Automated Order Routing System for Retail Distribution Platforms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current distribution platforms face inefficiencies in order delivery, particularly high waiting times for customers, especially during peak visitor periods, as employees manually navigate warehouses to collect and deliver orders, leading to suboptimal processing and increased wait times.
Innovation Solution
An automated order piloting method within a distribution platform that includes a warehouse with designated sections for order preparation, a buffer storage space, and delivery tracks, utilizing an automated routing system to streamline order preparation, storage, and delivery, with customer identification via card, barcode, or QR code, optimizing storage locations and redirecting orders efficiently to delivery channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If employees manually navigate the warehouse to collect and deliver orders, then the system is simpler to operate, but waiting times for customers increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service through automated identification of customers via card, barcode or QR code reading, and automatic routing of orders without requiring manual employee intervention for each order collection and delivery task
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical system of employees physically navigating warehouse shelves with an automated routing system that uses identification technology and automated guidance to direct order collection and delivery processes
2Productivity
If employees manually collect orders from shelves during peak periods, then the system requires less complex infrastructure, but delivery speed and efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the order processing workflow into distinct automated stages: customer identification, order retrieval from buffer storage, and directed delivery to delivery tracks, allowing each segment to be optimized independently for speed and efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an automated routing system as an intermediary between the buffer storage and delivery tracks, which acts as a mediator to efficiently match and route orders to the correct delivery locations without requiring complex direct connections between all storage and delivery points
3Reliability
If a dedicated warehouse is created for remote orders separate from the supermarket, then order processing is less disturbed, but customer identification and delivery coordination become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The identification system is designed with universality to handle multiple types of customer identification methods (card, barcode, QR code) within a single integrated system, allowing the same infrastructure to serve both supermarket and remote order customers without requiring separate complex systems
Data Source
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AI summary
The process of automatically managing an order placed within a distribution platform, particularly for household products, comprising a warehouse, a first means of identifying a customer coming to collect an order previously placed with the distribution platform, at least one order delivery track, the warehouse comprising at least one order preparation section from among an ambient section, a Fruits & Vegetables section, a fresh section and a frozen section, an associated buffer storage area for prepared orders having an entrance connected to at least one order preparation section, at least one delivery track being connected to an exit of the buffer storage area, and an automated order routing system from at least one preparation section and at least one delivery track, the automated routing system being connected to the first means of identifying a customer,The piloting process comprises the following steps: a. Preparation of the order previously placed with the distribution platform; b. Storage of the previously prepared order in the buffer storage area; c. Identification of the customer collecting the previously placed order via the first identification method; d. Retrieval from the buffer storage area of the order associated with the previously identified customer; e. Redirection of the retrieved order to at least one delivery track.