Pending order processing method, pending order processing device, control device, computer-readable storage medium and computer program product

Abstract

A pending order processing method, device, equipment, and storage medium applied to a smart warehouse system (100). The method includes the steps of receiving an acceptance request for a target order (130), which is an order that was held when the order holding process was executed on a second workbench (120), and determining a first workbench (110) corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, determining a processing policy for the target order based on the state of the target order when it was held on the second workbench, and completing the target order on the first workbench based on the processing policy. This pending order processing method solves the problem that an order task cannot be completed without delay after the order is held on hold.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on May 13, 2022, application number 202210521115.X, entitled "Pending order processing method, device, apparatus, and storage medium," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of smart warehouses, and in particular to a method, apparatus, device and storage medium for processing pending orders. [Background technology]

[0003] Warehouse systems based on warehouse robots adopt smart operation systems to realize automatic retrieval of goods according to system commands, and can operate continuously 24 hours a day, replacing human management and operation to improve warehouse efficiency, so they are widely used and popular. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the current warehouse system, the smart warehouse system generates a shipping order, and the warehouse robot transports the items corresponding to the order to the workbench, thereby executing the shipping. However, in actual operation, the order may be put on hold, i.e., the execution of the task corresponding to the order may be temporarily suspended due to reasons such as shortage of goods, work termination, or workbench failure. This leads to problems such as the warehouse system being unable to complete the assigned order task without delay, and the items corresponding to the put-on order not being effectively managed, which in turn seriously affects the shipping efficiency.

[0005] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a pending order processing method, device, apparatus and storage medium to solve the problem that the order task cannot be completed in time after the order is put on hold. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] As a first aspect, a pending order processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure is a pending order processing method applied to a smart warehouse system, and includes the steps of receiving an acceptance request for a target order, which is an order that is on hold when order holding processing is executed on a second workbench, and determining a first workbench corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, determining a processing policy for the target order based on the state of the target order when it was on hold on the second workbench, and completing the target order on the first workbench based on the processing policy.

[0007] Optionally, the acceptance request is a request sent from the first work station based on an acceptance device at the first work station scanning an identification code of the order box.

[0008] Optionally, prior to the step of receiving an acceptance request for the target order and determining a first work bench corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, the method further includes the steps of determining at least one order corresponding to the order hold request in response to a received order hold request from a second work bench, the order hold request requesting to temporarily suspend processing of at least one order including the target order, and determining a processing policy of an operation box associated with the at least one order based on a state of each order when held at the second work bench.

[0009] Optionally, the step of determining at least one order corresponding to the order hold request in response to the received order hold request from the second work bench includes a step of determining, if an order of the first type that is out of stock exists on the second work bench corresponding to the order hold request, the orders of the first type as at least one order corresponding to the order hold request; and a step of determining all uncompleted orders corresponding to the second work bench as at least one order corresponding to the order hold request if an order that is out of stock exists on the second work bench corresponding to the order hold request; and / or a step of determining, in response to first instruction information of the second work bench, the orders specified in the first instruction information as at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0010] Optionally, the step of determining a processing policy for an operation box associated with at least one order based on a state of each order when held at the second workbench includes a step of determining a first processing policy for an order box based on a loading state of the order box associated with each order, and a step of determining a second processing policy for a container based on a fulfillment state of the container associated with each order.

[0011] Optionally, the step of determining a first processing policy for the order box based on the loading status of the order box associated with each order includes a step of determining, when the order box already contains picked items, the first processing policy to cancel the binding relationship between the order box and the container transport task, the binding relationship between the order box and the second workbench, and the binding relationship between the order box and the sorting position.

[0012] Optionally, the step of determining a second processing policy for the container based on the execution status of the container associated with each order includes a step of determining the second processing policy to cancel the outbound task for the container when the container is not bound to a warehouse robot or is not contained in the bound warehouse robot; a step of determining the second processing policy to instruct the warehouse robot to perform a process of returning the container to the warehouse when the container is contained in the bound warehouse robot but has not been transported to the work bench; and a step of determining the second processing policy to instruct the warehouse robot to perform a process of returning the container to the warehouse or instruct the work bench to perform a temporary storage process for the container when the bound warehouse robot has already transported to the work bench.

[0013] Optionally, after the step of determining at least one order corresponding to the order holding request in response to the received order holding request from the second workbench, the method further includes the steps of: if the at least one order corresponding to the order holding request is all of a first type of order that is in a shortage state, determining that the second workbench corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation possible state; and if there are no first type of orders that are in a shortage state on the second workbench, determining that the second workbench corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation impossible state.

[0014] Optionally, determining a processing policy for the target order based on a state of the target order when it was held at the second workbench includes determining a processing policy for the target order based on a degree of completion of the order when it was held at the second workbench to generate an order task related to the target order based on an uncompleted quantity of the target order.

[0015] As a second aspect, a pending order processing device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure is a pending order processing device applied to a smart warehouse system, and includes: a receiving module that receives an acceptance request for a target order, which is an order that is on hold when an order holding process is executed on a second workbench, and determines a first workbench corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request; a determination module that determines a processing policy for the target order based on the state of the target order when it was on hold on the second workbench; and a processing module that completes the target order on the first workbench based on the processing policy.

[0016] Optionally, in the receiving module, the acceptance request is a request sent from the first work station based on an acceptance device of the first work station scanning an identification code of the order box.

[0017] Optionally, before receiving an acceptance request for the target order and determining a first work bench corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, the decision module further determines at least one order corresponding to the order hold request in response to an order hold request received from a second work bench, the order hold request being for requesting to temporarily suspend processing of at least one order including the target order, and determines a processing policy of an operation box associated with the at least one order based on a state of each order when held at the second work bench.

[0018] Optionally, the determination module specifically determines, when a first type of order that is out of stock exists on the second work bench corresponding to the order hold request, the orders of the first type to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request; when no orders that are out of stock exist on the second work bench corresponding to the order hold request, determines all uncompleted orders corresponding to the second work bench to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request; and / or, in response to first instruction information of the second work bench, determines the orders specified in the first instruction information to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0019] Optionally, the determination module specifically determines a first processing policy for the order box based on the input status of the order box associated with each order, and determines a second processing policy for the container based on the execution status of the container associated with each order.

[0020] Optionally, the decision module specifically decides that when the order box already contains picked items, the first processing policy is to cancel the binding relationship between the order box and the container transport task, the binding relationship between the order box and the second workbench, and the binding relationship between the order box and the sorting position.

[0021] Optionally, the decision module specifically determines the second processing policy to be to cancel the outbound task for the container when the container is not bound to a warehouse robot or is not contained in the bound warehouse robot, determines the second processing policy to be to instruct the warehouse robot to perform a process of returning the container to the warehouse when the container is contained in the bound warehouse robot but has not been transported to the work bench, and determines the second processing policy to be to instruct the warehouse robot to perform a process of returning the container to the warehouse or to instruct the work bench to perform a temporary storage process for the container when the container has already been transported to the work bench by the bound warehouse robot.

[0022] Optionally, the decision module further determines that the second worktable corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation possible state if at least one order corresponding to the order holding request is all of a first type of order that is out of stock, and determines that the second worktable corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation impossible state if there are no orders of the first type that are out of stock on the second worktable.

[0023] Optionally, the decision module specifically determines a processing policy for the target order based on the degree of completion of the order when the target order is held at the second workbench, to generate an order task related to the target order based on an uncompleted quantity of the target order.

[0024] As a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a control device including at least one processor and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the control device to perform the pending order processing method of the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0025] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, result in the pending order processing method of the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0026] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer program product including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, realise the pending order processing method of the first aspect of the present disclosure. Effect of the Invention

[0027] The pending order processing method, device, equipment, system, and storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure receive an acceptance request for a target order, determine a first work station corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, and then determine a processing policy for the target order based on the state when the target order was reserved at the second work station. Then, the target order is completed at the first work station based on the processing policy. This allows the first work station to accept and process an order whose processing has been suspended due to the order being reserved without delay, effectively solving the problem that order tasks cannot be completed without delay after the order is reserved. In addition, since the corresponding processing policy can be adjusted based on the state when the target order was reserved, the items of the reserved order can be processed without delay according to an appropriate processing policy, effectively improving the management effect of the items corresponding to the reserved order and improving the processing efficiency of the reserved order. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0028] The following drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0029] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a diagram of an application scenario of the pending order processing method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for processing a pending order provided in one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3a] FIG. 3a is a flow chart of a method for processing a pending order provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3b] FIG. 3b is a schematic diagram of a relationship between an order reservation request and a corresponding order provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for processing a pending order provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for processing a pending order provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a pending order processing apparatus provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a control device provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] The above figures show clear examples of the present disclosure, which will now be described in more detail. These drawings and written description are not intended to limit the scope of the concepts of the present disclosure in any way, but rather to explain the concepts of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art by reference to specific examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. When referring to the drawings in the following description, the same numerals in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements unless otherwise stated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not representative of all embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure as detailed in the claims.

[0032] The following specific examples are used to describe in detail the technical scheme of the present disclosure and how the technical scheme of the present disclosure solves the above technical problems. The following specific examples can be combined with each other. The same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some examples. The following examples are described in detail in conjunction with the drawings.

[0033] When a smart warehouse system processes a pending order, it is necessary to transport a container from a warehouse stock to a workbench, pick the target luggage corresponding to the order from inside the container at the workbench, and then perform a warehousing process for the luggage. However, in actual operations, a situation may occur in which picking of the order cannot be continued and completed due to a shortage of items in the order, a breakdown of the workbench, or the termination of the workbench. In this case, by performing an order reservation process for the order at the workbench, the order with the problem can be reserved and the processing of the order can be temporarily suspended. However, the reserved order usually needs to wait until the manager manually performs subsequent processing. Since manual processing requires a long waiting period and there is no unified and effective management method for the items corresponding to the reserved order, in the case of manual processing, it is necessary to spend time searching for the items corresponding to the reserved order. Therefore, when subsequent processing is performed on the reserved order, a problem occurs that the efficiency of warehousing is seriously affected.

[0034] To solve this problem, the pending order processing method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure automatically determines a corresponding processing policy based on an acceptance request for a pending target order received by the smart warehouse system, thereby enabling the target order to be completed on the first workbench that sent the acceptance request, thereby effectively solving the problem of not being able to complete the pending order without delay.

[0035] First, application scenarios of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

[0036] 1 is a diagram of an application scenario of the pending order processing method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, in the pending order processing flow, the smart warehouse system 100 assigns the target order 130 held on the second worktable 120 to the first worktable 110 based on the acceptance request sent from the first worktable 110, and the first worktable 110 completes the picking and shipping process of the picking-required item 131 corresponding to the target order.

[0037] 1, the case where there is only one first work table, one second work table, one target order, and one item to be picked is described as an example, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. In other words, the number of first work tables, second work tables, target orders, and items to be picked may be arbitrary.

[0038] The pending order processing method provided in the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to specific examples.

[0039] 2 is a flow chart of a pending order processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is applied to an intelligent warehouse system. As shown in FIG. 2, the pending order processing method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0040] Step S201: An acceptance request for a target order is received, and a first workbench corresponding to the target order is determined based on the acceptance request.

[0041] The target order is the order that was put on hold when the hold order operation was executed on the second work station.

[0042] Specifically, the target order is a pending outbound order. When the target order is pending, it is recorded in the server of the smart warehouse system. At this time, in the server, the processing of the target order is temporarily suspended and a workbench for performing the corresponding processing has not yet been set.

[0043] In some embodiments, the order pending state may not be set properly on the server, in which case an order whose execution has been paused may be considered to be in an order pending state.

[0044] The workbench is provided with an interaction device, such as a dedicated tablet computer, that can check the status of the order and the item, and the order can be selected and placed on hold using the interaction device, placing the order in an order-holding state. Also, it is possible to check target orders in an order-holding state, select one or more target orders to accept, and process the target orders at the workbench. Alternatively, an order box corresponding to a target order in an order-holding state can be transported from the second workbench to the first workbench, and information on the order box can be obtained using an acceptance device (e.g., a code scanner, a camera, etc.) at the first workbench to obtain corresponding order information, thereby allowing the target order corresponding to the order box to be accepted at the first workbench.

[0045] When a workbench selects an order to be accepted, it transmits an acceptance request to the server. The acceptance request is used to request the server to assign the outbound order and the corresponding item to the workbench that transmitted the acceptance request, and to carry out the subsequent outbound processing. The workbench that transmitted the acceptance request is the first workbench, and the workbench that has reserved the target order is the second workbench.

[0046] A takeover request can request the taking of multiple pending orders at the same time. For example, if a second work station needs to be taken offline, there may be multiple orders in progress but not completed, and these orders are put on hold at the same time. These pending orders may then be taken up by one or two work stations to complete the processing centrally.

[0047] Step S202: A processing policy for the target order is determined based on the state of the target order when it was held on the second workbench.

[0048] Specifically, the status when the target order is put on hold indicates the execution status when the target order was put on hold and the reason why the order was put on hold. If the target order has not yet been executed, an empty order box on the first workbench can be directly selected and bound to the corresponding target order to perform the shipping process. Since there is no need to transport the order box on the second workbench to the first workbench, the processing efficiency is improved.

[0049] When a target order is put on hold due to a breakdown of the second workbench, the first workbench that accepts the target order can execute subsequent processing by acquiring the order box of the target order at the second workbench and directly acquiring the items that correspond to the target order and have not been picked at the second workbench. However, when the target order is put on hold due to a shortage, it is necessary to confirm whether the missing items corresponding to the target order are in the warehouse, whether replenishment is necessary, and whether replenishment has been completed. Subsequent processing cannot be performed until it is confirmed that the missing items are certainly in the warehouse. Here, shortage refers to the fact that the items brought to the second workbench cannot meet the needs of the target order when the smart warehouse system allocates inventory items to the target order.

[0050] Therefore, by selecting a corresponding processing policy according to the different states of the target order when it is put on hold, the order processing efficiency can be effectively improved and the order can be guaranteed to be completed without delay.

[0051] Step S203: Complete the target order on the first work station according to the processing policy.

[0052] Specifically, after the processing policy is determined, when the warehouse robot needs to transport a container and / or an order box corresponding to the target order based on the processing policy, instruction information is sent to the warehouse robot based on the processing policy, and the warehouse robot transports the items and / or order box required to complete the target order to the first work table, and the worker or robot arm of the first work table picks the items. This avoids problems that would occur if a worker manually searches for items, containers, and order boxes that need to be shipped out, such as searching around for items / containers, difficulty in checking whether there are enough items, or omissions during picking, which would affect the efficiency of picking and shipping. By having the warehouse robot perform the transportation, it is easy to quickly complete the picking and shipping of the target order at the first work table, and processing efficiency is guaranteed.

[0053] The pending order processing method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure receives an acceptance request for a target order, determines a first work station corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, and further determines a processing policy for the target order based on the state of the target order when it was reserved at the second work station. Then, the target order is completed at the first work station based on the processing policy. In this way, an order whose processing has been suspended due to the order being reserved can be accepted at the first work station and processed without delay, effectively solving the problem that an order task cannot be completed without delay after the order is reserved. In addition, since the corresponding processing policy can be adjusted based on the state of the target order when it was reserved, the items of the reserved order can be processed without delay according to an appropriate processing policy, effectively improving the management effect of the items corresponding to the reserved order and improving the processing efficiency of the reserved order.

[0054] 3a is a flowchart of a pending order processing method provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. The pending order processing method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is further subdivided based on the embodiment shown in FIG 2. As shown in FIG 3a, the pending order processing method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0055] Step S301: In response to a received order holding request of a second work station, determine at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0056] An order hold request is used to request that the processing of at least one order be temporarily suspended, including the target order.

[0057] Specifically, the order hold request is a request that the second work station sends to the server via the interaction device, requesting that the processing of at least one order needs to be temporarily suspended. When the server receives the order hold request, it can determine the at least one order in multiple ways. For example, the server displays the currently incomplete orders of the second work station on the interaction device based on the order hold request. Then, based on the selection operation of the worker of the second work station, the server determines at least one order that needs to be held, including the target order.

[0058] Furthermore, a schematic diagram of the relationship between the order reservation request and the corresponding order is shown in Figure 3b. The step of determining at least one order corresponding to the order reservation request includes the following circumstances:

[0059] Step S3011: When there is a first type order in a shortage state on the second workbench corresponding to the order holding request, the first type order is determined as at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0060] Specifically, the first type of order indicates an order that is in a shortage state.

[0061] When an order hold request for the second workbench is received, all orders assigned to the second workbench are identified, and it is determined whether or not a message has been received indicating that a shortage situation has occurred for any one of all the orders, and it is further determined that there is a first type order that is in shortage at the second workbench.

[0062] The information that the order has a shortage can be fed back from the interaction device of the work station to the server, so that the server can check whether there is a first type order in the second work station corresponding to the order hold request according to the order in the message that the shortage has occurred sent from the second work station.

[0063] When an order hold request for a second work station is received and a first type order is present at the second work station, the first type order, which is in a shortage state, is currently unable to continue picking and therefore it is predicted that the order hold request is directed to the first type order, and the first type order is first determined to be the order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0064] Step S3012: If there is no order in shortage on the second worktable corresponding to the order holding request, all incomplete orders corresponding to the second worktable are determined as at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0065] Specifically, if there is no order with shortage on the second workbench, the order hold request on the second workbench means that there is no shortage of items and therefore no need to suspend order processing. In this case, the cause of the order hold may be a breakdown of the second workbench or the termination of order processing.

[0066] If the cause of the order suspension is a breakdown of the second worktable, the second worktable cannot continue to process all the corresponding incomplete orders. Therefore, all the incomplete orders corresponding to the second worktable may be determined as at least one order corresponding to the order suspension request.

[0067] If the reason for the order hold is that the second work station has stopped working, the second work station cannot continue to process the order because the stoppage means that it is time to leave work or to change shifts. Therefore, all the incomplete orders corresponding to the second work station can be determined as at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0068] In some embodiments, the method of determining whether an order is aborted or broken is based on whether the server receives one or more order hold requests within a set time period (e.g., 5 or 10 minutes). If there are at least two order hold requests, it is considered to be a case of abort (since abortion is determined based on time, in this case, there is usually more than one worktable sending an order hold request. Therefore, it can be determined based on the number of order hold requests). If there is only one order hold request, it is considered to be due to a breakdown of the second worktable (worktables generally do not break down at the same time).

[0069] Since the acceptance request is sent from the interaction device of the second work station, if the orders that need to be put on hold are manually selected at this time, a situation may occur in which the orders to be selected are overlooked. Therefore, by automatically determining all the incomplete orders corresponding to the second work station as the orders corresponding to the order hold request, the oversight caused by the manual selection can be effectively avoided, and thus the effective management and timely processing of the held orders can be guaranteed.

[0070] In some embodiments, if the order is suspended due to a failure of the second worktable, a notification message for further maintenance of the second worktable must be sent to the manager immediately. If the order is suspended due to a work interruption, no further processing is required for the second worktable.

[0071] In some embodiments, after steps S3011 and S3012, the determined at least one order may be presented on an interaction device to allow an administrator to recheck and correct the at least one order to ensure accuracy.

[0072] Step S3013: In response to the first instruction information of the second work station, the order specified in the first instruction information is determined as at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0073] The first instruction information is information that is included in the order holding request and is for specifying at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0074] Specifically, at least one order corresponding to the order hold request may be manually selected and determined. The situation in which an order hold request is generated by manual selection may be a situation in which a shortage of goods occurs, a workbench breaks down, a work is stopped, or the like, or a situation in which the task load of a workbench is large, and unprocessed orders waiting in line are put on hold and the server is made to designate a new workbench to process the order.

[0075] At this time, corresponding first instruction information is generated based on at least one manually selected order that needs to be held, and an order hold request is transmitted to the server based on the first instruction information. When the server receives the order hold request including the first instruction information, the server determines the order specified in the first instruction information as the at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0076] Step S3014: If there is a first type order in shortage on a second workbench corresponding to the order hold request, the first type order is determined to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request, and in response to first instruction information on the second workbench, the order specified in the first instruction information is determined to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0077] Specifically, the server may not only receive the first instruction information manually selected and sent by the second worktable, but also receive a message that a shortage has occurred on the second worktable, and determine that there is a first type order in a shortage state on the first worktable. At this time, the server needs to determine the order specified in the first instruction information as the order corresponding to the order hold request, and further, the first type order in a shortage state can also be automatically determined as the order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0078] In some embodiments, there may be overlap between the first type of order and the orders specified in the first instruction information. For example, if the purpose of the first instruction information is to select and hold orders that are experiencing a shortage, automatically selecting the first type of order that is experiencing a shortage can avoid overlooking the selection.

[0079] In some embodiments, there may be a difference between the first type of order and the order specified in the first instruction information. For example, when the purpose of the first instruction information is to select and hold an unprocessed order (e.g., when the task load on the workbench is excessive), there may be no overlap between the first instruction information and the first type of order. In this case, the order specified in the first instruction information and the first type of order may both be determined as orders corresponding to an order hold request, improving processing efficiency (since the first type of order may or may not need to be held, the number of operations can be reduced by setting appropriate rules and automatically selecting the order, thereby improving processing efficiency).

[0080] Step S3015: If there is no order in a shortage state on the second workbench corresponding to the order holding request, all unfinished orders corresponding to the second workbench are determined to be at least one order corresponding to the order holding request, and in response to first instruction information of the second workbench, the order specified in the first instruction information is determined to be at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0081] Specifically, similarly to step S3014, in the case of work interruption or work table failure, the second work table may transmit the first instruction information selected manually. However, at this time, all the incomplete orders corresponding to the second work table usually include the order specified in the first instruction information. Therefore, all the incomplete orders corresponding to the second work table may be determined as at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0082] As can be seen from steps S3011 to S3015, there are various situations in the selection of an order corresponding to an order hold request depending on the difference in the cause of the order hold. When the interaction device of the workbench transmits an order hold request, it does not necessarily select the specific cause of the order hold. In this case, the server can avoid missing an order that should be held by checking the cause of the order hold request based on the related information of the second workbench.

[0083] Furthermore, after determining at least one order corresponding to the order hold request, it is necessary to determine a processing policy of the operation box corresponding to at least one order based on the state of each order when it is held on the second workbench. Please refer to steps S302 to S303.

[0084] Step S302: A first processing policy for the order box is determined based on the input state of the order box associated with each order.

[0085] Specifically, after determining at least one order corresponding to the order hold request, it is necessary to determine a processing policy of an operation box corresponding to at least one order based on the state of each order when it was held on the second workbench. Specifically, the operation box includes an order box and a container, and the processing policies of the two differ when the states of the orders when they are held are different, so it is necessary to determine the processing policies of the order box and the container, respectively.

[0086] The order box is used to hold items picked from a container based on a target order. Therefore, if the order box corresponding to the target order already contains picked items, the order box may continue to be used. If the order box corresponding to the target order does not yet contain any items, a new order box may be randomly selected to correspond to the target order and hold the picked items corresponding to the target order. In this case, there is no need to transport the order box that was bound before the target order was put on hold from the second work table to the first work table.

[0087] Furthermore, if the order box already contains picked items, the first processing policy is determined to cancel the binding relationship between the order box and the container transport task, the binding relationship between the order box and the second workbench, and the binding relationship between the order box and the sorting position.

[0088] Specifically, if the order box already contains picked items, the order box must be moved to the first work table to continue the picking process. (At this time, if the acceptance request from the first work table has not yet been received, the order box is temporarily stored in the sorting position of the second work table and awaits subsequent acceptance processing.)

[0089] At this time, it is first necessary to cancel the transport task related to the order box that has already been assigned to the second workbench, and at the same time cancel the binding relationship between the order box and the second workbench and the sorting position on the second workbench (the sorting position refers to the position corresponding to the workbench where the order box is placed).

[0090] After that, when a request for acceptance for the target order is subsequently received from the first workbench, the order box is moved to the first workbench by manual transport (for example, transport by a worker corresponding to the workbench that sent the acceptance request) or transport by a warehouse robot (a command is sent to the warehouse robot to transport the order box to the sorting position on the first workbench). Then, a binding relationship is established between the order box, the first workbench, and the corresponding sorting position, and picking of the order is continued to be completed.

[0091] Step S303: A second processing policy for the container is determined based on the performance status of the container associated with each order.

[0092] Specifically, the execution status of the container may be one of the following: "The container is still placed on the rack and has not been transported by the warehouse robot," "The container is being transported by the warehouse robot," and "The container has already been transported to the second workbench and picking is being performed on the second workbench."

[0093] According to different performance states of the container, different secondary processing policies need to be adopted to process the container promptly and effectively.

[0094] To explain in more detail, the specific second processing policy includes the following situations:

[0095] Situation 1: If a container is not assigned and bound to a warehouse robot or is not transported by a bound warehouse robot, the second processing policy is determined to cancel the transport task of the container.

[0096] Specifically, if a container is not bound to a warehouse robot or is not transported by a bound warehouse robot, the container is still located in an inventory rack. In this case, the allocation of the outbound task (including the transport task of the warehouse robot and the picking task of the second worktable) for the container is immediately canceled, and when a take-over request is subsequently received, a transport task based on the first worktable is reconstructed. This maximizes the processing efficiency and avoids the waste of outbound processing time caused by continuing to execute the original transport task.

[0097] Situation 2: If a container has been transported by a bound warehouse robot but has not yet been transported to the workbench, the second processing policy is determined to instruct the warehouse robot to process the container back to the warehouse.

[0098] Specifically, when a container is transported by a warehouse robot but not to the second work station, the first work station that will take on the pending order has not been determined at this point, and therefore the destination of the container cannot be specifically determined. To facilitate future scheduling of the container, the second processing policy is set to return the container to the warehouse as is. In other words, the route is changed and the container is returned to the rack again, to facilitate future order scheduling.

[0099] Situation 3: If the container has already been transported to the workbench by the bound warehouse robot, the second processing policy is determined to be either to instruct the warehouse robot to process the container back to the warehouse, or to instruct the workbench to temporarily store the container.

[0100] Specifically, after the container is transported to the second workbench, the second workbench has already put the target order corresponding to the container on hold, so the second workbench cannot continue picking the container at this time. Therefore, the container may be returned to the warehouse so that another workbench can take up the target order and use the container. Alternatively, the container may be temporarily stored on the second workbench or a temporary storage rack corresponding to the second workbench, and after receiving a request for acceptance, the warehouse robot or a worker may transport the container to the first workbench corresponding to the request for acceptance.

[0101] Step S304: If at least one order corresponding to the order holding request is a first type order that is in a shortage state, it is determined that the second workbench corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation possible state.

[0102] Specifically, if at least one order corresponding to the order hold request is a first type order that is in a shortage state, then the scene corresponding to the order hold request is an order hold scene due to the shortage state of the order. In this scene, the processing capacity of the workbench itself is not affected, and there is only a problem that the held first type order cannot be processed. In this case, the second workbench itself is still in a state where it can allocate orders, so the smart warehouse system can continue to allocate orders to be processed to the second workbench.

[0103] Step S305: If there is no first type order in shortage on the second workbench, it is determined that the second workbench corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation unavailable state.

[0104] Specifically, if there is no order with shortage on the second workbench, it means that the order corresponding to the order hold request is due to a breakdown or work termination of the second workbench. If a breakdown occurs on the second workbench, the order cannot be processed until the second workbench is properly maintained. Therefore, in order to prevent a problem that the order cannot be processed without delay because it is mistakenly assigned, it is necessary to immediately switch the second workbench to an order allocation disabled state. In the case of work termination, even if the order is assigned, it cannot be processed without delay until the second workbench resumes work. Therefore, by similarly switching the second workbench to an order allocation disabled state, it is guaranteed that the order will be processed without delay on other workbenches that are working.

[0105] Step S306: If at least one order corresponding to the order hold request includes a first type order that is in a shortage state and also includes orders that are not of the first type, send an information request to the second workbench as to whether order allocation is possible, and determine the order allocation status of the second work based on feedback information from the second workbench.

[0106] Specifically, since the order hold request may have been sent based on human selection, the order hold request sent from the second workbench may be a first type order with some orders being in a shortage state, and the other orders may be incomplete orders selected due to a workbench malfunction, unprocessed orders selected due to the task load of the workbench, or orders that were processed by changing the workbench through coordination between workers.

[0107] In this case, when an order hold request is received, feedback information must be immediately sent to the second work station to confirm with the worker at the second work station whether the second work station is in a state where it can allocate an order (for example, there is just an order that needs to be processed by changing the work station) or whether it is in a state where it cannot allocate an order (for example, the work station has broken down).

[0108] Step S307: A request for acceptance of the target order is received, and a first workbench corresponding to the target order is determined based on the request for acceptance.

[0109] The target order is the order that was put on hold when the hold order operation was executed on the second work station.

[0110] Step S308: A processing policy for the target order is determined based on the state of the target order when it is held on the second workbench.

[0111] Step S309: Complete the target order on the first work station according to the processing policy.

[0112] Steps S307 to S309 have the same contents as steps S201 to S203 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and therefore will not be described again here.

[0113] In this embodiment, the smart warehouse system determines the target order corresponding to the order hold request based on the reason for sending the order hold request, and determines different processing policies for the container and the order box based on the state of the container and the order box when the target order is held. Then, after receiving the acceptance request, selects the corresponding processing policy and executes the processing. This can effectively ensure that all orders, order boxes and containers suspended by the order hold are managed and processed effectively without delay, avoiding the occurrence of omissions and difficult-to-manage situations, and thus ensure that the acceptance process can be effectively processed without delay, thereby improving the warehouse management efficiency.

[0114] 4 is a flow chart of a method for processing a pending order provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the method for processing a pending order includes the following steps:

[0115] Step S401: In response to a received acceptance request, an acceptance work platform and an order box corresponding to the acceptance request are determined.

[0116] The acceptance request is sent based on the operation of the acceptance worktable inputting the order box information.

[0117] Specifically, the acceptance request is generated by inputting the identification code on the order box into the interaction device (e.g., a code scanning device) of the work station (i.e., the acceptance work station) where the worker is located after obtaining the order box. That is, the directly generated acceptance request corresponds to the order box.

[0118] Step S402: A target order corresponding to the order box is identified.

[0119] Specifically, since the order box has already been assigned and recorded with the corresponding target order by the server, when the server receives the order box corresponding to the acceptance request, it can immediately identify the target order corresponding to the order box based on the assignment record. That is, it can identify the target order corresponding to the acceptance request.

[0120] Step S403: The order accepted by the acceptance worktable is determined as a target order. The acceptance worktable is the first worktable where the interaction device is located.

[0121] Specifically, after identifying the target order corresponding to the undertaking request, the server assigns the operation corresponding to the target order to the undertaking worktable that currently sent the undertaking request for processing. The undertaking worktable is the first worktable where the interaction device on which the undertaking operation is performed is located.

[0122] Step S404: Based on the degree of completion of the target order when the target order is held at the second workbench, a processing policy for the target order is determined to be to generate an order task related to the target order based on the uncompleted quantity of the target order.

[0123] Specifically, the order task of the corresponding container and order box is adjusted based on the completion degree of the target order. This includes adjusting the container corresponding to the target order and generating a transport task corresponding to the warehouse robot based on the container, and determining whether to continue to complete the order picking task based on the original order box on the second workbench based on whether there is an item in the original order box (for example, if there is no item in the order box, a new order box on the first workbench is directly used, and if there is an item in the order box, the order box can be used continuously).

[0124] As an example, assume that a target order includes the picking of 50 type A items. If the target order has a completion percentage of 0, i.e., has not started, then a container containing at least 50 type A items must be allocated to complete the picking of the order. If the target order has a completion percentage of 80%, i.e., only 10 more type A items need to be picked, then any container containing more than 10 type A items can be used to complete the picking of the order. The server can improve outgoing efficiency by determining a new container to use for picking based on factors such as the distance from the rack in which the container is located to the first work station.

[0125] Step S405: Complete the target order on the first work station according to the processing policy.

[0126] This step is the same as step S203 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, so it will not be described again here.

[0127] In this embodiment, when the first worktable accepts the order box corresponding to the reserved target order, the smart warehouse system determines the correspondence between the target order and the first worktable based on the order box, and then generates corresponding order tasks for the first worktable and the warehouse robot based on the picked quantity and completion degree of the target order, respectively, to complete the target order on the first worktable. In this way, the order tasks to be completed specifically can be sent to the first worktable and the warehouse robot based on the actual completion status of the target order, which effectively guarantees the completion of the outgoing task of the target order, and at the same time, ensures the efficiency of the transportation and picking of goods, thus improving the efficiency of warehouse management.

[0128] 5 is a flowchart of a method for processing a pending order provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the method for processing a pending order includes the following steps:

[0129] Step S501: In response to a received order holding request from a second work station, determine at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0130] An order hold request is used to request that the processing of at least one order be temporarily suspended, including the target order.

[0131] This step is the same as step S301 in the embodiment of FIG. 3, so it will not be described again here.

[0132] Step S502: Identify an unpicked order among at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

[0133] Specifically, among the orders corresponding to the order hold request, there may be some orders that have already been picked, and some orders that have not yet been picked. For orders that have already been picked, the processing method in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 can be used to perform corresponding processing based on the acceptance request from the first work bench. However, if picking of an order has not started, there is no item in the corresponding order box. In this case, the work bench that continues to process the order does not need to accept the order box. Therefore, the server can immediately assign a new order task for the order without waiting for the acceptance request to be sent from the work bench.

[0134] Step S503: A third work station for processing the unpicked order is determined.

[0135] Specifically, for unpicked orders, the server can assign them based on the task volume of each worktable. For example, the worktable with the smallest task volume is selected as the third worktable to complete the processing of the unpicked orders. Since there is no need to wait for the first worktable to send an acceptance request, the waiting time after the unpicked orders are put on hold is reduced, and the processing efficiency of the unpicked orders can be improved.

[0136] Step S504: Generate an order task corresponding to the unpicked order based on the third worktable.

[0137] Specifically, after the third workbench is determined, a corresponding container is determined based on the items required for the unpicked order, and a transport task is sent to the warehouse robot. At the same time, a picking task corresponding to the interaction device of the third workbench is sent. This makes it easy for the third workbench to complete picking and shipping of the unpicked order based on the container transported by the transport task and the picking task.

[0138] Step S505: Complete the unpicked orders on the third work station according to the order tasks.

[0139] Specifically, the worker at the third work bench can quickly and directly complete picking of items based on the picking task corresponding to the unpicked order and the location of the order box of the unpicked order corresponding to the third work bench, without needing to obtain the order box initially bound by the server from the second work bench (before the third work bench is determined, unbinding is performed on the order box initially bound).

[0140] Step S506: When an existing picking order exists among at least one order, and an acceptance request for the existing picking order among at least one order corresponding to the order holding request is received, a first workbench corresponding to the existing picking order is determined based on the acceptance request.

[0141] An already-picked order is an order that is put on hold when an order hold operation is executed on the second workbench, and the already-picked order is an order that has been partially picked, i.e., an order that has been picked but not completely picked.

[0142] Step S507: Based on the state of the existing picking order when it was held on the second workbench, a processing policy for the existing picking order is determined.

[0143] Step S508: Complete the existing picking order on the first work station according to the processing policy.

[0144] The contents of steps S506 to S508 are the same as the contents of steps S201 to S203 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and therefore will not be described again here.

[0145] In this embodiment, the smart warehouse system first determines whether picking of the order corresponding to the order hold request has already started, and then processes the already picked orders according to the acceptance request, and directly assigns the not yet picked orders to the corresponding worktable for processing, so that the held orders can be processed according to their status, and the not yet picked orders can be processed quickly and directly, which improves the processing efficiency of the not yet picked orders and thus improves the processing efficiency of the entire held orders.

[0146] 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a pending order processing device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the pending order processing device 600 includes a receiving module 610, a determining module 620 and a processing module 630.

[0147] The receiving module 610 receives an acceptance request for a target order, and determines a first work station corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request. The target order is an order that is put on hold when an order hold operation is performed on a second work station.

[0148] The decision module 620 determines a processing policy for the target order based on the state of the target order when it was held at the second work station.

[0149] The processing module 630 completes the target order at the first work station based on the processing policy.

[0150] Optionally, in the receiving module 610, the acceptance request is a request sent from the first work station based on the acceptance device of the first work station scanning the identification code of the order box.

[0151] Optionally, before receiving an acceptance request for the target order and determining a first workbench corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, the determination module 620 further determines at least one order corresponding to the order hold request in response to an order hold request received from a second workbench requesting to temporarily suspend processing of at least one order including the target order, and determines a processing policy of an operation box associated with the at least one order based on a state of each order when held at the second workbench.

[0152] Optionally, the determination module 620 specifically determines, when a first type of order that is out of stock exists on the second work table corresponding to the order hold request, the orders of the first type to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request; when no orders that are out of stock exist on the second work table corresponding to the order hold request, determines all uncompleted orders corresponding to the second work table to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request; and / or, in response to first instruction information of the second work table, determines the orders specified in the first instruction information to be at least one order corresponding to the order hold request.

[0153] Optionally, the determination module 620 specifically determines a first processing policy for the order box based on the input status of the order box associated with each order, and determines a second processing policy for the container based on the execution status of the container associated with each order.

[0154] Optionally, the decision module 620 specifically decides that when the order box already contains picked items, the first processing policy is to cancel the binding relationship between the order box and the container transport task, the binding relationship between the order box and the second workbench, and the binding relationship between the order box and the sorting position.

[0155] Optionally, the decision module 620 specifically determines the second processing policy to be to cancel the outbound task for the container when the container is not bound to a warehouse robot or is not contained in the bound warehouse robot, determines the second processing policy to be to instruct the warehouse robot to process the container back to the warehouse when the container is contained in the bound warehouse robot but has not been transported to the work bench, and determines the second processing policy to be to instruct the warehouse robot to process the container back to the warehouse or to instruct the work bench to perform temporary storage processing of the container when the container has already been transported to the work bench by the bound warehouse robot.

[0156] Optionally, the decision module 620 further determines that the second worktable corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation possible state if at least one order corresponding to the order holding request is all of a first type of order that is in a shortage state, and determines that the second worktable corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation impossible state if there are no orders of the first type that are in a shortage state on the second worktable.

[0157] Optionally, the decision module 620 specifically determines a processing policy for the target order based on the degree of completion of the order when the target order is held at the second workbench, to generate an order task related to the target order based on the uncompleted quantity of the target order.

[0158] In this embodiment, the pending order processing device, through the cooperation of each module, when receiving an acceptance request, accurately determines the corresponding processing policy according to the specific situation of the pending order, and completes the outgoing processing of the pending order, thereby effectively avoiding the problem that the order task cannot be completed promptly after the order is pending, and improving the efficiency of warehouse management.

[0159] 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a control device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 700 includes a memory 710 and a processor 720.

[0160] The memory 710 stores a computer program that is executed by the at least one processor 720. The computer program is executed by the at least one processor 720 to cause the control device to realize the pending order processing method provided in any one of the above embodiments.

[0161] The memory 710 and the processor 720 are connected via a bus 730 .

[0162] The relevant descriptions can be understood by comparing the effects with the corresponding related descriptions of the method embodiments, so they will not be described again here.

[0163] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored therein, the computer program being executed by a processor to realize the pending order processing method provided in any one of the above method embodiments.

[0164] The computer readable storage medium may be a ROM, a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and so on.

[0165] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the pending order processing method in the above method embodiment.

[0166] It is understood that the apparatus and method disclosed in some embodiments provided by the present disclosure can be realized in other forms. For example, the above-mentioned apparatus embodiments are merely exemplary, and the division of modules is a kind of division of logical functions, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation. For example, multiple modules or assemblies may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not implemented. It is to be noted that the couplings, direct couplings, or communication connections between the indicated or discussed mutually may be indirect couplings or communication connections via some interface, device, or module, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0167] Those skilled in the art will be able to readily devise other embodiments of the present disclosure from a study of the specification and practice of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is intended to cover all modifications, changes in application, or adaptations of the present disclosure made in accordance with the general principles of the present disclosure and including common knowledge or customary technical means in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are considered to be merely exemplary, with the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by the appended claims.

[0168] It will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise construction described above and illustrated in the drawings, and that various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, which is limited only by the claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing pending orders applied to a smart warehouse system, comprising: receiving an acceptance request for a target order that is an order that is held when an order holding operation is executed on a second work station, and determining a first work station that corresponds to the target order based on the acceptance request; determining a processing policy for the target order based on a state of the target order when it was held at the second work station; and completing the target order at the first work station based on the processing policy. Pending order handling method.

2. The acceptance request is a request transmitted from the first work platform based on an acceptance device of the first work platform scanning an identification code of the order box.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the order is processed by a processor.

3. before the step of receiving an acceptance request for the target order and determining a first workbench corresponding to the target order based on the acceptance request, further in response to a received order hold request from the second work station, the order hold request requesting to suspend processing of at least one order, including the target order, determining the at least one order corresponding to the order hold request; determining a processing policy of an operation box associated with the at least one order based on a state of each order when the order is held at the second work station; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the order is processed by a processor.

4. The step of determining at least one order corresponding to the order holding request received from the second work station in response to the order holding request includes: When a first type order with a shortage exists on a second worktable corresponding to the order holding request, determining the first type order as at least one order corresponding to the order holding request; When there is no order in a shortage state on the second work station corresponding to the order holding request, determining all the incomplete orders corresponding to the second work station to at least one order corresponding to the order holding request; and / or and determining, in response to first instruction information of the second work station, an order specified in the first instruction information as at least one order corresponding to the order holding request.

4. The method for processing pending orders according to claim 3.

5. The step of determining a processing policy of an operation box associated with the at least one order based on a state of each order when the order is held on the second work station includes: determining a first processing policy for the order box based on an input state of the order box associated with each order; determining a second processing policy for the container based on a performance status of the container associated with each order; 4. The method for processing pending orders according to claim 3.

6. The step of determining a first processing policy for the order box based on the input state of the order box associated with each order, When the order box already contains a picked item, the first processing policy is determined to cancel the binding relationship between the order box and the container transport task, the binding relationship between the order box and the second workbench, and the binding relationship between the order box and the sorting position; 6. A method for processing pending orders as set forth in claim 5.

7. The step of determining a second processing policy for the container based on a performance status of the container associated with each order includes: determining, when the container is not bound to a warehouse robot or is not accommodated in a bound warehouse robot, that the second processing policy is to cancel the outbound task for the container; When the container is stored in the bound warehouse robot but not transported to the work platform, determining that the second processing policy is to instruct the warehouse robot to perform a process of returning the container to the warehouse; If the container has already been transported to the work platform by the bound warehouse robot, determining the second processing policy to instruct the warehouse robot to return the container to the warehouse or to instruct the work platform to temporarily store the container.

6. A method for processing pending orders as set forth in claim 5.

8. After the step of determining at least one order corresponding to the order holding request received from the second work station in response to the order holding request, further determining that a second workbench corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation available state when at least one order corresponding to the order holding request is a first type order that is in a shortage state; and determining that the second work table corresponding to the order holding request is in an order allocation unavailable state when there is no first type order in a shortage state on the second work table. The method for processing a pending order according to any one of claims 3 to 7.

9. The step of determining a processing policy for the target order based on a state of the target order when the target order was held at the second work station includes: determining a processing policy for the target order based on a degree of completion of the target order when the target order is held at the second work station to generate an order task related to the target order based on an uncompleted quantity of the target order; The method for processing a pending order according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A pending order processing device applied to a smart warehouse system, a first determination module that receives an acceptance request for a target order that is an order that is held when an order holding operation is executed on a second work station, and determines a first work station that corresponds to the target order based on the acceptance request; a second decision module that decides a processing policy for the target order based on a state of the target order when it is held at the second work station; and a processing module that completes the target order at the first work station based on the processing policy. Pending order processor.

11. 1. An electronic device comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, said memory storing instructions executable by said at least one processor, said instructions, when executed by said at least one processor, causing said electronic device to perform a method for processing pending orders according to any one of claims 1 to 9; electronic equipment.

12. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, effect the method for processing pending orders according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A computer-readable storage medium.

13. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, realises the method for processing pending orders according to any one of claims 1 to 9. Computer program products.

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