Article management system, logistics system, server device, and article management method
An article management system includes an automated storage and retrieval system configured to store a plurality of containers, each container containing one or more articles, and take out, to a picking area adjacent to a pick-up area, a container containing at least one article to be picked up at the pick-up area, among the plurality of containers, and a control apparatus configured to control or support picking, at the picking area, the at least one article out of the container taken out by the automated storage and retrieval system.
1. An article management system comprising:
an automated storage and retrieval system configured to store a plurality of containers, each container containing one or more articles, and take out, to a picking area adjacent to a pick-up area, a container containing at least one article to be picked up at the pick-up area, among the plurality of containers;
a control apparatus configured to control or support picking, at the picking area, the at least one article out of the container taken out by the automated storage and retrieval system;
a conveyor configured to transport, to the pick-up area, the at least one article picked by the picking; and
a storage configured to temporarily store the at least one article picked by the picking,
wherein the conveyor has a first lane configured to transport, to the pick-up area, the at least one article picked by the picking in a case in which the at least one article is not temporarily stored in the storage, and a second lane configured to transport, to the pick-up area, the at least one article picked by the picking in a case in which the at least one article is temporarily stored in the storage.
2. The article management system according to claim 1 , further comprising a manipulator configured to perform the picking,
wherein the control apparatus is configured to control the picking by the manipulator.
3. The article management system according to claim 1 , wherein
the control apparatus is configured to receive order information for the at least one article transmitted through a network, and
the automated storage and retrieval system is configured to take out the container containing the at least one article to the picking area in response to the order information received at the control apparatus,
the article management system further comprising:
an input apparatus configured to accept an input operation, by a user, of authentication information for picking up the at least one article; and
a storage configured to temporarily store the at least one article picked by the picking, and take out the at least one article to the pick-up area in response to the input operation accepted at the input apparatus.
4. The article management system according to claim 1 , further comprising an input apparatus configured to accept an input operation, by a user, of authentication information for picking up the at least one article,
wherein the automated storage and retrieval system is configured to take out the container containing the at least one article to the picking area in response to the input operation accepted at the input apparatus.
5. The article management system according to claim 4 , further comprising a database configured to hold valid authentication information for each article contained in the plurality of containers,
wherein the control apparatus is configured to check the authentication information inputted by the input operation against the database to identify the container containing the at least one article, and cause the automated storage and retrieval system to take out the identified container to the picking area.
6. The article management system according to claim 4 , configured to be installed in a courier's delivery location.
7. The article management system according to claim 1 , configured to be installed in any one facility of a petrol station, a railway station, a compound, an office building, and an apartment building.
8. The article management system according to claim 1 , further comprising a pick-up box configured to be used by a user to pick up, at the pick-up area, the at least one article picked by the picking.
9. The article management system according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage configured to temporarily store the at least one article picked by the picking,
wherein
the automated storage and retrieval system is configured to take out the container containing the at least one article to the picking area in response to order information for the at least one article transmitted through a network, and
the storage is configured to take out the at least one article to the pick-up area in response to an input operation, by a user, of authentication information for picking up the at least one article.
10. The article management system according to claim 9 , wherein
the automated storage and retrieval system comprises a conveyor configured to bring the container containing the at least one article to a position where the picking is to be performed, and
at least part of the storage is installed above or below the conveyor.
11. The article management system according to claim 1 , wherein the picking places, in another container, the at least one article picked out of the container taken out by the automated storage and retrieval system,
the article management system further comprising another conveyor installed below or above the conveyor and configured to return, after the at least one article is picked up at the pick-up area, the container in which the at least one article has been placed by the picking, to the picking area.
12. The article management system according to claim 1 , wherein
the second lane is configured to be driven in an opposite direction from when transporting the at least one article to the pick-up area, to transport an article deposited by a user to the storage, and
the storage is configured to store the article deposited by the user.
13. An article management system comprising:
an automated storage and retrieval system configured to store a plurality of containers, each container containing one or more articles, and take out, to a picking area adjacent to a pick-up area, a container containing at least one article to be picked up at the pick-up area, among the plurality of containers;
a control apparatus configured to control or support picking, at the picking area, the at least one article out of the container taken out by the automated storage and retrieval system; and
an input apparatus configured to accept an order operation for the at least one article by a user,
wherein
the automated storage and retrieval system is configured to take out the container containing the at least one article to the picking area in response to the order operation accepted at the input apparatus,
the automated storage and retrieval system comprises a rack configured to store the plurality of containers, and a crane configured to move along an aisle faced by the rack to retrieve the container containing the at least one article and take out the retrieved container to the picking area, and
the control apparatus is configured to predict an article to be ordered by the order operation before the order operation is completed, and cause the crane to move according to a storage position, in the rack, of a container containing the predicted article among the plurality of containers.
14. A logistics system comprising:
the article management system according to claim 1 ; and
a mobile robot configured to deliver, to the article management system, an article brought into the automated storage and retrieval system.
15. A logistics system comprising:
the article management system according to claim 1 ; and
a drone configured to deliver, to the article management system, an article brought into the automated storage and retrieval system.
16. A server device to be connected with an article management system including:
an automated storage and retrieval system configured to store a plurality of containers, each container containing one or more articles, and take out, to a picking area adjacent to a pick-up area, a container containing at least one article to be picked up at the pick-up area, among the plurality of containers; and
a control apparatus configured to control or support picking, at the picking area, the at least one article out of the container taken out by the automated storage and retrieval system,
the server device comprising:
a communication interface configured to communicate with a user's terminal device; and
a controller configured to accept a designation or a pre-order for the at least one article via the communication interface, select, from among a plurality of locations, a location where the container containing the at least one article is stored in the automated storage and retrieval system, with reference to inventory information for the article management system, which is installed in each location of the plurality of locations, and inform the terminal device of the selected location via the communication interface.
17. The server device according to claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to detect a position of the user via the communication interface, and in a case in which the plurality of locations includes two or more locations where the container containing the at least one article is stored in the automated storage and retrieval system, select a location, of which the terminal device is to be informed, from among the two or more locations according to distances between the detected position and the two or more locations.