of the estimated shipment frequency in the current cycle it and the fitting curve y of the estimated shipment volume it ; According to the following formula, the service life T of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is used is calculated i : Then the maximum shipment quantity of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit when only machine picking is performed is Y i : In the formula, Δa i1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display when it is refreshed once; Δa i2 It is the power consumption of the picking reminder light relative to the single shipment quantity when the machine is picking.

6. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 5 is characterized in that: When it is estimated that there will be excess shipments in any period, the power estimation unit calculates the power consumption a′ of the electronic tag corresponding to the excess shipments. i , from the current power a i Subtract a′ from i , and then recalculate the service life when only machines are picking.

7. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The process of allocating the picking request to the picking machine or the picking personnel by the picking allocation module on the basis of meeting the latest delivery deadline and according to the current task volume of each picking machine and the remaining usage time of the corresponding electronic tag includes the following steps: Determine whether there is an idle picking machine. If so, directly assign the picking request to the idle picking machine. Otherwise, calculate the power consumption required for the new picking request to be executed by the picker and the remaining usage time T of the corresponding electronic tag according to the following formula i ′: In the formula, A i is the power consumption required by the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking unit in the new picking request, A i =y i ′×(Δa i1 +Δa i3 ), Δa i1 is the power consumption of the electronic paper display when it is refreshed once; Δa i3 When picking manually, the power consumption of the picking indicator light relative to the unit quantity of a single shipment; i ′ is the shipment quantity of the i-th picking unit contained in the current picking request; Retrieve the minimum theoretical remaining time of the category of the electronic tag corresponding to the i-th picking list and determine the remaining usage time T i ′ is greater than the minimum theoretical remaining time. If so, the picking task is assigned to an idle picker. Otherwise, the picking request is sent to the request list and waits for processing by the picking machine.

8. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide rail includes a label fixing portion and a shelf fixing portion connected to each other; The tag fixing part is in a U-shaped structure, and a plurality of protrusions are arranged on the inner side of the tag fixing part, and the positions and sizes of the protrusions match the plurality of grooves on the electronic tag housing, so as to fix the electronic tag in the tag fixing part; The shelf fixing part is connected to the outer side of the label fixing part away from the electronic tag, and there is a first gap between the main part of the shelf fixing part and the label fixing part, or the main part of the shelf fixing part constitutes a second gap; the guide rail is fixed on the shelf by clamping the edge of the shelf in the first gap or the second gap.

9. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The shelf fixing portion is connected to the label fixing portion through soft glue, and the soft glue adjusts the angle between the shelf fixing portion and the label fixing portion under the action of external force to adjust the width of the first gap.

10. The electronic label picking management system according to claim 8, characterized in that: Soft glue is installed on the side wall of the second gap formed by the shelf fixing part.

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