Automated Inventory Management System For Climate-Controlled Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current beverage case management approaches are inefficient, leading to high energy costs, labor costs, and lost sales due to manual restocking processes, which result in incorrect stocking and human-error-related issues.
Innovation Solution
An automated Inventory Management and Delivery System (IMDS) that uses robot-based subsystems to manage product items within climate-controlled environments, including a product loading subsystem for automated ingestion, a backstock management subsystem for storage, and a display management subsystem for restocking, all coordinated by a central controller to reduce energy and labor costs and prevent empty display shelves.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual restocking is performed by employees, then beverage cases can be restocked, but energy costs increase due to cold air loss from employees entering/exiting the beverage case
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service restocking through automated robotic mechanisms that transfer beverages from backstock to display shelves without human intervention. The robotic arm retrieves beverages from storage containers and places them on display shelves, allowing the beverage case to restock itself while maintaining sealed access doors closed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual restocking with an automated robotic system. The robotic arm with gripper mechanism substitutes human hands, and the automated control system replaces human decision-making, eliminating the need for employees to physically enter the beverage case for restocking operations.
2Ease of operation
If manual restocking is performed by employees, then beverage cases can be restocked, but labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service restocking through automated robotic mechanisms that transfer beverages from backstock to display shelves without human intervention. The robotic arm retrieves beverages from storage containers and places them on display shelves, allowing the beverage case to restock itself while maintaining sealed access doors closed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual restocking with an automated robotic system. The robotic arm with gripper mechanism substitutes human hands, and the automated control system replaces human decision-making, eliminating the need for employees to physically enter the beverage case for restocking operations.
3Ease of operation
If manual restocking is performed by employees, then beverage cases can be restocked, but stocking errors occur leading to incorrect planogram compliance
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors and vision systems that continuously monitor beverage inventory levels and types on display shelves. The control system receives feedback from these sensors and automatically adjusts restocking operations to maintain correct planogram compliance, preventing stocking errors through real-time verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual restocking with an automated robotic system. The robotic arm with gripper mechanism substitutes human hands, and the automated control system replaces human decision-making, eliminating the need for employees to physically enter the beverage case for restocking operations.
4Loss of energy
If automated robotic systems are implemented, then energy costs and labor costs are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system is designed to perform multiple functions within a single integrated platform: inventory monitoring through sensors, decision-making through the control system, physical retrieval through the robotic arm, and precise placement through the gripper mechanism. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems while managing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary between the sensors that detect inventory needs and the robotic arm that performs restocking. This intermediary layer coordinates complex operations, manages energy efficiency, and ensures correct planogram compliance, thereby managing system complexity through centralized intelligence.
Data Source
AI summary
An Inventory Management and Delivery System (IMDS system) manages product items within a climate-controlled enclosure (e.g., beverage case) in an automated manner using a product loading (ingestion) subsystem to convey product items into the enclosure's climate-controlled environment and utilizes two gantry robots and an articulated robot to perform all backstocking/storage and delivery/restocking operations. Product items are ingested on standardized crates to simplify backstocking/retrieval of various product types from an array of storage locations using the first (backstocking) gantry robot. During restocking operations, the required crates are retrieved from storage and individual items are extracted and by the articulated robot and transferred to the second (delivery) gantry robot. The second gantry robot utilizes a simplified channel-type delivery mechanism to deliver each product item to its associated display shelf location. An inventory control subsystem monitors the number of each product item type disposed within the climate-controlled enclosure to prevent lost sales.