Methods and apparatus for using a moveable sort wall to facilitate assembly of product orders
Methods and apparatus for efficiently fulfilling product orders corresponding to different customers are described. An order processing system receives product orders from customers and efficiently groups multiple orders into sets of orders. A set of orders is assigned to a mobile sort wall, and a group of robotic carts is assigned to be used to collect products. The products corresponding to a set of orders are picked from racks and collected in the robotic carts. The mobile sort wall includes a plurality of different placement locations, e.g. bins. Each placement location is associated with one of the customer orders in the set of customer orders assigned to the mobile sort wall. A sorting kiosk including a scanner identifies a collected product, identifies a placement location, and the product is placed on the mobile sort wall. A loaded mobile sort wall is moved to a packaging area.
1. A method comprising:
selecting from a plurality of orders a first set of orders, said first set of orders being for a first set of products which can be stored on a first sort wall;
assigning said first set of orders to a first set of robotic carts used to collect products included in said first set of orders;
moving collected products included in said first set of orders to said first sort wall, said first sort wall being coupled to a kiosk;
detecting a removal of the first sort wall from the kiosk;
detecting a connection of a second sort wall to the kiosk; and
selecting from the plurality of orders a second set of orders, said second set of orders being for a second set of products that can be stored on the second sort wall.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first sort wall is a first mobile sort wall.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
moving said first mobile sort wall to a packaging area after said first mobile sort wall is loaded with the collected products included in said first set of orders.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
assigning said second set of orders to a second set of robotic carts used to collect products included in the second set of orders; and
moving collected products included in the second set of orders to a second mobile sort wall.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein moving collected products included in said first set of orders to said first sort wall includes:
scanning a first product collected from a first robotic cart in said first set of robotic carts; and
controlling a light on said first mobile sort wall to indicate an intended storage location on the first mobile sort wall where the first product is to be placed.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
detecting insertion of the first product into a storage location on the first mobile sort wall or activation of a switch associated with a storage location indicating placement by an operator in the storage location on the first mobile sort wall;
checking to confirm that the first product was placed in the intended storage location; and
generating an alert indicating miss-placement of the first product when said check indicates that the first product was placed in the wrong storage location; and
deactivating said light on the first mobile sort wall used to indicate an intended storage location when said check confirms correct product placement on said first mobile sort wall.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said step of scanning a first product is performed using a scanner of the kiosk coupled to said first mobile sort wall.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said kiosk controls a mobile sort wall to indicate storage locations for products based on product storage location information provided by an order processing system which selects the orders to be included in said first and second sets of orders, said order processing system providing different product placement maps for said first and second mobile sort walls to control placement of said first set of products in said first mobile sort wall and said second set of products in said second mobile sort wall.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein more sets of robotic carts are being used to collect products corresponding to different mobile sort walls than there are mobile sort walls being loaded at any given time.
10. A system, the system including:
a kiosk configured to control product sorting and placement of sets of products on mobile sort walls based on product to sort wall mapping information stored in said kiosk, said kiosk including:
memory including product to sort wall mapping information;
a scanner for scanning a product;
a processor configured to control said kiosk to:
detect connection of a first mobile sort wall; and
control the first mobile sort wall to indicate a location where a first product is to be placed in a first mobile sort wall in response to the first product being scanned by said scanner.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein said processor is further configured to:
check to confirm that the product was placed in the intended storage location in response to an indication from the first mobile sort wall that the product was inserted into a storage location;
generate an alert indicating miss-placement of the product when said check indicates that the product was placed in the wrong storage location; and
deactivate a light on the first sort wall used to indicate an intended storage location when said check confirms correct product placement on said first mobile sort wall.
12. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
said first mobile sort wall.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein said first mobile sort wall is mounted on wheels.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein said first mobile sort wall includes an electric motor for driving at least some of said wheels.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein said kiosk is a mobile kiosk which is mounted on wheels.
16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
a plurality of robotic pick carts.
17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
an order system including:
an interface for receiving orders; and
a second processor configured to control said order system to:
select from a plurality of orders a first set of orders, said first set of orders being for a first set of products which can be stored on a first mobile sort wall;
assign said first set of orders to a first set of robotic carts used to collect products included in said first set of orders; and
communicate product to sort wall mapping information indicating where products in said first set of products should be placed in a first mobile sort wall.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein said first mobile sort wall includes:
a row of lights under a set of storage locations, said kiosk controlling said lights to indicate where a product should be placed after a product is scanned; and
a row of switches under said set of storage locations or sensors which can detect placement of a product in a storage location.
19. The system of claim 18 ,
wherein said first mobile sort wall is configurable to include bins of different sizes; and
wherein lights in said row of lights are controlled as a function of the sort wall configuration.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein said system includes more mobile sort walls than kiosks.