Arrangement for picking goods The present invention relates to an arrangement for simplified picking of goods deliveries in a warehouse with various types of goods, in particular scaffolding parts, comprising a database which is stored and processed on a central or distributed data processing system, a portable data processing device with an integrated scanner for recording individual mark- ings assigned to the goods and information stored thereon as well as means for establishing a two-way data connection with the database and display means for displaying information about the goods or information obtained from a database query.
When picking goods in a warehouse, the problem arises that the person picking has to process a list of the goods to be picked in the form of entries, type of goods and goods number.
This means that goods of a given type should be removed from the warehouse in a given number.
In order to keep the inventory up to date, the number of goods removed must be entered in a central register after picking.
Such an approach considers the individ- ual goods of a type of goods to be completely interchangeable, so that it is no longer pos- sible to draw conclusions from the delivered goods later as to when a particular delivered goods was manufactured, for example.
In the completely manual procedure used previously, the number of goods removed was entered manually into the inventory list.
Likewise, the picking list to be processed, i.e. the list with the types of goods to be picked for a specific delivery and the number required, had to be updated manually during picking.
This usually took place in such a way that the num- ber of goods already picked was entered as a tally list or as a number on a printout of the picking list.
Likewise, the existing numbers of the affected types of goods were updated manually in the inventory list of the warehouse in accordance with the number of goods of the respective types picked.
There was a more or less long delay between updating the inventory and picking.
It could even happen that deliveries of goods were to be picked for which there was still a sufficient number of goods according to the inventory list, but which had actually already been picked elsewhere.
Another disadvantage was that the inventory list was only available internally.
A semi-automatic process is also known in which the goods are treated individually by as-
signing, in particular gluing, a marking with marking information to each goods after produc- tion.
The marking information is in particular coded, for example as a bar or matrix code,
and includes at least one goods identifier, or goods ID for short, in particular a serial number of the goods.
The marking can in particular be stuck on in the form of a label.
This makes it possible to subsequently track the place and time of manufacture of a particular good.
Fur- thermore, information about the current location or about a possible purchaser of the goods as well as other information relevant to this individual goods, such as the result of a quality measurement or the like, can be stored under this goods ID in a database.
The picking of goods and the provision of goods-specific information in such a system is even more complex than in a classic warehouse of the type described at the beginning, in — which all goods of a type are treated as completely identical and interchangeable.
The pick- ing and updating of the inventory in such a semi-automatic system can include: reading the marking via scanner, updating a picking list in the form of a file which is stored on the scan- ner or another decentralized data processing device, transmitting this file to a database stored centrally on a server, which represents an inventory list, transferring it from the da- — tabase to an online storage and finally making this information available online via a corre- sponding online interface.
According to the state of the art, all of these data transfer steps from the picking list to the database to the data available online reguire manual entry of the relevant data in the re- quired form, which involves a massive amount of time.
The published European patent application EP 1835375 A1 describes a rental management system in which a mobile terminal can read an ID code assigned to a rental item and ex- change data about the rental status with a server via a radio connection and display a list of rental items of a reservation for a customer to a user.
The publication US 2016/034938 A1 proposes a data processing system for a department store comprising a portable terminal connected to a database server, with the portable ter- minal being able to scan product information or storage location codes and retrieving data regarding the storage location from the database server.
The utility model DE 20 2015 009 734 U1 discloses an arrangement for identifying scaffold- ing parts in which the scaffolding parts are provided with marking labels by which they can be clearly assigned, the assignment information being stored in a database on a server and there by means of of a communication device.
In the published European patent application EP 3190552 A2 a system is presented which supports customers in a department store in finding the goods listed on a list by marking transmitters of the goods containers sending out an ID with which they can be found by the customer's mobile device.
When the mobile device approaches the goods container you are looking for, a light lights up on it to make it easier to see.
Against this background, the object of the present invention is to find an arrangement which simplifies and accelerates the picking of goods in a warehouse with goods marked by indi- vidual goods identifiers.
This object is solved by an arrangement according to claim 1.
An essential feature is the communication of a portable data processing device with an integrated marking detection means, for example a scanner or a camera in conjunction with
— image evaluation means, for reading the marking information of the goods in the ware- house.
One or more lists of goods deliveries to be picked (picking lists) are stored in the database, which can be accessed by the mobile data processing device.
When picking such a delivery,
a picking person equipped with the portable data processing device can gradually process the goods to be picked in the warehouse.
For this purpose, the goods markings are scanned and, among other things, the unique goods ID and the type of goods are read out.
The picking list is updated based on the goods type, i.e. the number of goods to be picked from the goods type that has just been imported is reduced.
Furthermore, the goods ID and the type of goods are communicated to the database, which removes them from an overall inventory list of available goods.
At the same time, the database can assign the individual goods to the goods delivery, so that a later check can determine exactly which individual part, identified by its ID, was delivered with a specific delivery.
The information in the database can also be at least partially viewable via a corresponding application from a public, non-local network, for example the Internet.
For example, by en- tering a goods ID, the history and current location or the current owner of a part can be viewed.
By entering a type of goods, the available number of goods of this type can be displayed.
A further advantage of the arrangement according to the invention for picking the delivery of goods and tracking goods is that after delivery of a goods, a clear assignment of the owner or owner of the goods is possible by reading the goods marking.
This advantageously prevents mix-ups or theft of goods.
The most important advantage, however, lies in the simplification of the picking process itself.
Whereas, according to the state of the art, a list of goods, whether in paper or elec- tronic form, has to be processed manually and the goods that have already been picked must be removed by hand, this is also done during picking -fe of the arrangement according to the present invention is advantageously automated, i.e. the goods are removed from the list automatically after the goods marking has been scanned.
As soon as the number of goods still to be picked from the given goods deliveries reaches the value '0', this type of goods can be deleted from the list and no longer displayed to the — picker.
This advantageously improves clarity.
According to the invention, the data processing device is prepared, if there is a data con- nection to a database, to send a query to the database when detecting the marking of a product for the purpose of picking whether this product is still available or has already been picked.
Only in the first case will the goods be removed from the list, but otherwise the picker will be given a visual or audio-visual indication that the goods are no longer available.
Furthermore, according to the invention, the information and functions available during a database query in query mode depend on the access network in which the querying device — is registered.
Only when accessing from a local network of the data processing system executing the database, for example a server computer, is full access including write au- thorization to change the data stored in the database under an individual product or in the inventory of goods permitted from a non-local network, for example a public network such as the Internet, there is no full access, but preferably only read authorization.
The distinction between local and non-local networks is based on a network address of the reguesting device, in particular an IP address.
Further advantageous embodiments of the present invention, which can be implemented individually or in combination, provided they are not obviously mutually exclusive, will be explained below.
5 The markings are preferably labels glued to the goods, in particular plastic labels, which are difficult to remove and in particular cannot be removed without being destroyed.
This can be achieved by the label being made of a comparatively fragile material, such as thin paper, preferably with a thickness between 0.05 and 0.5 mm, and/or a strong adhesive for attach- ment the goods are used.
The marked goods are particularly preferably scaffolding parts.
The product markings are attached in a place that is exposed to the least stress when the part is in use, but is also easily accessible for scanning the marking.
The goods to be picked can be in containers that contain more than one product of a single type or even several different types.
It is proposed, in a particularly preferred embodiment of the picking system according to the invention, to assign each container its own container identifier, or container-ID for short, as well as a container marking.
In the database, the individual contained goods are entered under each container, if necessary indicating the respective type of goods.
When picking a delivery that includes a number of goods of a certain type that exceeds the number of goods contained in a container, the container mark- ing can also be read instead of reading all of the contained goods’ markings individually.
All goods in this container are automatically marked as already picked in the database and the number of goods still to be picked in the picking list saved locally on the portable data pro-
cessing device is reduced by the number of goods (still) contained in the container.
According to further preferred embodiments of the invention, this can also be applied to containers that have already been opened and which do not contain the full, usual number of goods, but rather one or more goods have already been removed, so that there is only a remainder of goods in the container remains.
The labels stuck to the marking contain the individual goods ID as well as information about the type of goods, which can also be integrated into the goods ID itself, as well as preferably a registration number for the type of goods in question.
The preparation of the data processing device for functionality, in particular the interaction with the database and the reading of the goods marking and the processing of picking lists, is preferably carried out by installing appropriate software.
In preferred embodiments, the data processing device or the software running on it has a picking mode, which allows the picking of goods according to the procedure described above, and also a guery mode, which is independent of a picking list and in which the de- vice, when reading a product marking, displays information about this product.
To do this, the device sends a database guery to the database stating the goods ID read in and re-
— ceives information about this part from the database, such as manufacturing time and loca- tion, current owner or assignment to an already picked delivery of goods.
In particularly preferred embodiments, the arrangement according to the invention com- prises a data processing device connected via a non-local, preferably public network such asthe Internet, on which a web application is executed which can interact with the database via the non-local network.
In particular, this opens up the possibility of obtaining information about this individual product (authenticated access) or just about the type of product (unau- thenticated access) by entering a product ID, depending on access rights.
Authentication can be carried out by specifying credentials to a user control system that interacts with the database.
The software on the portable data processing device, the web application of the data pro- cessing device connected via a non-local network and, in some embodiments, the user control system communicate with the database preferably via an application programming interface, or API (Application Programming Interface) for short, which The form of data that can be exchanged between applications is standardized through binding data type defini- tions.
Two preferred embodiments in particular are provided for the portable data processing de- vice.
The first is a scanner, i.e. data processing device with an integrated scanner unit, in particular an infrared scanner unit, i.e. a unit which enables the detection of a code, for example a bar code or a 2D matrix code, with the necessary optical detection means and connects the data processing means required to analyze the collected data, including soft- ware, in a dedicated, self-contained unit, which provides the information extracted from the code as output.
Furthermore, a second embodiment is provided in which the data processing device is a commercially available smartphone or a tablet or similar device with an integrated optical camera, with image evaluation software running on the data processing device, which an- alyzes images captured with the camera and a Performs bar or 2D matrix code recognition.
The first embodiment is significantly faster in detecting markings than the second and, if a scanner unit with an infrared camera is used, can reliably read product markings, especially in poor lighting conditions.
For this reason, goods deliveries are preferably picked using mobile data processing devices of the first described embodiment.
However, it is also pos-
sible with a mobile data processing device in the second embodiment.
The latter are partic- ularly suggested for implementing the query mode.
Whether the full data set or only part of a data set for a product can be read out during a query can be decided either based on the access network or based on additional criteria,
— such as previous authentication through a user control system.
After logging into an account in the user control system with valid credentials, all of the information stored under a product ID can be displayed.
— Further details, features and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the exemplary embodiments described in more detail below with reference to the figures.
These embodiments are intended merely to illustrate the present invention and in no way limit its generality.
— Itis shown in:
Figure 1: A schematic overview of an embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention.
Figure 2: Views of a portable data processing device with a scanner unit.
Figure 3: An example of a label used to mark goods.
Figure 4: An example of a goods picking list.
Figure 5: A schematic overview of the further infrastructure into which the goods pick- ing system according to the invention is integrated.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic overview of a simple embodiment of the order picking arrange- ment according to the invention. On the hardware side, it includes the data processing system SE, a portable data pro- cessing device M1 with a scanner unit SC, a portable data processing device M2 with a camera CA and a data processing device C. Data processing device M1 and the data pro- cessing system SE communicate via data connection DV in a local data network L, whereas — the Data connection DV with the data processing devices M2 and C takes place via a non- local network N. The database DB is stored on the data processing system SE, which contains an inventory list of the warehouse with information about all goods currently available in the warehouse — with their individual goods IDs and also about all goods ever recorded in the system, even if they have already been sold and have been delivered. In addition, the database contains goods picking lists corresponding to received orders, which include one or more entries of the form (type of goods, number) and are assigned to an orderer and/or recipient, whereby the orderer and recipient can be identical or different. On the software side, the database DB running on the data processing system SE, the software S running on the portable data processing devices and the web application W running on the stationary data processing device C are available. A central role is played by the application program interface API, which standardizes the data communication between the software components of the order picking system accord- ing to the invention and thus enables the easy integration of new components. When picking, the portable data processing device M1 is preferably used, whose dedicated scanner unit SC allows the marking labels E of the goods W, here scaffolding parts, to be quickly scanned, even under adverse conditions, such as from oblique angles or in poor lighting conditions. A picking list to be processed can be loaded from the database DB onto the data processing device M1 and shown there on the display B. When the marking E of a product W is scanned, the product type is recognized and, if available, reduced by one in — the product type entry in the picking list.
As part of the invention, it is also intended to read containers with several goods at once, either by reading in a container ID, recognizing it as such and changing the entry in the picking list for this type of goods, if available The number of goods still in the container is reduced, with this remaining number being determined by querying the database.
After scanning a product, a database query is always carried out to determine whether this individual product has already been picked.
Only if this is not the case will the picking list be updated accordingly; otherwise, the person picking will be given appropriate feedback via an audio signal and an indication on display B that the goods are no longer available.
As soon as the required number of goods of a product type has been picked, the corre- sponding entry from the goods list is removed in order to keep the list display as clear as possible and to provide simple feedback as to when the picking is completed: namely, if only an empty list is still displayed.
If a scanned product type is no longer present on the picking list, either no action is taken or the query mode is temporarily switched to.
The second portable data processing device M2 is preferably used in query mode, i.e. to query information about a specific, individual product, here scaffolding part W', from the database and to obtain information about the owner or planned location of part T.
For this purpose, the marking M of the part T is recorded with the camera CA of the device M2 and the goods ID of the part T is determined by image processing and sent via the network N to the database, which contains the goods ID for this part T sends available information — back to the device M2. Using the web application WA running on the stationary computer C, information about this product or just the type of product, such as approval number, weight, dimensions or the like, can be gueried from the database by entering a specific product ID .
However, write access to the database is not possible via the non-local data connection DV with the data processing system SE and the database DB running on it - the data processing devices M2 and C.
FIGS. 2 - 4 show embodiments of individual elements of the picking system of the present invention. In FIG. 2, a mobile data processing device with an integrated scanner unit according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in various views. Partial figure A shows a perspective exaggerated front view of the data processing device M1, in which the optical detection means IR of the scanner unit SC and the display B can be seen on a front end face of the housing G. — Partial figure B shows a perspective bottom view, which also shows the optical detection means IR on the front end of the housing G.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a preferred goods marking, in the form of a marking label E intended for scaffolding parts. In addition to non-coded information about the part manufac- — turer and the approval number of the scaffolding part, the essential information according to the invention is the goods ID SN printed in coded form as a QR code.
FIG. 4 shows an exemplary picking list, as displayed on the display means of the portable device during picking. In addition to the part number, which reflects the type of goods, and the quantity to be picked, there is also information about the weight of the item and information about the dimensions. Both of these make it easier for the person picking the goods to better plan the loading of the delivery, which usually follows the picking. For example, if the transport vehi- cle used is also specified, it can be monitored whether its payload or the existing loading — space is exceeded.
FIG. 5 shows a schematic overview of further infrastructure into which the order picking system of the present invention is integrated as a partial aspect. Further internal components in addition to the picking system 1 according to the invention, — which includes a database DB, a ‘Kommi-tool’ software and a scanner app that communi- cates with a label printer, are applications that provide access to the database DB for pro- duction (“black goods tool”) , which provide accounting (“Daily Numbers”) and business management (*Smart-ID Backend”). Another external component is a customer application, which is executed on a customer's data processing device. A DMZ proxy forms the interface between internal and external components.
The other components of the infrastructure access the DB database of the picking system 1, in which the entries for the parts available in the warehouse, the deliveries to be picked and the Customers and locations are stored.
List of reference signs 1 picking arrangement SE data processing system, server
M1, M2 portable data processing devices SC scanner unit IR detection means CA camera
C computer B display of M1, M2, C W good, scaffolding part E marking label SN goods identifier (coded)
DB database S picking and guery software API application programming interface WA web-application
KL picking list DV data connection KA customer application L local network
N non-local network