CN112184106A

CN112184106A - Commodity picking method, device and system for large-batch orders

Info

Publication number: CN112184106A
Application number: CN202010993938.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郝文育
Original assignee: Suzhou Mushiny Intelligence Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Suzhou Mushiny Intelligence Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-21
Filing date: 2020-09-21
Publication date: 2021-01-05

Abstract

The invention discloses a commodity picking method, a device and a system aiming at large-batch orders, wherein the method comprises the following steps: distributing each order in a batch of orders to each workstation to obtain an order set corresponding to each workstation; dividing shelves into a plurality of sets of shelves, the number of sets of shelves being no greater than the total number of workstations; and matching all shelf sets with the workstations in turn, so that after the set turns are set, each shelf set is matched with each workstation. The invention can make each workstation obtain a special order set and also obtain a special shelf set, then the inventory of the shelf in the special shelf set is used for meeting the order in the special order pool, and the sorting work of each workstation can run concurrently, thus greatly expanding the performance of the sorting system, fully improving the sorting efficiency and ensuring that each order can be fulfilled on time.

Description

Commodity picking method, device and system for large-batch orders

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of warehousing, in particular to a commodity picking method, device and system for large-batch orders.

Background

For an e-commerce warehouse, the method is characterized in that: (1) the number of customer orders that need to be processed is very large, potentially millions of orders per day; (2) the number of shelves in the warehouse is very large, and thousands of shelves can be achieved; (3) the number of commodity varieties is very large, and the maximum number can reach hundreds of thousands or even more;

if the scene of the solution of 'latent AGV and moving shelf Pod' is adopted, the method has the following characteristics: (1) the number of picking stations is relatively small, on the order of tens; (2) there are many items in common between different orders; (3) the same commodity is generally placed on a plurality of shelves at the same time; a plurality of commodities can be stored on one shelf; (4) an order is only assigned to one picking station and because of this no Re-batching (Re-batch) is required.

In the aspect of picking algorithm, the prior art basically adopts the following steps: (1) in the warehouse, the workstation is circulated firstly; (2) getting to the current workstation, if it can also receive new orders, 1) searching through the unprocessed Order Pool (Order Pool) to find the most suitable Order; 2) then, the most suitable goods shelf, goods position and goods are searched in the goods shelf of the whole warehouse, and a Picking Order (Picking Order) is generated.

It can be seen that the whole algorithm is divided into 3 layers of nested loops: workstation → order → shelf, the end result is to solve this problem: the workstation W takes the order O, allocates the order O to one or more shelves P1 Pn, pre-occupies the shelves, and then schedules the AGV to transport the shelves to the workstation to complete the picking task.

The problems here are: when the nested circulation is performed on the workstation, the orders and the goods shelf, the total circulation frequency is very high, and the nested circulation can be performed only by single-point operation basically and cannot be performed concurrently, so that the performance of the system is difficult to expand, field business activities cannot be normally performed seriously, and workers wait for the AGV to carry the goods shelf on the workstation, namely, the so-called 'people waiting for cars', and cannot complete order fulfillment tasks in time.

Disclosure of Invention

The purpose of the invention is as follows: in order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the invention provides the method, the device and the system for picking the commodities aiming at the large-batch orders, which can improve the sorting efficiency and ensure that the orders can be fulfilled in time.

The technical scheme is as follows: to achieve the above object, the method for picking up goods for large batch of orders according to the present invention comprises:

distributing each order in a batch of orders to each workstation to obtain an order set corresponding to each workstation;

dividing shelves into a plurality of sets of shelves, the number of sets of shelves being no greater than the total number of workstations;

matching all shelf sets with the workstations in turn, so that after the set turns are carried out, each shelf set is matched with each workstation; wherein the set round equals the total number of workstations, and in the same round each set of shelves is respectively matched with a different workstation.

Further, the alternately matching all shelf sets with the work stations comprises:

generating a first ordered sequence of numbers of all the workstations, wherein the numbers of the tail end of the sequence and the numbers of the head end of the sequence of the first ordered sequence are counted as continuous numbers;

generating a second ordered sequence of the numbers of all the shelf sets;

and starting matching, namely matching the serial numbers in the second ordered sequence with the corresponding number of continuous serial numbers in the first ordered sequence one by one in each round until the set round is reached, wherein the matching results of the rounds are different.

Further, the matching, one by one, each number in the second ordered sequence with a corresponding number of consecutive numbers in the first ordered sequence in each round until the set round is reached includes:

setting an offset variable t, wherein the initial value of the offset variable is 0, namely t is 0;

starting from the first round, in each round of matching, the first serial number of the second ordered sequence is matched with the t +1 th serial number in the first ordered sequence, other serial numbers in the two ordered sequences are sequentially matched, and then the next round is carried out until the set round is reached, wherein t is t + 1.

Further, said assigning each order within the batch of orders to each workstation comprises:

allocating each of the orders to the adapted workstation according to attributes of at least one dimension of the order.

Further, the attributes comprise the area where the customer is located, the commodity type of the order, the commodity quantity of the order and the order type.

Further, after alternately matching all shelf sets with the work stations, the method further comprises:

and dispatching an AGV to carry the shelves in the shelf set currently matched with the workstation to the position of the workstation according to the order set of the workstation.

Further, the scheduling an AGV to transport the currently matched shelf in the shelf set to the position of the workstation according to the order set of the workstation includes:

counting commodity lists of commodities contained in all orders in the order set corresponding to the workstation;

generating a shelf list of shelves corresponding to each commodity in the commodity list;

comparing the shelf list with shelf numbers contained in the shelf set corresponding to the current workstation to obtain a target shelf list;

and scheduling the AGV to convey each shelf in the target shelf list to the position of the workstation.

Further, the dividing the shelves into a plurality of sets of shelves comprises:

dividing all goods shelves into the set number of goods shelves, judging whether redundant goods shelves exist, and adding the redundant goods shelves into the goods shelves set with preset numbers if the redundant goods shelves exist.

An article picking device for large batch orders, comprising:

the order distribution module is used for distributing each order in a batch of orders to each workstation to obtain an order set corresponding to each workstation;

a shelf grouping module for grouping shelves into a plurality of sets of shelves, the number of sets of shelves being no greater than the total number of workstations; and

the matching module is used for matching all shelf sets with the workstations in turn, so that after the turn is set, each shelf set is matched with each workstation; wherein the set round equals the total number of workstations, and in the same round each set of shelves is respectively matched with a different workstation.

An article picking system for large-batch orders comprises a memory and a controller, wherein the memory stores an executable program, and the controller can operate the executable program to realize the article picking method for the large-batch orders.

Has the advantages that: the method, the device and the system for picking the commodities aiming at the large-batch orders can ensure that each workstation obtains a special order set and also obtains a special shelf set, then the inventory of the shelves in the special shelf set is used for meeting the orders in the special order pool, and the sorting work of each workstation can run concurrently, so that the performance of the sorting system can be greatly expanded, the sorting efficiency is fully improved, and the orders can be fulfilled on time.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for picking up goods for a large batch of orders;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the matching relationship between a first round of workstations and a rack set;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the matching relationship between a second round of workstations and a rack set;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an article picker for large batch orders;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of an article picking system for large batch orders.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The storage environment related to the invention is as follows, a goods shelf area is arranged in a warehouse, the goods shelf area is provided with a plurality of movable goods shelves, a plurality of AGV capable of carrying the movable goods shelves and a plurality of workstations are also arranged in the warehouse, sorting workers carry out sorting operation in the workstations, when the system is implemented, the AGV carries the goods shelves storing corresponding goods in sequence to the workstations according to a goods list corresponding to orders being processed by the workstations, sorting workers of the workstations take the corresponding goods from the goods shelves after the AGV carries the goods shelves, the sorting workers are sorted to be finished, and the AGV carries the goods shelves back to the goods shelf area.

The method for picking up goods for large batch order as shown in fig. 1 comprises the following steps S101-S103:

step S101, distributing each order in a batch of orders to each workstation to obtain an order set corresponding to each workstation;

in this step, the manner of allocating the order to each workstation specifically is: allocating each of the orders to the adapted workstation according to attributes of at least one dimension of the order. Orders are typically grouped according to attributes of multiple dimensions, including but not limited to, the area where the customer is located, the type of goods in the order, the quantity of goods in the order, the type of order, etc., such as: the orders can be distributed to the same workstation according to the fact that the coincidence rate of the commodities in the orders is higher than the set threshold value, the orders with the receiving places close to the region (such as Jiang Zhe Shanghai and Jingjin Ji) can be distributed to the same workstation according to the information of the region where the customer is located, and the orders can be distributed by combining the two factors (the coincidence rate of the commodities in the orders and the information of the region where the customer is located). The order is distributed according to the attributes, so that the attributes of the distributed orders in the same workstation are single, the workstation can process the same commodities in a plurality of orders in a centralized mode, the AGV can convey the goods shelves carrying the commodities to the workstation at one time to meet the similar orders, the frequency of conveying the same goods shelves for the same commodities in a reciprocating mode can be reduced, and the operation efficiency is improved. In this embodiment, the number of workstations in the warehouse is m, the workstations are denoted as W1, W2, W3, … …, and Wm, and the order sets corresponding to each workstation are denoted as OS1, OS2, OS3, … …, and OSm, respectively.

Step S102, dividing shelves into a plurality of shelf sets, wherein the number of the shelf sets is not more than the total number of the workstations;

in this step, the specific method for dividing the shelves into a plurality of shelf sets is as follows: dividing all goods shelves into the set number of goods shelves, judging whether redundant goods shelves exist, and adding the redundant goods shelves into the goods shelves set with preset numbers if the redundant goods shelves exist. During specific operation, a value with a set number can be preset, the total number of the shelves is divided by the set number, the number of the shelves in each shelf set can be obtained, the shelves are grouped, so that each shelf set is provided with a specific number of shelves, if the division operation is carried out, subsequent operation is not carried out, and if the division operation is not carried out, the rest shelves are added into the shelf sets with preset numbers (such as a first group of shelves). In this embodiment, the shelves are divided into n sets, where n is less than or equal to m, and the shelf sets are referred to as PS1, PS2, PS3, … …, and PSn, respectively.

Step S103, matching all shelf sets with the workstations in turn, so that after the turn is set, each shelf set is matched with each workstation; wherein the set round equals the total number of workstations, and in the same round each set of shelves is respectively matched with a different workstation.

In the step, in each round of matching process, one work station can only occupy one goods shelf set, so that the work stations distributed to the goods shelf sets are the most, the sorting work of each work station can run concurrently, and the capacity of the sorting system is fully exerted.

Specifically, the step S103 of alternately matching all shelf sets with the workstations includes the following steps S201 to S203:

step S201, generating a first ordered sequence from the numbers of all the workstations, wherein the numbers of the tail end of the sequence and the numbers of the head end of the sequence of the first ordered sequence are counted as continuous numbers;

in this step, the first sequence may be W1, W2, W3, … …, Wm, and the sequence may be regarded as a ring sequence, where the four sequence numbers of Wm-1, Wm, W1, W2 are regarded as consecutive numbers, and so on, many consecutive numbers across the beginning and the end can be obtained.

Step S202, generating a second ordered sequence of the numbers of all the shelf sets;

in this step, the second ordered sequence may be PS1, PS2, PS3, … …, PSn.

And step S203, starting matching, and matching the serial numbers in the second ordered sequence with the corresponding number of continuous serial numbers in the first ordered sequence one by one in each turn until the set turn is reached and the matching results of the turns are different.

Specifically, the step S203 specifically includes the following steps S301 to S302:

step S301, setting an offset variable t, where an initial value of the offset variable is 0, that is, t is 0;

step S302, starting from the first round, in each round of matching, matching the first serial number of the second ordered sequence with the t +1 th serial number in the first ordered sequence, and then performing the next round when t is t +1, and sequentially matching the other serial numbers in the two ordered sequences until the set round is reached.

In this step, specifically, in the first round of matching, t is 0, and the matching result between the workstation and the shelf set is as follows:

workstation W1 receives shelf set PS (1+ t), which is PS1 because t is 0, and then begins processing order set OS 1.

Workstation W2, which receives shelf set PS (2+ t), and since t is 0, PS2, begins processing order set OS 2.

Workstation W3, brought to shelf set PS (3+ t), which is PS3 because t is 0, then begins processing … … order set OS1

Workstation Wn takes shelf set PS (n + t), which is PSn because t is 0, and then starts processing order set OSn.

Fig. 2 shows the correspondence between the workstation W and the shelf set PS at this time, where m is 8, n is 6, and t is 0.

Each process is independent without any coupling, that is, multi-thread processing in computer software can be adopted, so that the processing speed of the whole program can be greatly increased. The main idea is that each workstation obtains a special order set and also obtains a special shelf set, then the inventory of the shelf In the shelf set special for the workstation is used for meeting the order In the special order pool of the workstation, the most suitable order is found, and the most suitable shelf, goods position and inventory are found according to the First-In First-Out (FIFO-First In First Out) rule.

After all the above n tasks are finished, increasing the value of t by 1, that is, t is equal to 1, and then performing matching by using the same algorithm, wherein the matching result is as follows:

workstation W1 receives shelf set PS (1+ t), which is PS2 because t is 1, and then begins processing order set OS 1.

Workstation W2, which receives shelf set PS (2+ t), and since t is 1, PS3, begins processing order set OS 2.

Workstation W3, brought to shelf set PS (3+ t), which is PS4 because t is 1, and then started processing … … order set OS1

The workstation Wn takes the shelf set PS (n + t), which is PS (n +1) because t is 1, and starts processing the order set OSn.

Fig. 3 shows the correspondence between the workstation W and the shelf set PS at this time, where m is 8, n is 6, and t is 1.

In the above fig. 2 and fig. 3, the area where the work station is located can be referred to as an axle, the area where the shelf sets are located can be referred to as tires, the tires rotate around the axle, and finally, each shelf set can be matched with each work station once.

Continuing to loop through the above process, the following table shows the correspondence between the workstation W and the set of shelves PS during all of the loops:

it can be seen that the number of rounds of the cycle is exactly equal to the number of work stations, and after the completion of the whole cycle, each work station has full access to all the shelf sets, which is equivalent to examining the inventory of the whole warehouse.

Further, after the step S103 of alternately matching all shelf sets with the workstations, the method further includes the following step S401:

step S401, dispatching an AGV to carry the shelves in the shelf set currently matched with the workstation to the position of the workstation according to the order set of the workstation.

Further, the step S401 of scheduling an AGV to transport a rack in the rack set currently matching with the workstation to a location of the workstation according to the order set of the workstation includes the following steps S501-S504:

step S501, counting commodity lists of commodities contained in all orders in the order set corresponding to the workstation;

step S502, a shelf list of shelves corresponding to each commodity in the commodity list is generated;

step S503, comparing the shelf list with the shelf numbers contained in the shelf set corresponding to the current workstation to obtain a target shelf list;

step S504, the AGV is scheduled to transport each rack in the target rack list to the position of the workstation.

Through the steps, a part of commodities in the order can be met by using the currently matched shelf set during the period that the workstation is matched with a certain shelf set, and after all the matching rounds of the workstation, all the articles can be sorted by the workstation so that a batch of orders are sorted.

The present invention also provides an article picking device 600 for large batch orders, as shown in fig. 4, which is a schematic diagram of program modules of the article picking device 600 for large batch orders, in this embodiment, the article picking device 600 for large batch orders may include or be divided into one or more program modules, and the one or more program modules are stored in a storage medium and executed by one or more processors to complete the present invention, and the above-mentioned article picking method for large batch orders may be implemented. The program module referred to in the embodiment of the present invention refers to a series of computer program instruction segments capable of performing specific functions, and is more suitable for describing the execution process of the goods picking method for large-batch orders in the storage medium than the program itself. The following description will specifically describe the functions of the program modules of the present embodiment:

an order allocation module 601, configured to allocate each order in a batch of orders to each workstation, so as to obtain an order set corresponding to each workstation;

a shelf grouping module 602 for grouping shelves into a plurality of sets of shelves, the number of sets of shelves being no greater than the total number of workstations; and

a matching module 603, configured to match all shelf sets with the workstations in turn, so that after the round is set, each shelf set is matched with each workstation; wherein the set round equals the total number of workstations, and in the same round each set of shelves is respectively matched with a different workstation.

The flow of the method for picking up goods for large batch orders based on the goods picking device 600 for large batch orders is described in detail in the foregoing, and will not be described herein again.

The invention also provides an article picking system 700 for large batch orders, as shown in fig. 5, which includes a memory 701 and a controller 702, wherein the memory 701 stores an executable program, and the controller 702 can run the executable program to implement the above article picking method for large batch orders.

The method, the device and the system for picking the commodities aiming at the large-batch orders can ensure that each workstation obtains a special order set and also obtains a special shelf set, then the inventory of the shelves in the special shelf set is used for meeting the orders in the special order pool, and the sorting work of each workstation can run concurrently, so that the performance of the sorting system can be greatly expanded, the sorting efficiency is fully improved, and the orders can be fulfilled on time.

The above description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and it should be noted that: it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations can be made without departing from the principles of the invention and these are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of picking orders for large orders, the method comprising:

2. The method of picking orders for items for large orders according to claim 1, wherein said alternately matching all sets of shelves with said workstations comprises:

generating a second ordered sequence of the numbers of all the shelf sets;

3. The method of picking orders for large quantities of items according to claim 2 wherein said matching each number in the second ordered sequence with a corresponding number of consecutive numbers in the first ordered sequence one-to-one at each turn until said set turn is reached comprises:

4. The method of picking orders for items for large batches of orders according to claim 1, wherein said assigning each order within a batch of orders to each workstation comprises:

5. The method of picking orders for items in a large batch of orders as claimed in claim 4, wherein said attributes include the location of the customer, the type of item ordered, the quantity of items ordered, and the type of order.

6. The method of picking orders for large quantities of items according to claim 1, wherein said alternately matching all sets of shelves with said workstations further comprises:

7. The method of picking orders for large batches of orders as claimed in claim 6 wherein said scheduling an AGV to transport a rack within said set of racks currently matched by said workstation to a workstation location based on said set of orders for said workstation comprises:

8. The method of picking orders for items for large orders according to claim 1 wherein said dividing shelves into a plurality of sets of shelves comprises:

9. An article picking device for large batch orders, comprising:

10. An item picking system for large volume orders, comprising a memory having stored therein an executable program and a controller operable to implement the method of picking items for large volume orders as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.