Grocery Order Batching for Delivery Timeliness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current delivery management systems often result in late deliveries, perishable goods being undelivered, and undelivered orders due to poor scheduling, leading to increased effort, time, and costs for retailers while affecting customer service.

Innovation Solution

A computing device optimizes delivery management by batching orders for delivery within a time window and assigning them to vehicles based on capacity and availability, ensuring timely delivery and reducing undelivered goods through real-time tracking and scheduling adjustments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If delivery management systems schedule drivers based on availability, then driver scheduling flexibility is improved, but delivery timeliness deteriorates due to poor scheduling

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedriver scheduling flexibilityVSAvoiddelivery timeliness

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating optimal delivery windows and batch configurations before delivery execution. The batching system pre-determines which orders can be grouped together and delivered within specific time windows, ensuring that delivery timeliness is maintained while allowing driver scheduling flexibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements dynamics by making the batching configuration adaptive and changeable. The batching system can dynamically adjust batch compositions based on real-time conditions such as driver availability, delivery addresses, and time window constraints, resolving the contradiction between scheduling flexibility and delivery timeliness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If delivery time windows are extended to accommodate more orders, then delivery capacity is improved, but product freshness deteriorates due to longer delivery times

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedelivery capacityVSAvoidproduct freshness

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the delivery process into multiple batch groups, where each batch is assigned to a specific delivery window. By dividing orders into separate batches rather than delivering all orders in a single extended window, the system maintains shorter delivery times for each batch while increasing overall delivery capacity through multiple batches.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary batching to determine optimal groupings of orders before delivery execution. By pre-calculating which orders can be delivered together within acceptable time windows, the system ensures that each batch maintains product freshness while the overall system achieves high delivery capacity through efficient utilization of multiple batches.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If multiple delivery attempts are made for undelivered orders, then delivery completion rate is improved, but time and resource consumption deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedelivery completion rateVSAvoidtime and resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback mechanisms by tracking delivery status and identifying undelivered orders. When an order is not successfully delivered on the first attempt, the system provides feedback information about the undelivered status and automatically schedules retry attempts, improving delivery completion rates while managing time and resource consumption through systematic follow-up.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary identification of undelivered orders and pre-schedules retry attempts. By proactively managing undelivered orders through automated retry scheduling rather than ad-hoc follow-up, the system improves delivery completion rates while minimizing additional time and resource consumption through efficient planning.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11783403B2Systems, non-transitory computer readable mediums, and methods for grocery order batching and customer experience

Publication Date: 2023.10.10 WALMART APOLLO LLC

AI summary

This application relates to apparatus and methods for batching orders for delivery. In some examples, a computing device may obtain order data identifying at least a first order and a second order. The computing device may determine whether the first order can be delivered to a first delivery address and the second order can be delivered to a second delivery address within a delivery time window. Based on the determination, the computing device may batch the first order and the second order to generate a batched order. In some examples, the computing device determines if the delivery vehicle can store the items for the first order and the second order to determine whether the orders may be batched. The computing device may generate assignment data identifying an assignment of the batched order to a delivery vehicle, and may transmit the assignment data to another computing device.