Warehouse management method and system, warehouse system and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a warehousing management method and system, a warehousing system, and a storage medium, relating to the technical field of intelligent warehousing. A warehousing management method of the present disclosure includes: determining a target row in a warehousing space according to information of an item corresponding to an inbound / outbound plan; determining candidate storage locations in the target row according to an inbound / outbound request, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to a preprocessing status, and generating information of an inbound / outbound task according to the inbound / outbound request, wherein the information of the inbound / outbound task includes an identifier of the task and an identifier of the target row; determining a target storage location corresponding to the inbound / outbound task from the storage locations in the preprocessing status according to the status of each storage location in the target row, and updating the status of the target storage location to a to-be-processed status; and after determining that the inbound / outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to a completed-processing status. By such a method, the flexibility and robustness of inbound / outbound of a warehousing system can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of intelligent warehousing, and particularly to a warehousing management method and system, a warehousing system and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] With the improvement of industrial automation and the development of automated warehousing, intensive automated warehousing systems are widely used in sites such as warehousing and logistics due to their advantages of less land area, high degree of automation, convenient batch management and product traceability, and flexible adjustment of inbound and outbound capabilities.

[0003] In the inbound and outbound operations of automated warehousing, the WMS (Warehouse Management System) generates corresponding tasks according to the materials + batch numbers in the plan and issues them to the WCS (Warehouse Control System). The underlying electrical control system receives the instructions from the WCS and controls the stacker to take out or put goods into the intensive warehousing storage locations (or storage locations for the warehousing system), realizing the automation of inbound and outbound operations.

[0004] The intensive warehousing system uses a three-dimensional high-bay warehouse. The storage locations are divided into three dimensions: rows, columns, and layers. Each row of storage locations uses a shuttle rack for storage, and its storage structure is a stack type, following the principle of first-in, last-out. Currently, the storage locations have four states: "idle", "awaiting inbound", "awaiting outbound", and "stored". In inbound and outbound operations, once the WMS generates an inbound or outbound task, the system assigns a specific storage location for picking up or putting down goods for this task and modifies the status of this storage location to "awaiting inbound" or "awaiting outbound" according to the task type to ensure that this storage location will not be repeatedly assigned to other tasks. Summary of the Invention

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to improve the flexibility and robustness of the inbound and outbound operations of the warehousing system.

[0006] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehousing management method is provided, including: determining a target row in the warehousing space according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan; determining candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound request, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to a preprocessing status, and generating the information of the inbound and outbound task according to the inbound and outbound request, wherein the preprocessing status includes a pre-outbound status or a pre-inbound status, and the information of the inbound and outbound task includes the identifier of the task and the identifier of the target row; determining the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing status according to the status of each storage location in the target row, and updating the status of the target storage location to a to-be-processed status, wherein the to-be-processed status includes a to-be-inbound status or a to-be-outbound status; after determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to a completed processing status, wherein the completed processing status includes an idle status or a stored status.

[0007] In some embodiments, the number of candidate storage locations matches the number of inbound and outbound tasks.

[0008] In some embodiments, determining a target row in the warehousing space according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan includes at least one of the following: determining, according to the information of the item in the inbound plan, a row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be stored, or a row where all storage locations are in an idle status, as the target row; or determining, according to the information of the item in the outbound plan, a row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be out, as the target row.

[0009] In some embodiments, determining candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound request, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to a preprocessing status, and generating the information of the inbound and outbound task includes at least one of the following: according to the inbound request, selecting, in the target row in the order from the first end to the second end, consecutive idle-status storage locations with the same number as the inbound request quantity as the candidate storage locations, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to a pre-inbound status, and generating the information of the inbound task according to the inbound request; or according to the outbound request, selecting, in the target row in the order from the second end to the first end, consecutive stored-status storage locations with the same number as the inbound request quantity as the candidate storage locations, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to a pre-outbound status, and generating the information of the outbound task, wherein the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0010] In some embodiments, according to the status of each storage location in the target row, determining the target storage location corresponding to the inbound / outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing state and updating the status of the target storage location to the to-be-processed state includes at least one of the following: according to the status of each storage location in the target row, among the storage locations in the pre-inbound state, determining the target storage location corresponding to the inbound task in the order from the first end to the second end and updating the status of the target storage location to the to-be-inbound state; or according to the status of each storage location in the target row, among the storage locations in the pre-outbound state, determining the target storage location corresponding to the outbound task in the order from the second end to the first end and updating the status of the target storage location to the to-be-outbound state, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance / exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0011] In some embodiments, after determining that the inbound / outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to the completed processing state includes at least one of the following: after determining that the inbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to the stored state; or after determining that the outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to the idle state.

[0012] In some embodiments, the warehousing management method further includes: determining the candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing state corresponding to the task to be recycled; deleting the task to be recycled and updating the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing state.

[0013] In some embodiments, determining the candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing state corresponding to the task to be recycled includes at least one of the following: according to the inbound task to be recycled, among the candidate storage locations in the pre-inbound state, selecting the candidate storage location closest to the second end as the candidate storage location to be cancelled; or according to the outbound task to be recycled, among the candidate storage locations in the pre-outbound state, selecting the candidate storage location closest to the first end as the candidate storage location to be cancelled, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance / exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0014] In some embodiments, deleting the task to be recycled and updating the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing state includes: deleting the inbound task to be recycled and updating the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the idle state; deleting the outbound task to be recycled and updating the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the stored state.

[0015] In some embodiments, the warehouse management method further includes: determining a target storage location in a to-be-processed state according to a task to be recycled; traversing other storage locations in the target row; if there is no storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state in the target row, updating the target storage location to the corresponding completed processing state; if there is a storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state in the target row, determining a storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the corresponding preprocessing state in the corresponding order, updating the state of the storage location to be updated to the corresponding completed processing state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing state, where the second end is the end close to the article entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; the warehouse management method further includes: deleting the task to be recycled.

[0016] In some embodiments, the warehouse management method further includes: determining a target storage location in a to-be-instored state according to an incoming storage task to be recycled; traversing other storage locations in the target row; if there is no storage location in the pre-incoming storage state in the target row, updating the target storage location to the idle state; if there is a storage location in the pre-incoming storage state in the target row, determining a storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the pre-incoming storage state in the order from the second end to the first end, updating the state of the storage location to be updated to the idle state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the pre-incoming storage state, where the second end is the end close to the article entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; the warehouse management method further includes: deleting the incoming storage task to be recycled.

[0017] In some embodiments, the warehouse management method further includes: determining a target storage location in a to-be-outstored state according to an outgoing storage task to be recycled; traversing other storage locations in the target row; if there is no storage location in the pre-outgoing storage state in the target row, updating the target storage location to the stored state; if there is a storage location in the pre-outgoing storage state in the target row, determining a storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the pre-outgoing storage state in the order from the first end to the second end, updating the state of the storage location to be updated to the stored state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the pre-outgoing storage state, where the second end is the end close to the article entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; the warehouse management method further includes: deleting the outgoing storage task to be recycled.

[0018] In some embodiments, the warehouse management method further includes: when the target row determined according to the incoming storage plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outgoing storage plan, after modifying the state of the target storage location to the processed state, traversing the states of each storage location in the target direction of the target row of the target storage location; if there is no storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state of the processed state in the target direction of the target row of the target storage location, the task ends; if there is a storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state of the processed state in the target direction of the target row of the target storage location, updating the state of the storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state of the processed state that is the farthest from the target in the target direction to the processed state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing state of the processed state.

[0019] In some embodiments, the warehouse management method further includes: when the target row determined according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, for the inbound task, after modifying the status of the target storage location to the stored status, traversing the statuses of each storage location in the first end direction of the target row in the target storage location; if there is no storage location in the pre-outbound status in the first end direction of the target row in the target storage location, the task ends; if there is a storage location in the pre-outbound status in the first end direction of the target row in the target storage location, updating the status of the storage location in the pre-outbound status that is closest to the first end to the stored status, and updating the status of the target storage location to the pre-outbound status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0020] In some embodiments, the warehouse management method further includes: when the target row determined according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, for the outbound task, after modifying the status of the target storage location to the idle status, traversing the statuses of each storage location in the second end direction of the target row in the target storage location; if there is no storage location in the pre-inbound status in the second end direction of the target row in the target storage location, the task ends; if there is a storage location in the pre-inbound status in the first end direction of the target row in the target storage location, updating the status of the storage location in the pre-inbound status that is closest to the second end to the idle status, and updating the status of the target storage location to the pre-inbound status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0021] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehouse management system is provided, including: a row determination unit configured to determine a target row in the warehouse space according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plans; a task generation unit configured to determine candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound requests, update the status of the candidate storage locations to the preprocessing status, and generate information of the inbound and outbound tasks according to the inbound and outbound requests, where the preprocessing status includes the pre-outbound status or the pre-inbound status, and the inbound and outbound task information includes the identifier of the task and the identifier of the target row; a task execution unit configured to determine the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing status according to the status of each storage location in the target row, and update the status of the target storage location to the to-be-processed status, where the to-be-processed status includes the to-be-inbound status or the to-be-outbound status; after determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to the completed processing status, where the completed processing status includes the idle status or the stored status.

[0022] In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes a first task recovery unit configured to: determine the candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing status corresponding to the task to be recovered; delete the task to be recovered, and update the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing status.

[0023] In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes a second task recycling unit, configured to: determine a target storage location in a to-be-processed state according to the task to be recycled; traverse other storage locations in the target row; if there is no storage location in the target row corresponding to the preprocessing state, update the target storage location to the corresponding completed processing state; if there is a storage location in the target row corresponding to the preprocessing state, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations corresponding to the preprocessing state in the order from the second end to the first end, update the state of the storage location to be updated to the corresponding completed processing state, and update the state of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing state, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; the second task recycling unit is further configured to include: deleting the task to be recycled.

[0024] In some embodiments, the task execution unit is further configured to: when the target row determined by the row determination unit according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, after modifying the state of the target storage location to the processed state, traverse the states of each storage location in the target direction of the target storage location in the target row; if there is no storage location corresponding to the preprocessing state of the processed state in the target direction of the target row, the task ends; if there is a storage location corresponding to the preprocessing state of the processed state in the target direction of the target row, update the state of the storage location corresponding to the preprocessing state of the processed state that is the farthest in the target direction to the processed state, and update the state of the target storage location to the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state.

[0025] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehouse management system is provided, including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to execute any one of the above warehouse management methods based on instructions stored in the memory.

[0026] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer program instructions are stored, and when the instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of any one of the above warehouse management methods are implemented.

[0027] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehouse system is provided, including: an upper system configured to issue an inbound plan to the warehouse management system; any one of the above-mentioned warehouse management systems configured to send a task instruction to the warehouse control system; a warehouse control system configured to control the stacker to work according to the task instruction and feedback the execution result to the warehouse management system.

[0028] In some embodiments, the warehouse system further includes: a stacker configured to execute a task according to the control of the warehouse control system and feedback the execution result to the warehouse control system. Description of the Drawings

[0029] The accompanying drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and form a part of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure and their descriptions are used to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0030] Figure 1A - E is a schematic diagram of inbound and outbound in the related art.

[0031] Figure 2 is a flowchart of some embodiments of the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 3A is a flowchart of some embodiments of inbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 3B - E is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of inbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 4A is a flowchart of some embodiments of outbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 4B - E is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of outbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 5 is a flowchart of some other embodiments of the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 6A - H is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of inbound and outbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure 7 is a flowchart of some other embodiments of the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0039] Figure 8A - D is a schematic diagram of some other embodiments of inbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 9A - D is a schematic diagram of some other embodiments of outbound in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure.

[0041] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the warehouse management system of the present disclosure.

[0042] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of some other embodiments of the warehouse management system of the present disclosure.

[0043] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of some other embodiments of the warehouse management system of the present disclosure.

[0044] Figure 13 Schematic diagrams of some embodiments of the storage system of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0045] The technical solutions of the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0046] The inventors found that due to the characteristics of the storage location of the warehouse being a stack structure, the stacker must execute the tasks of taking and placing goods in a specific order: for the inbound task, the stacker must first execute the task with the largest storage depth in this row each time; for the outbound task, the stacker must first execute the task with the smallest storage depth in this row each time. However, when an abnormal situation occurs in a certain task in the task list and it cannot be executed smoothly, since a specific storage location has been allocated to this task, other tasks that are in the same row as the storage location for taking and placing goods of this abnormal task and have a greater depth will be blocked due to waiting for this abnormal task. Before the abnormal task is processed, the inbound and outbound operations will be interrupted, greatly reducing the efficiency of inbound and outbound.

[0047] In the case of task abnormalities and the like in the inbound and outbound operations, a task recovery mechanism is usually adopted. The principle of task recovery in the related art: for the inbound task, change the status of the storage location corresponding to the task to be recovered from "to be inbound" to "idle", and delete this task; for the outbound task, change the status of the storage location corresponding to the task to be recovered from "to be outbound" to "stored", and delete this task. The specific process can be as Figure 1A shown in -E.

[0048] Figure 1A shows the state before the recovery of the inbound operation. When two inbound tasks t1 and t2 in the same row are generated in the system, the storage depth of the storage location m1 corresponding to t1 is n, and the storage depth of the storage location m2 corresponding to t2 is n - 1, where n is a positive integer greater than 1; Figure 1B , 1C shows the state after the recovery of the inbound operation. When recovering t1, the status of m1 will change from "to be inbound" to "idle", and the storage status of m2 remains "to be inbound"; when t2 is successfully executed, the storage status of m2 is "stored". Since m1 has a greater depth than m2, there will be a storage location m1 with the status of "idle" and unable to store goods in this row at this time, resulting in a waste of warehouse space resources.

[0049] Figure 1D shows the state before the recovery of the outbound operation. When two outbound tasks t3 and t4 in the same storage location row are generated in the system, the storage depth of the storage location m3 corresponding to t3 is n, and the storage depth of the storage location m4 corresponding to t4 is n + 1, where n is a positive integer; Figure 1EThe state after the inbound operation recovery is shown. When recovering t3, the state of m3 will change from "awaiting outbound" to "stored", and the storage location state of m4 remains "awaiting outbound". At this time, since m4 is deeper than m3, t4 cannot be executed, and thus evolves into an abnormal task, interfering with the smooth execution of the outbound operation.

[0050] In view of the above problems, the present disclosure proposes a warehousing management method and system, a warehousing system, and a storage medium, which add a preprocessing state in warehousing management, improve the flexibility of warehousing management, enhance the system's processing ability for task recovery, and improve the system's robustness.

[0051] The flowchart of some embodiments of the warehousing management method of the present disclosure is as Figure 2 shown.

[0052] In step S21, according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan, the target row is determined in the warehousing space. The items stored in each row of the warehousing space are the same. In some embodiments, the types and models of the items are the same. In some embodiments, the batches of the items stored in each row of the warehousing space are also the same, so as to manage the inbound and outbound of items and item information in units of rows, and improve the efficiency of item inbound and outbound.

[0053] In some embodiments, if the inbound and outbound plan is an inbound plan, then according to the information of the item in the inbound plan, the row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be inbound, or the row where all storage locations are in an idle state, is determined as the target row.

[0054] In some embodiments, if the inbound and outbound plan is an outbound plan, then according to the information of the item in the outbound plan, the row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be outbound is determined as the target row.

[0055] In step S22, the candidate storage locations in the target row are determined according to the inbound and outbound request, the state of the candidate storage locations is updated to the preprocessing state, and the information of the inbound and outbound task is generated according to the inbound and outbound request, where the preprocessing state includes the pre-outbound state or the pre-inbound state. The inbound and outbound task information includes the identification of the task and the identification of the target row.

[0056] In some embodiments, the above inbound and outbound plan can be an inbound plan or an outbound plan. Each plan can be decomposed into multiple tasks, and each task corresponds to a storage location. In some embodiments, the number of candidate storage locations matches the number of inbound and outbound tasks, so as to ensure that each inbound and outbound task is assigned a storage location and improve the accuracy of inbound and outbound.

[0057] In some embodiments, the inbound and outbound task information includes the identifier of the task and the identifier of the target row, that is, the correspondence between the inbound and outbound task and the target row is established. The inbound and outbound task information does not include the identifier of the storage location, that is, the inbound and outbound task is not associated with a specific storage location. By this method, only the row corresponding to the task is determined, rather than the specific storage location, thereby avoiding the problems of wasted storage locations or interrupted tasks when an exception occurs in a certain task, and improving the robustness of the system.

[0058] In some embodiments, when it is determined that a certain task is abnormal, the task can be recalled. Specifically, first, according to the preprocessing status corresponding to the task to be recalled, the candidate storage locations to be cancelled are determined, and then the task to be recalled is deleted, and the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled is updated to the corresponding completed processing status. In some embodiments, the candidate storage location to be cancelled is the last storage location in the row in order. Specifically, if the task to be recalled is an inbound task, the candidate storage location with the shallowest pre-inbound status is cancelled; if the task to be recalled is an outbound task, the candidate storage location with the deepest pre-outbound status is cancelled. By this method, abnormal tasks can be processed in a timely manner, avoiding affecting the execution of subsequent tasks and improving the robustness of the system.

[0059] In step S23, according to the status of each storage location in the target row, the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task is determined among the storage locations in the preprocessing status, and the status of the target storage location is updated to the to-be-processed status, where the to-be-processed status includes the to-be-inbound status or the to-be-outbound status.

[0060] In some embodiments, for the inbound task, according to the status of each storage location in the target row, among the storage locations in the pre-inbound status, the target storage location corresponding to the inbound task is determined in the order from the first end to the second end, and the status of the target storage location is updated to the to-be-inbound status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row. By this method, the storage location for the task is specified according to the status of each storage location in the row, which is convenient for the stacker to cooperate to achieve; avoiding the problem that the target storage location is blocked due to the synchronous execution of tasks with different plans. For example, when the inbound plans A and B are executed synchronously, A1 storage locations are allocated for A, and B1 storage locations are allocated for B. The candidate storage locations allocated for plan A are located in shallower positions. When executing the task of plan B, it can be selected from shallow to deep among the A1 + B1 storage locations in the preprocessing status, thereby improving the flexibility and efficiency of task execution.

[0061] In some embodiments, for the outbound task, according to the status of each storage location in the target row, among the storage locations in the pre-outbound status, the target storage location corresponding to the outbound task is determined in the order from the second end to the first end, and the status of the target storage location is updated to the to-be-outbound status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance / exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row. By such a method, the storage location is specified for the task according to the status of each storage location in the row, which is convenient for the stacker to cooperate and implement; it avoids the problem that the target storage location is blocked due to the synchronous execution of tasks of different plans. For example, when the outbound plans C and D are executed synchronously, C1 storage locations are allocated for C and D1 storage locations are allocated for D. The candidate storage locations allocated for plan C are located deeper. When executing the task of plan D, it can be selected from deep to shallow among the C1 + D1 storage locations in the preprocessing status, thus improving the flexibility and efficiency of task execution.

[0062] In step S24, after determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, the status of the target storage location is updated to the completed processing status, where the completed processing status includes the idle status or the stored status. In some embodiments, the inbound and outbound task can be sent to the stacker for execution. In some embodiments, the inbound and outbound task can be sent to the warehouse control system, and the warehouse control system controls the stacker to execute. In some embodiments, when the warehouse management system obtains the task success information fed back by the stacker, it determines that the inbound and outbound task is completed.

[0063] In some embodiments, after determining that the inbound task is completed, the status of the target storage location is updated to the stored status.

[0064] In some embodiments, after determining that the outbound task is completed, the status of the target storage location is updated to the idle status.

[0065] By the method in the above embodiments, adding the preprocessing status in warehouse management and determining the row corresponding to the task to be executed can reduce the waste of storage locations or task interruption caused by certain business exceptions, timely adjust the storage location corresponding to the task, and improve the flexibility and robustness of the inbound and outbound of the warehouse system.

[0066] The flowchart of some embodiments of the inbound process in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure is as Figure 3A shown.

[0067] In step 31, according to the information of the item in the inbound plan, the row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be stored, or the row where all storage locations are in the idle status, is determined as the target row.

[0068] In step 32, according to the warehousing request, in the target row, in the order from the first end to the second end, select a continuous number of free storage locations equal to the warehousing request quantity as candidate storage locations, then update the status of the candidate storage locations to the pre-warehousing status, and generate the information of the warehousing task according to the warehousing request. The above-mentioned second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0069] In step 33, according to the status of each storage location in the target row, among the storage locations in the pre-warehousing status, determine the target storage location corresponding to the warehousing task in the order from the first end to the second end, and update the status of the target storage location to the to-be-warehoused status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0070] In step 34, after determining that the warehousing task is completed, update the status of the target storage location to the stored status.

[0071] Through the method in the above embodiments, it can ensure that the items in the same row in the storage space are still the same after the warehousing operation, reduce the difficulty of item information management, and improve the accuracy of item extraction; determine the candidate storage locations in the order from deep to shallow relative to the stacker, ensure that enough storage locations are allocated for the warehoused items, and avoid blocked free storage locations at the same time, improving the utilization rate of the storage space; improve the flexibility and efficiency of task execution.

[0072] In some embodiments, the warehousing process can be as Figure 3B shown in -E. The data and positions in the embodiments are only examples and do not constitute improper limitations to this application.

[0073] (1) Row locking link: According to the material + batch number information in the warehousing plan P1, find a certain row A that meets the warehousing conditions, and lock row A as the designated warehousing row for P1.

[0074] (2) Task generation link: As Figure 3B shown, whenever the system receives a warehousing request, find the storage location a1 with the deepest depth and the storage location status of "idle" in row A, modify the storage location status of a1 to "pre-warehousing", and at the same time generate a warehousing task with the target address of row A (the target address is only accurate to the storage location row). The task table generated after all tasks corresponding to the plan P1 is shown in Table 1, and at this time, the storage location status of each storage location in row A is as Figure 3C shown.

[0075] Table 1 Task table generated according to the warehousing plan P1

[0076] Project Number Task Number Material Batch Target Storage Location P1 T1 ITEM1 BATCH1 A P1 T2 ITEM1 BATCH1 A P1 T3 ITEM1 BATCH1 A P1 T4 ITEM1 BATCH1 A

[0077] (3) Equipment task execution link: As Figure 3DAs shown, whenever the stacker crane picks up goods from the inbound platform and reaches the entrance of row A when performing a task (any one of T1 - T4), the system searches for the storage location with the deepest depth in row A and the storage location status of "pre - inbound" (max(PRE_IN)) as the actual inbound storage location a1, and modifies the storage location status of a1 to "awaiting inbound". As Figure 3E shown, after the stacker crane places the goods in a1, modify the storage location status of a1 to "stored".

[0078] Through the method in this embodiment, by adding a pre - processing status and not specifying the specific storage location corresponding to the task before the equipment executes the task link, it is convenient to handle the situation of task withdrawal, improve the flexibility of inbound and outbound operations and the ability to handle abnormal situations, and improve the robustness and efficiency of the system.

[0079] The flowchart of some embodiments of the outbound process in the warehouse management method of the present disclosure is as Figure 4A shown.

[0080] In step 41, according to the information of the items in the outbound plan, determine the row where the stored items are the same as the items planned for outbound as the target row.

[0081] In step 42, according to the outbound request, select consecutive stored - status storage locations with the same quantity as the inbound request quantity in the target row in the order from the second end to the first end as the candidate storage locations. Further, update the status of the candidate storage locations to the pre - outbound status and generate the information of the outbound task according to the outbound request. The above - mentioned second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0082] In step 43, according to the status of each storage location in the target row, determine the target storage location corresponding to the outbound task among the storage locations with the pre - outbound status in the order from the second end to the first end, and update the status of the target storage location to the awaiting - outbound status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0083] In step 44, after determining that the outbound task is completed, update the status of the target storage location to the idle status.

[0084] Through such a method, it is possible to perform item outbound operations in units of rows, reduce the position movement operations of the stacker crane, and improve the outbound efficiency; it is possible to determine candidate storage locations in the order from shallow to deep relative to the stacker crane, ensure that enough outbound items are allocated, and avoid the difficulty of obtaining inner - layer items caused by the obstruction of outer - layer items, thus improving the reliability of the system. The flexibility and efficiency of task execution are improved.

[0085] In some embodiments, the inbound process can be as Figure 4BAs shown in -E. The data and positions in the embodiments are only examples and do not constitute an undue limitation to this application.

[0086] (1) Row locking section: WMS searches for a certain row B that meets the outbound conditions according to the material + batch number information in the outbound plan P2, and locks row B as the designated outbound row for P2.

[0087] (2) Task generation section: As Figure 4B shown, whenever the system receives an outbound request, it finds the storage location b1 with the smallest depth in row B and the storage location status of "stored", modifies the storage location status of b1 to "pre-outbound", and simultaneously generates an outbound task with the source address being row B (the source address is only accurate to the row storage location). The task table after all tasks corresponding to the plan P2 are generated is shown in Table 2. At this time, the storage location status of each storage location in row B is as Figure 4C shown.

[0088] Table 2 Task table generated according to the outbound plan P2

[0089] Project Number Task Number Material Batch Source Storage Location P2 T5 ITEM2 BATCH2 B P2 T6 ITEM2 BATCH2 B P2 T7 ITEM2 BATCH2 B P2 T8 ITEM2 BATCH2 B

[0090] (3) Equipment task execution section: As Figure 4D shown, whenever the stacker executes a task (which may be any one of T5 - T8) and arrives at the pick-up location of row B, the system searches for the storage location with the smallest depth in row B and the storage location status of "pre-outbound" (min(PRE_OUT)) as the actual outbound storage location b1, and modifies the storage location status of b1 to "to be outbound". As Figure 4E shown, after the stacker takes the goods from b2, the storage location status of b1 is modified to "idle".

[0091] Through the method in this embodiment, a preprocessing state is added. Before the equipment task execution section, the specific storage location corresponding to the task is not specified, so as to facilitate handling the situation of task withdrawal, improve the flexibility of inbound and outbound and the ability to handle abnormal situations, and improve the robustness and efficiency of the system.

[0092] In some embodiments, during the inbound and outbound process, there is a situation where inbound and outbound operations are carried out synchronously on the same row. For this situation, the flowchart of some embodiments of the warehouse management method of this disclosure is as Figure 5 shown.

[0093] In step 510, according to the information of the items corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan, the target row is determined in the warehouse space. The determination method of this target row can be similar to that in step S21 above. When the inbound and outbound plan includes both an inbound plan and an outbound plan, the target rows of the inbound plan and the outbound plan are determined respectively.

[0094] In step 551, it is judged whether the target row determined according to the warehousing plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan. If the target rows are different, the warehousing and outbound operations are performed on different target rows without affecting each other. The specific warehousing and outbound methods can adopt any one of the methods mentioned above. After modifying the storage location status to the corresponding processed status, the warehousing and outbound operations are completed.

[0095] If the target rows are the same, the warehousing and outbound operations may affect each other. After adopting any one of the methods mentioned above, for each task executed and the storage location status is modified to the corresponding processed status, step 552 is further executed.

[0096] In some embodiments, the stacker operates based on the principle of placing the item in the deepest available storage location that can be reached during the warehousing operation and retrieving the item from the storage location with the shallowest position during the outbound operation.

[0097] In step 552, the status of each storage location in the target direction of the target storage location for the target row is traversed. In some embodiments, for the warehousing operation, the target direction is towards the depth of the storage location (the first end direction mentioned above); for the outbound operation, the target direction is towards the direction of the stacker (the second direction mentioned above).

[0098] In step 553, it is judged whether there is no storage location in the target direction of the target storage location for the target row with the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status. If there is no storage location with the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status, step 555 is executed; otherwise, step 554 is executed.

[0099] In some embodiments, for the warehousing task, after modifying the status of the target storage location to the stored status, the status of each storage location in the first end direction of the target storage location for the target row is traversed; if there is no storage location with the pre-outbound status in the first end direction of the target storage location for the target row, step 555 is executed, and if there is a storage location with the pre-outbound status in the first end direction of the target storage location for the target row, step 554 is executed.

[0100] In some embodiments, for the outbound task, after modifying the status of the target storage location to the idle status, the status of each storage location in the second end direction of the target storage location for the target row is traversed; if there is no storage location with the pre-warehousing status in the second end direction of the target storage location for the target row, step 555 is executed, and if there is a storage location with the pre-warehousing status in the first end direction of the target storage location for the target row, step 554 is executed.

[0101] In step 554, the status of the storage location with the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status that is the farthest in the target direction is updated to the processed status, and the status of the target storage location is updated to the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status. After the status update is completed, step 555 is executed.

[0102] In some embodiments, for the inbound task, its processed status is "stored", and the corresponding preprocessed status is "pre-outbound" (that is, the storage location where an item has been stored can subsequently be used as the target storage location for the outbound task. Therefore, in the state rotation, the preprocessed status corresponding to the "stored" status is "pre-outbound"); for the outbound task, its processed status is "idle", and the corresponding preprocessed status is "pre-inbound" (that is, an idle storage location can subsequently be used as the target storage location for the inbound task. Therefore, in the state rotation, the preprocessed status corresponding to the "idle" status is "pre-inbound").

[0103] In some embodiments, for the inbound task, if there is a storage location with a "pre-outbound" status in the direction of the first end of the target storage location in the target row, update the status of the storage location with the "pre-outbound" status that is closest to the first end to the "stored" status, and update the status of the target storage location to the "pre-outbound" status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0104] In some embodiments, for the outbound task, if there is a storage location with a "pre-inbound" status in the direction of the first end of the target storage location in the target row, update the status of the storage location with the "pre-inbound" status that is closest to the second end to the "idle" status, and update the status of the target storage location to the "pre-inbound" status, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0105] In step 555, the task ends.

[0106] Through the method in the embodiments shown above, when the outbound and inbound tasks are simultaneously executed for the same target row, considering that the inbound and outbound operations may affect each other, after each task is completed, the status of the storage locations is updated according to the status of each storage location in the row, so that the recorded status of the storage locations matches the actual situation, improving the reliability of the status record. Furthermore, the inbound and outbound plans for the same row can be executed synchronously without waiting, improving the flexibility of warehouse management and the efficiency of warehouse scheduling.

[0107] In some embodiments, the inbound and outbound process can be as Figure 6A shown in -H. The data and positions in the embodiments are only examples and do not constitute an improper limitation to this application.

[0108] (1) Row locking link: According to the material + batch number information in the inbound plan P3, search for a certain row C that meets the inbound conditions. At the same time, according to the material + batch number information in the outbound plan P4, search for the row that meets the outbound conditions, and also locate to row C. At this time, lock row C as the designated inbound and outbound row for P3 and P4 (according to the system management rules, only goods with the same material + batch number can be stored in the same row, so the materials + batch numbers of P3 and P4 must be the same).

[0109] (2) Inbound task generation phase: Whenever the system receives an inbound request, it locates the storage location c3 with the deepest depth in row C and a storage status of "idle", modifies the storage status of c3 to "pre-inbound", and simultaneously generates an inbound task with the target address being row C (the target address is only accurate to the storage row). The task table after generating all tasks corresponding to plan P3 is shown in Table 3. At this time, the storage statuses of each storage location in row C are as Figure 6A shown.

[0110] Table 3 Task table generated according to plan P3

[0111] Project Number Task Number Material Batch Target Cargo Location P3 T9 ITEM3 BATCH3 C P3 T10 ITEM3 BATCH3 C P3 T11 ITEM3 BATCH3 C

[0112] (3) Outbound task generation phase: Whenever the system receives an outbound request, it locates the storage location c4 with the shallowest depth in row C and a storage status of "stored", modifies the storage status of c4 to "pre-outbound", and simultaneously generates an outbound task with the source address being row C (the source address is only accurate to the storage row). The task table after generating all tasks corresponding to plan P4 is shown in Table 4. At this time, the storage statuses of each storage location in row C are as Figure 6B shown.

[0113] Table 4 Task table generated according to plan P4

[0114] Project Number Task Number Material Batch Source Storage Location P4 T12 ITEM3 BATCH3 C P4 T13 ITEM3 BATCH3 C P4 T14 ITEM3 BATCH3 C

[0115] (4) Equipment execution of inbound task phase: As Figure 6C shown, whenever the stacker crane executes an inbound task (any one of T9 - T11), after picking up goods from the inbound platform and arriving at the entrance of row C, the system searches for the storage location with the deepest depth in row C and a storage status of "pre-inbound" (max(PRE_IN)) as the actual inbound storage location c3, and modifies the storage status of c3 to "awaiting inbound"; as Figure 6D shown, after the stacker crane places the goods at c3, modify the storage status of c3 to "stored". At this time, traverse the storage statuses of storage locations with a greater depth than c3:

[0116] ① If there is no storage location with a storage status of "pre-outbound" in row C, then this task ends;

[0117] ② If there is a storage location with a storage status of "pre-outbound" in row C, then locate the storage location c6 with the deepest depth in row C and a storage status of "pre-outbound", as Figure 6E shown, modify the storage status of c6 to "stored", modify the storage status of c3 to "pre-outbound", and this task ends.

[0118] (5) Equipment execution of outbound task phase: As Figure 6FAs shown, whenever the stacker executes an outbound task (any one of T12 - T14) and reaches the C - row port, the system searches for the storage location with the smallest depth in row C and a storage location status of "pre - outbound" (min(PRE_OUT)) as the actual outbound storage location c4, and modifies the storage location status of c4 to "to - be - outbound"; if Figure 6G As shown, after the stacker picks up the goods from c4, modify the storage location status of c4 to "idle". At this time, traverse the storage location statuses of storage locations with a smaller depth than c4:

[0119] ① If there is no storage location with a storage location status of "pre - inbound" in row C, then this task ends;

[0120] ② If there is a storage location with a storage location status of "pre - inbound" in row C, then find the storage location c1 with the smallest depth in row C and a storage location status of "pre - inbound", as Figure 6H shown, modify the storage location status of c1 to "idle", modify the storage location status of c4 to "pre - inbound", and this task ends.

[0121] Through the method in the above - shown embodiments, it is possible to allow the situation where the target rows of outbound and inbound operations are the same, make the recorded storage location status match the actual situation, improve the reliability of status recording, improve the flexibility of warehouse management, and improve the efficiency of warehouse scheduling.

[0122] In some embodiments, after the storage location with the to - be - processed status corresponding to the task has been determined, in order to further improve the robustness of the system and the efficiency of warehouse operation, the flowchart of some embodiments of the warehouse management method of the present disclosure is as Figure 7 shown. In this embodiment, since the task needs to be recycled (or cancelled) due to an exception, the exception of the task can be discovered and determined in any manner according to the related art.

[0123] In step 761, determine whether the task to be recycled is in the pre - processing state. In some embodiments, it can be determined whether it is in the pre - processing state according to the storage location information corresponding to the information of the task to be recycled. If the task only corresponds to the target row but the target storage location has not been determined, then the task is in the pre - processing state; if the to - be - processed state has been determined for the task, then the task is in the pre - processing state. If the task to be recycled is in the pre - processing state, then execute step 762; otherwise, execute step 764.

[0124] In step 762, determine the candidate storage location to be cancelled according to the pre - processing state corresponding to the task to be recycled.

[0125] In some embodiments, according to the inbound task to be recycled, among the candidate storage locations in the pre - inbound state, select the candidate storage location closest to the second end as the candidate storage location to be cancelled, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0126] In some embodiments, according to the outbound task to be recycled, among the candidate storage locations in the pre-outbound state, the candidate storage location closest to the first end is selected as the candidate storage location to be cancelled, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

[0127] In step 763, the task to be recycled is deleted, and the status of the candidate storage location to be cancelled is updated to the corresponding completed processing status.

[0128] In some embodiments, the inbound task to be recycled is deleted, and the status of the candidate storage location to be cancelled is updated to the idle state.

[0129] In some embodiments, the outbound task to be recycled is deleted, and the status of the candidate storage location to be cancelled is updated to the stored state.

[0130] In step 764, the target storage location in the to-be-processed state is determined according to the task to be recycled, and then step 765 is executed. In some embodiments, the target storage location in the to-be-inbound state is determined according to the inbound task to be recycled. In some embodiments, the target storage location in the to-be-outbound state is determined according to the outbound task to be recycled.

[0131] In step 765, other storage locations in the target row are traversed. In some embodiments, the traversal direction is two-way starting from the above-mentioned target storage location. In some embodiments, for the inbound task, the traversal direction is from the target storage location to the second end; for the outbound task, the traversal direction is from the target storage location to the first end.

[0132] In step 766, it is judged whether there is a storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state in the target row. If there is a storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state in the target row, step 768 is executed; if there is no storage location in the corresponding preprocessing state in the target row, step 767 is executed.

[0133] In some embodiments, for the inbound task, the corresponding preprocessing state is the pre-inbound state; for the outbound task, the corresponding preprocessing state is the pre-outbound state.

[0134] In step 767, the target storage location is updated to the corresponding completed processing status. In some embodiments, for the inbound task, the corresponding completed processing status is the idle state (that is, the storage location released after the inbound task is cancelled should be in the idle state); for the outbound task, the corresponding completed processing status is the stored state (that is, the storage location released after the outbound task is cancelled should be in the stored state).

[0135] In step 768, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the corresponding preprocessing state in the corresponding order, update the state of the storage location to be updated to the corresponding completed processing state, and update the state of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing state.

[0136] In some embodiments, for the inbound task, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the pre-inbound state in the order from the second end to the first end, update the state of the storage location to be updated to the idle state, and update the state of the target storage location to the pre-inbound state.

[0137] In some embodiments, for the outbound task, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the pre-outbound state in the order from the first end to the second end, update the state of the storage location to be updated to the stored state, and update the state of the target storage location to the pre-outbound state.

[0138] Based on the method in the embodiments shown above, in addition to the tasks in the preprocessing state being able to be efficiently withdrawn without affecting the execution of subsequent tasks and improving the task processing efficiency, the tasks for which the target storage locations have been determined can also be withdrawn, and there will be no waste of storage locations or obstruction of the normal progress of subsequent tasks, which improves the flexibility and reliability of warehouse management and ensures the execution efficiency of tasks.

[0139] In some embodiments, the recovery of the inbound task T1 can be as Figure 8A shown in -D. The data and locations in the embodiments are only examples and do not constitute an undue limitation to this application.

[0140] (1) If the task T1 to be recovered has not been assigned a specific storage location: According to the storage location row D corresponding to T1, change the storage location state of the storage location d1 with the smallest depth in row D and the storage location state of "pre-inbound" to "idle", and at the same time delete T1.

[0141] (2) If the task T2 to be recovered has been assigned a specific storage location d2 (the stacker has reached the D-row port, and at this time the storage location state of d2 is "awaiting inbound"), according to the storage location row D corresponding to T2, traverse the storage location states of row D:

[0142] 1) As Figure 8A shown, if there is no storage location with the storage location state of "pre-inbound" in row D, change the storage location state of d2 to "idle", as Figure 8B shown, and at the same time delete T2.

[0143] 2) As Figure 8C shown, if there is a storage location with the storage location state of "pre-inbound" in row D, find the storage location d3 with the smallest depth and the storage location state of "pre-inbound" in row D, change the storage location state of d2 to "pre-inbound", change the storage location state of d3 to "idle", as Figure 8D shown, and at the same time delete T2.

[0144] In some embodiments, the recycling for the outbound task T3 can be as Figure 9A shown in -D. The data and positions in the embodiments are only examples and do not constitute improper limitations to this application.

[0145] (1) The task T3 to be recycled has not been assigned a specific storage location: According to the storage location row E corresponding to T3, change the storage location status of the storage location e1 with the maximum depth in row E and the storage location status of "pre-outbound" to "stored", and at the same time delete T3.

[0146] (2) The task T4 to be recycled has been assigned a specific storage location e2 (the stacker has reached the row opening, and at this time the storage location status of e2 is "awaiting outbound"). According to the storage location row E corresponding to T4, traverse the storage location status of row E.

[0147] 1) As Figure 9A shown, if there is no storage location with the storage location status of "pre-outbound" in row E, change the storage location status of e2 to "stored", and at the same time delete T4, as Figure 9B shown;

[0148] 2) As Figure 9C shown, if there is a storage location with the storage location status of "pre-outbound" in row E, find the storage location e3 with the maximum depth in row E and the storage location status of "pre-outbound", change the storage location status of e2 to "pre-outbound", change the storage location status of e3 to "stored", and at the same time delete T4, as Figure 9D shown.

[0149] Based on the method in the above embodiments, the accurate rollback of information such as the storage location status is realized during task recycling, solving the problems that the warehouse storage location allocation strategy and task recycling mechanism are single and fixed, unable to effectively utilize the warehouse space resources, and unable to ensure the continuity and stability of the inbound and outbound business processes, and greatly improving the inbound and outbound efficiency of the warehouse and the utilization rate of the warehouse space.

[0150] A schematic diagram of some embodiments of the warehouse management system 1010 of the present disclosure is as Figure 10 shown.

[0151] The row determination unit 1011 can determine a target row in the storage space according to the information of the items corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan. The items stored in each row of the storage space are the same. In some embodiments, the types and models of the items are the same. In some embodiments, the batches of the items stored in each row of the storage space are also the same, so as to manage the inbound and outbound of items and the item information in units of rows, and improve the efficiency of item inbound and outbound. In some embodiments, if the inbound and outbound plan is an inbound plan, the row determination unit 1011 determines, according to the information of the items in the inbound plan, the row where the stored items are the same as the items planned to be stored, or the row where all storage locations are in an idle state, as the target row. In some embodiments, if the inbound and outbound plan is an outbound plan, the row determination unit 1011 determines, according to the information of the items in the outbound plan, the row where the stored items are the same as the items planned to be shipped out, as the target row.

[0152] The task generation unit 1012 can determine candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound request, update the status of the candidate storage locations to the preprocessing status, and generate the information of the inbound and outbound task according to the inbound and outbound request, where the preprocessing status includes the pre-outbound status or the pre-inbound status, and the inbound and outbound task information includes the identifier of the task and the identifier of the target row. In some embodiments, the task generation unit 1012 can execute the method in any one of the above steps S22, 32, 42.

[0153] The task execution unit 1013 can determine the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing status according to the status of each storage location in the target row, and update the status of the target storage location to the to-be-processed status, where the to-be-processed status includes the to-be-inbound status or the to-be-outbound status. Further, after determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, the task execution unit 1013 updates the status of the target storage location to the completed processing status, where the completed processing status includes the idle status or the stored status. In some embodiments, the task execution unit 1013 can execute the method in any one of the above steps S23-S24, 33-34, 43-44.

[0154] Such a warehousing management system can add a preprocessing status in warehousing management, determine the row corresponding to the task to be executed, can reduce the waste of storage locations or task interruption caused by certain business exceptions, timely adjust the storage locations corresponding to the tasks, and improve the flexibility and robustness of the inbound and outbound of the warehousing system.

[0155] In some embodiments, when the task execution unit 1013 is also capable of performing warehousing and outwarehousing operations synchronously in the same row, after modifying the status of the target storage location to the processed status, it traverses the statuses of each storage location in the target direction of the target row at the target storage location; if there is no storage location with the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status in the target direction of the target row at the target storage location, the task ends; if there is a storage location with the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status in the target direction of the target row at the target storage location, it updates the status of the storage location with the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status that is the farthest away in the target direction to the processed status, and updates the status of the target storage location to the preprocessing status corresponding to the processed status.

[0156] For a warehousing management system that performs outwarehousing and warehousing tasks simultaneously for the same target row, considering that the warehousing and outwarehousing operations may affect each other, after each task is completed, the status of the storage location is updated according to the status of each storage location in the row, so that the recorded storage location status matches the actual situation, improving the reliability of status recording. Furthermore, the in-out warehouse plans for the same row can be executed synchronously without waiting, improving the flexibility of warehousing management and the efficiency of warehousing scheduling.

[0157] In some embodiments, as Figure 10 shown, the warehousing management system further includes a first task recovery unit 1014, which can determine candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing status corresponding to the task to be recovered, and then delete the task to be recovered and update the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing status. Such a warehousing management system can process abnormal tasks in a timely manner, avoid affecting the execution of subsequent tasks, and improve the robustness of the system.

[0158] In some embodiments, as Figure 10 shown, the warehousing management system further includes a second task recovery unit 1015, which can, when the task to be recovered has been assigned a target storage location, determine the target storage location with the to-be-processed status according to the task to be recovered; traverse the other storage locations of the target row; if there is no storage location with the corresponding preprocessing status in the target row, update the target storage location to the corresponding completed processing status; if there is a storage location with the corresponding preprocessing status in the target row, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations with the corresponding preprocessing status in the corresponding order, update the status of the storage location to be updated to the corresponding completed processing status, and update the status of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing status. Further, delete the task to be recovered.

[0159] In such a warehousing management system, a task for which the target storage location has been determined can also be withdrawn, and there will be no waste of storage locations or situations that hinder the normal progress of subsequent tasks, improving the flexibility and reliability of warehousing management and ensuring the execution efficiency of tasks.

[0160] The structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure's warehousing management system is as follows Figure 11 shown. The warehousing management system includes a memory 1101 and a processor 1102. Among them: The memory 1101 can be a magnetic disk, a flash memory, or any other non-volatile storage medium. The memory is used to store the instructions in the corresponding embodiment of the warehousing management method described above. The processor 1102 is coupled to the memory 1101 and can be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as a microprocessor or a microcontroller. The processor 1102 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory, which can improve the flexibility and robustness of the warehousing system for inbound and outbound operations.

[0161] In one embodiment, it can also be as follows Figure 12 shown. The warehousing management system 1200 includes a memory 1201 and a processor 1202. The processor 1202 is coupled to the memory 1201 through the BUS bus 1203. The warehousing management system 1200 can also be connected to an external storage device 1205 through a storage interface 1204 to call external data, and can also be connected to a network or another computer system (not shown) through a network interface 1206. Details are not described here.

[0162] In this embodiment, by storing data instructions in the memory and then processing the above instructions through the processor, the flexibility and robustness of the warehousing system for inbound and outbound operations can be improved.

[0163] In another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium stores computer program instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the method in the corresponding embodiment of the warehousing management method are implemented. Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be provided as a method, a device, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present disclosure can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present disclosure can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk memories, CD-ROMs, optical memories, etc.) containing computer-usable program codes.

[0164] The schematic diagrams of some embodiments of the warehousing system 1300 of the present disclosure are as follows Figure 13 shown.

[0165] The upper-level system 1320 can issue inbound and outbound plans to the warehousing management system.

[0166] The warehousing management system 1310 can be any one of those mentioned above and can send task instructions to the warehousing control system.

[0167] The warehousing control system 1330 can control the stacker to work according to the task instructions and feedback the execution results to the warehousing management system.

[0168] Such a warehousing system adds a preprocessing status in warehousing management, determines the rows corresponding to the tasks to be executed, can reduce the waste of storage locations or task interruptions caused by certain business anomalies, timely adjust the storage locations corresponding to the tasks, and improve the flexibility and robustness of the warehousing system for inbound and outbound operations.

[0169] In some embodiments, as Figure 13 shown, the warehousing system 1300 further includes a stacker 1340, which can execute tasks according to the control of the warehousing control system and feedback the execution results to the warehousing control system. Such a warehousing system can facilitate the scheduling of the stacker's work and timely determine the task execution status of the stacker, thereby improving the reliability of the warehousing system.

[0170] In some embodiments, the cooperation work process of each part in the warehousing system is as follows.

[0171] (1) The warehousing management system generates corresponding inbound and outbound tasks according to the inbound and outbound plans issued by the upper-level system and modifies the status of specific storage locations.

[0172] (2) The warehousing management system distributes the inbound and outbound tasks to the warehousing control system.

[0173] (3) When the stacker is in an idle state, it sends a request to the warehousing control system. The warehousing control system selects an inbound and outbound task from the task list and binds the stacker, and the stacker starts to execute the task.

[0174] (4) The stacker interacts with the warehousing control system at specific nodes during the execution of the inbound and outbound tasks to complete the actions of picking up and placing goods. At the same time, the warehousing control system interacts with the warehousing management system to complete the dynamic update of relevant storage location information.

[0175] (5) The stacker completes the inbound and outbound tasks and feedbacks the task completion status to the warehousing control system.

[0176] (6) The warehousing control system receives the feedback information from the stacker, updates the relevant information, and feedbacks the task-related information to the warehousing management system.

[0177] (7) The warehousing management system updates the relevant task and status information according to the information feedback by the warehousing control system.

[0178] The warehousing management system adopted in the above process is any one of the present disclosure. The warehousing system of the present disclosure provides a method for allocating storage locations during the inbound and outbound processes under intensive automated warehousing. Combining the characteristics of the shuttle rack with a stackable storage structure, the concepts of "pre-inbound" and "pre-outbound" are introduced, realizing the dynamic allocation of specific storage locations in a single storage location row in an automated intensive warehouse and the function of simultaneous inbound and outbound, and accurately rolling back information such as the storage location status during task recovery, solving the problems in the related art that the warehouse storage location allocation strategy and task recovery mechanism are single and fixed, unable to effectively utilize the warehousing space resources, and unable to ensure the continuity and stability of the inbound and outbound business processes, and greatly improving the warehousing inbound and outbound efficiency and the utilization rate of warehousing space.

[0179] The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each process and / or block in the flowchart and / or block diagram, and the combination of processes and / or blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing devices to generate a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing devices generate a device for realizing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram.

[0180] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory generate a manufactured article including an instruction device, and the instruction device realizes the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram.

[0181] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, so that a series of operation steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to generate a computer-implemented process, and thus the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for realizing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram.

[0182] So far, the present disclosure has been described in detail. To avoid obscuring the concept of the present disclosure, some details known in the art have not been described. Those skilled in the art can fully understand how to implement the technical solutions disclosed herein based on the above description.

[0183] The methods and apparatuses of the present disclosure may be implemented in many ways. For example, the methods and apparatuses of the present disclosure may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. The above order of steps for the methods is for illustration only, and the steps of the methods of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific order described above, unless otherwise specifically stated. In addition, in some embodiments, the present disclosure may also be implemented as a program recorded in a recording medium, and these programs include machine-readable instructions for implementing the methods according to the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure also covers a recording medium storing a program for executing the methods according to the present disclosure.

[0184] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure and not to limit them; although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that it is still possible to modify the specific implementation manners of the present disclosure or perform equivalent replacements for some technical features; without departing from the spirit of the technical solutions of the present disclosure, they should all be covered within the scope of the technical solutions claimed by the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A warehousing management method, comprising: Determining a target row in the warehousing space according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan; Determining candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound request, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to the preprocessing status, and generating the information of the inbound and outbound task according to the inbound and outbound request, wherein the preprocessing status includes the pre-outbound status or the pre-inbound status, and the information of the inbound and outbound task includes the identifier of the task and the identifier of the target row; Determining the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing status according to the status of each storage location in the target row, and updating the status of the target storage location to the to-be-processed status, wherein the to-be-processed status includes the to-be-inbound status or the to-be-outbound status; After determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to the completed processing status, wherein the completed processing status includes the idle status or the stored status; Determining candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing status corresponding to the task to be recycled; Deleting the task to be recycled and updating the status of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing status.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The number of the candidate storage locations matches the number of the inbound and outbound tasks.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The determining a target row in the warehousing space according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan includes at least one of the following: Determining, according to the information of the item in the inbound plan, the row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be stored, or the row where all storage locations are in the idle status, as the target row; or Determining, according to the information of the item in the outbound plan, the row where the stored item is the same as the item planned to be out of storage, as the target row.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The determining candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound request, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to the preprocessing status, and generating the information of the inbound and outbound task according to the inbound and outbound request includes at least one of the following: According to the inbound request, selecting, in the target row in the order from the first end to the second end, consecutive idle-status storage locations with the same quantity as the inbound request quantity as the candidate storage locations, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to the pre-inbound status, and generating the information of the inbound task according to the inbound request; or According to the outbound request, selecting, in the target row in the order from the second end to the first end, consecutive stored-status storage locations with the same quantity as the inbound request quantity as the candidate storage locations, updating the status of the candidate storage locations to the pre-outbound status, and generating the information of the outbound task according to the outbound request, wherein the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The determining the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing status according to the status of each storage location in the target row, and updating the status of the target storage location to the to-be-processed status includes at least one of the following: According to the status of each storage location in the target row, determining the target storage location corresponding to the inbound task in the pre-inbound status storage locations in the order from the first end to the second end, and updating the status of the target storage location to the to-be-inbound status; or According to the status of each storage location in the target row, among the storage locations in the pre-outbound status, determine the target storage location corresponding to the outbound task in the order from the second end to the first end, and update the status of the target storage location to the to-be-outbound status. Wherein, the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, After determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, updating the status of the target storage location to the completed processing status includes at least one of the following: After determining that the inbound task is completed, update the status of the target storage location to the stored status; or After determining that the outbound task is completed, update the status of the target storage location to the idle status.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein Determining the candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing status corresponding to the task to be recycled includes at least one of the following: According to the inbound task to be recycled, among the candidate storage locations in the pre-inbound status, select the candidate storage location closest to the second end as the candidate storage location to be cancelled; or According to the outbound task to be recycled, among the candidate storage locations in the pre-outbound status, select the candidate storage location closest to the first end as the candidate storage location to be cancelled. Wherein, the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Deleting the task to be recycled and updating the status of the candidate storage location to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing status includes: Delete the inbound task to be recycled and update the status of the candidate storage location to be cancelled to the idle status; Delete the outbound task to be recycled and update the status of the candidate storage location to be cancelled to the stored status.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine the target storage location in the to-be-processed status according to the task to be recycled; Traverse the other storage locations in the target row; If there is no storage location in the target row with the corresponding preprocessing status, update the target storage location to the corresponding completed processing status; If there is a storage location in the target row with the corresponding preprocessing status, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the corresponding preprocessing status in the corresponding order, update the status of the storage location to be updated to the corresponding completed processing status, and update the status of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing status, wherein the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; Further comprising: Delete the task to be recycled.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine the target storage location in the to-be-inbound status according to the inbound task to be recycled; Traverse the other storage locations in the target row; If there is no storage location in the target row in the pre-inbound status, update the target storage location to the idle status; If there is a storage location in the target row in the pre-inbound status, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the pre-inbound status in the order from the second end to the first end, update the status of the storage location to be updated to the idle status, and update the status of the target storage location to the pre-inbound status, wherein the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; Further comprising: Delete the inbound task to be recycled.

11. The method according to claim 1 further includes: Determining a target storage location in the to-be-outbound state according to the outbound task to be recycled; Traversing other storage locations in the target row; If there is no storage location in the pre-outbound state in the target row, updating the target storage location to the stored state; If there is a storage location in the pre-outbound state in the target row, determining the storage location to be updated from the storage locations in the pre-outbound state in the order from the first end to the second end, updating the state of the storage location to be updated to the stored state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the pre-outbound state, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; Further includes: Deleting the outbound task to be recycled.

12. The method according to claim 1 further includes: In the case where the target row determined according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, After modifying the state of the target storage location to the processed state, traversing the states of each storage location in the target direction of the target storage location in the target row; If there is no storage location in the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state in the target direction of the target row, the task ends; If there is a storage location in the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state in the target direction of the target row, updating the state of the storage location in the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state that is the farthest from the target direction to the processed state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state.

13. The method according to claim 1 further includes: In the case where the target row determined according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, for the inbound task, After modifying the state of the target storage location to the stored state, traversing the states of each storage location in the first end direction of the target storage location in the target row; If there is no storage location in the pre-outbound state in the first end direction of the target row, the task ends; If there is a storage location in the pre-outbound state in the first end direction of the target row, updating the state of the storage location in the pre-outbound state that is the closest to the first end to the stored state, and updating the state of the target storage location to the pre-outbound state, where the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

14. The method according to claim 1 further includes: In the case where the target row determined according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, for the outbound task, After modifying the state of the target storage location to the idle state, traversing the states of each storage location in the second end direction of the target storage location in the target row; If there is no storage location in the pre-inbound state in the second end direction of the target row, the task ends; If the target row has a storage location in the pre-inventory state in the direction of the first end of the target storage location, update the state of the storage location in the pre-inventory state that is closest to the second end to the idle state, and update the state of the target storage location to the pre-inventory state. Wherein, the second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row.

15. A warehouse management system, comprising: A row determination unit configured to determine a target row in the warehouse space according to the information of the item corresponding to the inbound and outbound plan; A task generation unit configured to determine candidate storage locations in the target row according to the inbound and outbound request, update the state of the candidate storage locations to the preprocessing state, and generate information of the inbound and outbound task according to the inbound and outbound request, wherein the preprocessing state includes the pre-outbound state or the pre-inventory state, and the inbound and outbound task information includes the identifier of the task and the identifier of the target row; A task execution unit configured to determine the target storage location corresponding to the inbound and outbound task among the storage locations in the preprocessing state according to the state of each storage location in the target row, and update the state of the target storage location to the to-be-processed state, wherein the to-be-processed state includes the to-be-inventory state or the to-be-outbound state; after determining that the inbound and outbound task is completed, update the state of the target storage location to the completed processing state, wherein the completed processing state includes the idle state or the stored state; A first task recovery unit configured to determine candidate storage locations to be cancelled according to the preprocessing state corresponding to the task to be recovered; delete the task to be recovered, and update the state of the candidate storage locations to be cancelled to the corresponding completed processing state.

16. The system according to claim 15, further comprising a second task recovery unit configured to: Determine the target storage location in the to-be-processed state according to the task to be recovered; Traverse the other storage locations in the target row; If there is no storage location in the target row in the preprocessing state corresponding to the to-be-processed state, update the target storage location to the corresponding completed processing state; If there is a storage location with a corresponding preprocessing status for the target row, determine the storage location to be updated from the storage locations with the corresponding preprocessing status in the order from the second end to the first end, update the status of the storage location to be updated to the corresponding completed processing status, and update the status of the target storage location to the corresponding preprocessing status, where The second end is the end close to the item entrance and exit, and the second end is the opposite end of the first end in the target row; Is further configured to include: Delete the task to be recovered.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein The task execution unit is further configured to: When the target row determined by the row determination unit according to the inbound plan is the same as the target row determined according to the outbound plan, After modifying the state of the target storage location to the processed state, traverse the states of each storage location in the target direction of the target storage location in the target row; If there is no storage location in the target direction of the target row in the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state, the task ends; If there is a storage location in the target direction of the target row in the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state, update the state of the storage location in the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state that is the farthest in the target direction to the processed state, and update the state of the target storage location to the preprocessing state corresponding to the processed state.

18. A warehouse management system, comprising: A memory; And A processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 based on instructions stored in the memory.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

20. A warehousing system, comprising: An upper-level system configured to issue a warehousing plan to a warehousing management system; The warehousing management system according to any one of claims 15 to 18, configured to send a task instruction to a warehousing control system; The warehousing control system configured to control the operation of a stacker according to the task instruction and feedback the execution result to the warehousing management system.

21. The warehousing system according to claim 20, further comprising: A stacker configured to execute a task according to the control of the warehousing control system and feedback the execution result to the warehousing control system.

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