RULES-BASED DECLINATION OF DELIVERY FULFILLMENT
An order fulfillment control circuit detects an opportunity to deliver a product to a particular entity and responds by obtaining a first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partialities for that entity. After identifying at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity, the control circuit then obtains a second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns and uses those rules to remove one or more of the candidate products from consideration notwithstanding present availability of the removed candidate product. When the resultant set of suitable candidate products constitutes a null set, the control circuit automatically declines to fulfill the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity without also suggesting a substitute product to the particular entity.
1 . An order fulfillment apparatus comprising:
an Internet of Things device configured to be personally carried by a user and having:
at least one local sensor configured to provide information regarding at least one of the user's circumstances, behaviors, and reactions; and
a control circuit operably coupled to the at least one local sensor and to at least one memory and configured to:
detect, via the at least one local sensor, an opportunity to deliver a product to a particular entity;
obtain a first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partialities for the particular entity;
use the first set of rules to identity at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity to thereby identify candidate products;
obtain a second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns;
use the second set of rules to remove at least one of the candidate products from consideration, notwithstanding present availability of the removed candidate product, to thereby identify a resultant set of suitable candidate products;
when the resultant set of suitable candidate products constitutes a null set, automatically decline to fulfill the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity without also suggesting a substitute product to the particular entity.
2 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 1 wherein the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity comprises an order placed by the particular entity.
3 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 1 wherein the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity comprises the particular entity encountering a situation that the product can at least partially resolve.
4 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 3 wherein the situation that the product can at least partially resolve comprises a life-changing event.
5 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partialities for the particular entity comprise a first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partiality vectors for the particular entity.
6 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first set of rules further employ vectorized characterizations for each of a plurality of products, wherein each of the vectorized characterizations indicates a measure regarding an extent to which a corresponding one of the products accords with a corresponding one of the plurality of partiality vectors.
7 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns comprise wherein the second set of rules include objective-criterion screens.
8 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 7 wherein the second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns further comprise emotional-criterion screens.
9 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 8 wherein the second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns further comprise moral-criterion screens.
10 . The order fulfillment apparatus of claim 9 wherein the objective-criterion screens are applied ahead of the emotional-criterion screens and the moral-criterion screens.
11 . An order fulfillment method comprising:
by a control circuit that comprises a part of an Internet of Things device configured to be personally carried by a user, wherein the Internet of Things device further comprises a memory and at least one local sensor configured to provide information regarding at least one of the user's circumstances, behaviors, and reactions, the control circuit being operably coupled to the memory and the at least one local sensor:
detecting an opportunity, via the at least one local sensor, to deliver a product to a particular entity;
obtaining a first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partialities for the particular entity;
using the first set of rules to identity at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity to thereby identify candidate products;
obtaining a second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns;
using the second set of rules to remove at least one of the candidate products from consideration, notwithstanding present availability of the removed candidate product, to thereby identify a resultant set of suitable candidate products;
when the resultant set of suitable candidate products constitutes a null set, automatically declining to fulfill the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity without also suggesting a substitute product to the particular entity.
12 . The order fulfillment method of claim 11 wherein the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity comprises an order placed by the particular entity.
13 . The order fulfillment method of claim 11 wherein the opportunity to deliver a product to the particular entity comprises the particular entity encountering a situation that the product can at least partially resolve.
14 . The order fulfillment method of claim 13 wherein the situation that the product can at least partially resolve comprises a life-changing event.
15 . The order fulfillment method of claim 11 wherein the first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partialities for the particular entity comprise a first set of rules that identify at least one product that can fulfill the detected opportunity as a function of partiality vectors for the particular entity.
16 . The order fulfillment method of claim 15 wherein the first set of rules further employ vectorized characterizations for each of a plurality of products, wherein each of the vectorized characterizations indicates a measure regarding an extent to which a corresponding one of the products accords with a corresponding one of the plurality of partiality vectors.
17 . The order fulfillment method of claim 11 wherein the second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns comprise wherein the second set of rules include objective-criterion screens.
18 . The order fulfillment method of claim 17 wherein the second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns further comprise emotional-criterion screens.
19 . The order fulfillment method of claim 18 wherein the second set of rules that rule out products as being suitable for the particular entity as a function of overriding concerns further comprise moral-criterion screens.
20 . The order fulfillment method of claim 19 wherein the objective-criterion screens are applied ahead of the emotional-criterion screens and the moral-criterion screens.