Systems, Methods And Apparatus For Distribution Of Products And Supply Chain Management
In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to access and advance a work flow for a product or a plurality of products during unloading and loading shipments at a distribution center or unloading and processing shipments at a retail store. In some embodiments, RFID tags and wearable smart devices are employed such that products are monitored as they are unloaded from shipments at a retail facility, such as a distribution center, and repackaged into containers and onto a delivery truck for delivery to another retail facility, such as a physical retail store, or one or more customers.
1 . A system for tracking products and unloading the products from a delivery vehicle, the system comprising:
a database having a delivery vehicle planogram for a delivery vehicle, the delivery vehicle planogram associating shipping container RFID identifiers or product RFID identifiers with a particular vehicle location;
eye frames wearable by a user, the eye frames having an electronic assembly mounted thereto and an RFID tag reader incorporated therein, the RFID tag reader configured to scan RFID tags associated with the shipping containers and products therein, which are unloaded from the delivery vehicle;
a control circuit in communication with the RFID tag readers and configured to access the database, the control circuit configured to:
send instructions to the user wearing the eye frames to unload a particular one of the shipping containers on the delivery vehicle, via an unloading plan;
receive scanned information from the RFID tag reader incorporated into the eye frames confirming identification of the particular shipping container;
send instructions to the user, via the eye frames, regarding placement of the particular shipping container outside of the delivery vehicle; and
update the database regarding an unload location of the particular shipping container upon removal of the particular shipping container from the delivery vehicle.
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the unload location of the particular shipping container is at least one of: a final destination, an intermediate destination, or a dock destination and the database further comprises a product destination and the control circuit is further configured to send instructions to the user, via the eye frames, according to the unloading plan regarding movement of at least one of the particular shipping container or the products therein.
3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further configured to generate the unloading plan by analyzing the delivery vehicle planogram and at least one of: assigned priorities of the shipping containers, work required to unload the shipping containers based on the weight and size of the particular shipping container, and safety and stability of the delivery vehicle planogram and resulting changes thereto with removal of one or more of the shipping containers.
4 . The system of claim 3 wherein the assigned priorities of the shipping containers are assessed according to identified needs of a retail facility, organization of the delivery vehicle and a floor plan of the retail facility.
5 . The system of claim 4 wherein the control circuit updates the delivery vehicle planogram during unloading of the delivery vehicle.
6 . The system of claim 5 wherein the control circuit is further configured to update the unloading plan in response to at least one of a change to retail facility needs, a change of customer needs, a change in available staffing, or the updated delivery vehicle planogram.
7 . The system of claim 3 wherein the control circuit adjusts the unloading plan to avoid unstable inventory shipments and to match unloading resources to effort required to unload.
8 . The system of claim 3 wherein the unloading plan includes at least one of: instructions to deliver one of the packing containers to a facility final destination, instructions to deliver one of the shipping containers to an intermediary destination, instructions to deliver one of the packaging containers to a dock destination, or instructions to break down or remove packaging materials from the delivery vehicle or a dock area.
9 . The system of claim 1 wherein additional RFID tag readers are disposed within the delivery vehicle in at least one of: a vehicle ceiling, a vehicle floor, a vehicle door; a vehicle frame, or a vehicle load and unload point.
10 . The system of claim 1 wherein the eye frames have a pair of temple arm members configured to rest on the ears of the user and a front support having a bridge portion configured to rest on the nose of the user and the eye frames are further configured to update the database after arrival of the delivery vehicle to indicate that the packing containers are received at a retail facility.
11 . The system of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further configured to receive information regarding the delivery vehicle planogram, which is based on information received from a distribution center including scans of RFID tags associated with the shipping containers loaded onto the delivery vehicle and associated locations within the delivery vehicle.
12 . A method for tracking products and unloading a delivery vehicle comprising:
instructing a user with eyeglass frames having an electronic assembly mounted thereto and an RFID tag reader incorporated therein to unload a particular shipping container on a delivery vehicle via an unloading plan, the delivery vehicle having a delivery vehicle planogram with shipping container RFID identifiers or product RFID identifiers associated with a particular vehicle location;
scanning container RFID tags or product RFID tags while unloading the particular one of the shipping containers and products therein from the delivery vehicle;
instructing the user, via the eye frames, regarding placement of the particular shopping container outside of the delivery vehicle; and
updating the database regarding an unload location of the particular shipping container upon removal of the particular shipping location from the delivery vehicle.
13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the unloading of the particular shipping container further includes depositing the particular shipping container at: a final destination, an intermediate destination, or a dock destination and the method further includes updating the database regarding a product location.
14 . The method of claim 12 further comprising loading the shipping containers onto the delivery vehicle and scanning the RFID tags associated with the shipping containers and the products therein during the loading of the delivery vehicle and associating therewith a vehicle location of the shipping containers in the delivery vehicle to generate the delivery vehicle planogram.
15 . The method of claim 12 further comprising monitoring movement of the shipping containers within the delivery vehicle via one or more onboard RFID tag readers disposed in the delivery vehicle.
16 . The method of claim 12 further comprising generating the unloading plan by analyzing the delivery vehicle planogram and at least one of: assigned priorities of the shipping containers, work required to unload the shipping containers based on weight and size of the particular shipping container, and safety and stability of the delivery vehicle planogram and resulting changes thereto with removal of one or more of the shipping containers.
17 . The method of claim 16 further comprising updating the delivery vehicle planogram and the unloading plan during unloading of the delivery vehicle, wherein updating the unloading plan occurs in response to at least one of: a change in needs of a retail facility, a change customer needs, a change in available staffing, or the updated delivery vehicle planogram.
18 . The method of claim 17 further comprising adjusting the unloading plan to avoid unstable shipments.
19 . The method of claim 12 further comprising instructing the user, via the eye frames, to deliver one of the shipping containers to a facility final destination, to an intermediary destination, or to a dock destination.
20 . The method of claim 12 further comprising instructing the user, via the eye frames, to break down or remove packaging materials from the delivery vehicle or dock area.