TW202305730A - Method and device for providing time information regarding delivery of items - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for providing time information related to delivery of an item by an electronic device includes checking a store, checking first information about one or more delivery workers assigned to the store, checking second information about a time taken for an item of the store to be delivered to a customer, checking third information about an estimated required time taken for an item of the store to be delivered after an order for the item is placed on the basis of the first information and the second information, and providing the third information.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing time information about item shipments

The present invention relates to a method and electronic device for providing time information related to the delivery of goods.

Recently, the act of going to a restaurant to eat or going to a market to purchase a product has decreased due to various phenomena. Instead, an ordering method is replaced by a method of purchasing food, products and the like through an application. In this method of purchasing items online, it is necessary to notify a buyer of an estimated delivery time of the item so that the buyer can receive the corresponding item. As a document in the related art related to this, there is Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1517514.

However, in the procedure of notifying the purchaser of the estimated delivery arrival time as described above, it is necessary to calculate and jointly manage the time related to the order by one of the managers of the corresponding store. In addition, there is a need to manage the workers assigned to each order so that items can be shipped from the store to the shipping address smoothly.

[Technical target]

One aspect provides a method and electronic device for providing time information related to the shipment of an item. Technical matters to be achieved by the example embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned technical matters, and other technical matters can be inferred from the following example embodiments. [Technical solution]

According to an aspect, there is provided a method for providing, via an electronic device, time information related to the shipment of an item, comprising: checking a store; checking for information about one or more shipping workers (or driver) first information; check the second information about the time it takes to deliver an item of the store to a customer; third information about an estimated time it takes to ship the item after the order; and providing the third information.

According to another aspect, there is provided a terminal associated with a store and configured to provide time information for shipment of an item, the terminal comprising: a communication device; an output device; and a processor, It is operatively coupled to the communication device and the output device, and the processor is configured to: receive, from an electronic device associated with shipment of the item, information about a shipment of an item in the store after an order is placed through the communication device information about an estimated time spent on the item; and providing, through the output device, a page containing the estimated time information. The estimated time required information may be calculated based on first information about one or more shipping personnel assigned to the store and second information about a time taken to ship an item of the store to a customer.

Specific details of other example embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings. [effect]

According to the present invention, a store manager can manage orders and delivery staff of one of his stores, and based on this, the store manager can check statistical information about his store, so that there is an effect of increasing store management efficiency.

In addition, a system can calculate an average required time based on the store's order history or receive a fixed required time, and can quickly perform a time calculation for each operation from ordering to returning to the store based on the acquired time information , without complex procedures.

The effects of the present invention will not be limited to the above-mentioned effects and those skilled in the art will clearly understand other unmentioned effects from the following claims.

The terms used in the example embodiments are general terms widely used at present while considering their respective functions in the present invention. However, these terms may vary depending on the intention of the skilled artisan, legal precedent, the advent of new technology, and the like. Also, in some cases, there may be terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail in the corresponding description. Therefore, the terms used herein should not be simply interpreted as names, but should be based on the meaning of the terms and the overall context of the present invention.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "comprise" a component, unless otherwise specifically defined, it means that the part does not exclude other components and may further include other components. In addition, the terms "... part", "... module" and the like refer to a unit that performs at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software or in hardware and Implemented in one of the combinations of software.

The expression "at least one of a, b and c" should be understood to include only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c or all of a, b and c .

The term "terminal" mentioned below may be implemented as a computer or a portable terminal capable of accessing a server or another terminal through a network. Here, the computer may include, for example, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and a notebook computer equipped with a web browser. The portable terminal can be a wireless communication device ensuring a portability and a mobility, and includes any type of handheld wireless communication device, for example, a tablet program counter (PC), a smart phone, a Communication-based terminals such as International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), W-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE).

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present invention, which are readily carried out by those skilled in the art, will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments described herein. In the present invention, an item may refer to a single item, or may refer to a group of items of the same type. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for providing time information related to item shipments, according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a system 1 for providing time information related to item delivery may include an electronic device 10 , a manager terminal 20 , a customer terminal 30 and a delivery worker terminal 40 . In the system 1 shown in FIG. 1 for providing time information related to item delivery, only components related to this example embodiment are shown. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that, in addition to the components shown in FIG. 1 , other common components may be further included.

The electronic device 10 and the terminals 20, 30 and 40 can communicate with each other through a network (not shown). Here, the network may include any one or more combination of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a value added network (VAN), a mobile radio communication network and a satellite communication network. In addition, the network is an integrated data communication network that allows the network components of FIG. 1 to communicate with each other smoothly, and may include a wired Internet, a wireless Internet, and a mobile wireless communication network. Wireless communication can be, for example, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) LAN, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, ZigBee, Wi-Fi direct (WFD), Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communication, Near Field Communication ( NFC) or the like, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may be a device included in a server for managing at least one store. For example, the electronic device 10 can manage the server to configure a management page for each store.

The electronic device 10 can check a store to provide time information. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may receive order information from the client terminal 30, and check a store in which pick-up and pick-up of items for delivery may be performed based on the received order information. For example, the customer terminal 30 may request an order by specifying a store, and in this case, the order information received from the customer terminal 30 may be one or more orders of the specified store. Alternatively, a location of the customer terminal 30 may be confirmed as a destination for receiving items, and a nearby store may be specified based on the location of the customer terminal 30 . Additionally, the electronic device 10 may assign a picker or both a picker and a shipping worker to each of the one or more orders received from the client terminal 30 .

The electronic device 10 may check the first information about one or more delivery workers assigned to the store. Additionally, second information regarding a time taken to ship an item of the store to a customer may be checked. According to an example embodiment, the first information may include a number of available transport workers among the one or more transport workers. At this time, the first information can be determined according to multiple pieces of information provided by one or more delivery personnel terminals 40 . For example, the delivery staff terminal 40 may provide the electronic device 10 with information including at least one of a delivery assignment waiting status, an item delivery status, and a return to store status. Through this, the electronic device 10 can check the available transport workers.

According to an example embodiment, the second information can be determined according to the information received by the manager terminal 20 . For example, the manager terminal 20 may receive an average required time taken to ship an item of the store after placing an order for the item based on an order history related to the store. Alternatively, the average required time may be calculated by the electronic device 10 based on the order history associated with the store. In addition, the manager terminal 20 may receive a fixed required time for shipping an item after placing an order, and provide the fixed required time to the electronic device 10 .

The electronic device 10 may check third information about an estimated required time taken to ship an item in a store after placing an order for the item based on the first information and the second information. In addition, the electronic device 10 can provide the third information to the administrator terminal 20 . According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may receive from the manager terminal 20 an average required time taken to ship an item after placing an order, and check the average required time as the third information. According to another example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may obtain one of the costs to ship an item after placing an order based on an order history that includes a plurality of pieces of information about the time it takes to ship an item after placing an order for the store. Average time required. Additionally, the third information may be calculated by checking the number of available delivery workers based on the first information. According to another example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may receive from the manager terminal 20 a fixed required time it takes to ship an item in a store after placing an order for the item, and determine based on the first information that the time required to ship the item in one or more Whether there are delivery workers waiting for delivery assignment among the delivery workers. In addition, when there is a delivery worker waiting for delivery assignment among the one or more delivery workers, the third information can be checked based on the fixed required time. Alternatively, when there is no shipping worker waiting for a shipping assignment among the one or more shipping workers, the shipping worker in a return-to-store state may additionally be checked from among the one or more shipping workers. At this time, when there is no transport worker in a return state, one or more transport workers are listed based on the transport start time, and the first required time can be checked based on the fixed required time of the transport worker with the earliest transport start time. Three information. Alternatively, when there are shipping workers in a return state, one or more shipping workers are listed based on the time to return to the store, and the first order can be checked against the shipping worker with the earliest return time based on the fixed required time. Three information. At this time, since one of the pick-up operations of the items can be performed when the delivery worker returns to the store, it is possible to calculate by excluding an estimated time required for picking up an item at the store after placing an order for the item. Calculate the third information.

A user can select a store to manage item delivery in the manager terminal 20, or the manager terminal 20 can provide an order management page based on user information. For example, based on the identification (ID) of a user accessing the system 1 for providing time information, the system 1 for providing time information of the present invention can provide information for checking about a store managed by the corresponding user And manage one of the pages of the store accordingly.

The manager terminal 20 may receive information from the electronic device 10 about an estimated required time taken to ship an item of a store after placing an order for the item, and output a page including the information about the estimated required time. At this point, estimated required time information may be calculated based on first information about one or more shipping personnel assigned to the store and second information about a time taken to ship an item of the store to a customer.

The client terminal 30 can receive an order-related request from a user. For example, the user may select an item and input a purchase request for the corresponding item in the client terminal 30 . In addition, the client terminal 30 can transmit the received purchase request to the electronic device 10 . At this time, the information transmitted from the client terminal 30 to the electronic device 10 may include information about the user who has selected the item. Information about the user may be used to designate a store for item delivery.

The shipping worker terminal 40 is a terminal of a user who ships items, and the user can check the order information assigned to him through the shipping worker terminal 40 . For example, the user can check information on an item to be shipped by him and information on a shipping address through the shipping worker terminal 40 . In addition, the user can transmit information about one of its current statuses (eg, a shipping assignment waiting status, an item shipping status, or a returning to store status) to the electronic device 10 through the shipping worker terminal 40 . According to an example embodiment, the user of the delivery worker terminal 40 may be a user who is assigned to a specific store and is exclusively responsible for delivery for the corresponding store, and therefore, the delivery worker terminal 40 of the user who is waiting to deliver the assignment Can be targeted within a specific range of assigned stores.

FIG. 2 illustrates a view of an order management page 200 before assigning a store, according to an example embodiment.

According to an example embodiment, an order management page 200 may exist for each store, and an administrator of each store may access one of the order management pages to manage order information and shipping information associated with the order.

According to an example embodiment, in the order management page 200 before specifying a store, the time information related to item delivery may be displayed as "0". Therefore, after specifying a store, a user can check the order status information from the order management page 200 . The user can directly select a store to be managed by himself, or the server can automatically select a store for the user based on the location of one of the user's terminals.

With reference to Fig. 2, because it refers to the state before assigning a store, so the map information 210 is in a state of unspecified store, and in the map information 210, it can be used as a default display of one of the current location of the user or previously assigned by the corresponding terminal. The location of the managed store. In addition, since this is the state before the store is assigned, "0" minutes may be displayed for the time information 220 .

FIG. 3 illustrates a view of an order management page 300 for displaying information about an order in progress, according to an example embodiment.

According to an example embodiment, the order management page 300 may include map information 310 . Since FIG. 3 illustrates an order management page 300 in which a store is specified, the map information 310 may be based on a location of the store. The map information 310 may include indicators of at least one of a delivery worker who is within a predetermined range from the location of the store, a shipping assignment pending state, an item shipping status, and a returning to store status. For example, an indicator 311 of a designated store may be displayed in the center of a map, and an indicator 312 of a delivery worker waiting for a delivery assignment may be displayed as an indication of waiting around the store. An indicator 313 of a delivery worker who is in an item delivery state and an indicator 314 of a delivery worker returning after delivery may also be displayed on the map based on the actual location of the delivery worker. These indicators 312 , 313 and 314 of the delivery worker may be displayed based on pieces of information received from the delivery worker terminal 40 .

The order management page 300 may include information 320 regarding an estimated time it takes to ship an item after an order is placed. The information 320 on the estimated required time may be information of an order selected from among the orders related to the items of the store, but may be time information commonly applied to the orders related to the items of the store. One method of calculating the estimated required time will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

According to an example embodiment, the order management page 300 may include in-progress order related information 330 . According to an example embodiment, the order-in-progress related information 330 may include an order identifier, customer information of the person who placed the order, a shipping-related order status, an estimated time required, and an elapsed time since the order information was received At least one of the information and staff assignment status information.

Specifically, the order identifier may be an order number managed in the store. In addition, the customer information of the person who placed the order may be the identification information based on the personal information input by a buyer to place the order by accessing the store online. For example, a buyer may enter a name, a shipping address, and their contact information for an item purchase, and based on this, the customer may be identified.

A shipping-related order status refers to one of the shipping statuses of items under an order. For example, a shipping-related order status may include the status of an item waiting for pickup, in pickup, awaiting delivery, and in delivery. The estimated required time information refers to time information that is information on an estimated required time taken to ship an item after an order for the item is placed. The estimated time required information may be different for each order and may be commonly applied when placing an order for the same store. In the latter case, the time can also be confirmed at the estimated required time information 320 .

The elapsed time information includes time information from a time point when the store receives the customer's order information to a current time point. Also, the elapsed time information may further include tag information, which may be based on whether an item's delivery completion time exceeds the estimated required time and whether a worker has been assigned during a predetermined period of time from a point in time when the order information is received one of them to judge. Specifically, when the delivery completion time of the item exceeds the estimated required time, the corresponding order is marked as a missed order. In addition, when the delivery completion time of the item is within the estimated required time, the corresponding order is marked as one of the orders processed on time. In addition, when a worker has not been assigned within a predetermined period of time from the point in time when the order information is received, the corresponding order is marked as a delayed order. For example, a corresponding order may be displayed as a delayed order when a picker has not been assigned within two minutes from the point in time when the order information was received and thus an item pickup operation has not even started. Alternatively, an order may be shown as a delayed order when pickup of the item is complete, but delivery of the item has not begun because a shipping worker has not been assigned within three minutes from the point at which the pickup operation was completed.

Referring to FIG. 3 , when the estimated time required for an order related to a store is set to 12 minutes, an order that takes 12 minutes and 1 second from a time point of receiving order information to a time point of completing a delivery can be An order tagged with a "missed order" tag 331 and taking 6 minutes and 59 seconds from the point in time when the order information was received to the point in time to complete a shipment may be tagged with a "order processed on time" tag 333 . Additionally, an order that has not been assigned a picker within 2 minutes and 59 seconds from the point in time when the order information was received may be marked with a "delayed order" tag 332 .

The worker assignment status information indicates whether a worker including a picker or a shipping worker is assigned for each order. For example, worker assignment status information may include the status of a worker being assigned or not being assigned, and may display information about the assigned worker. For example, the type and name, identifier, or the like of a worker may be displayed as worker information. In a state where no worker is assigned, an "unassigned" indication can be used to activate an interface for manually requesting the assignment of a worker. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may assign only a picker to each of the one or more orders, or assign both a picker and a shipping worker at the same time. Thus, the status of unassigned worker may include all statuses of not assigned a picker, status of not assigned a delivery worker, and status of neither a picker nor a delivery worker assigned. In the state of assigning a worker, information about the worker (a picker or a delivery worker) can be displayed, for example, "driver C" or "clerk A", and can be activated for requesting unassignment (instruction interface for "unassigning") or reassigning (indicated as "reassigning") a worker.

According to an example embodiment, the order management page 300 may include statistical information 340 of the store. Statistical information 340 may include order-related statistical information 341 and staff-related statistical information 342 . Order-related statistical information 341 may include the number of orders that shipped during a predetermined time period and the number of orders that shipped within an estimated required time compared to the number of orders that shipped during the predetermined time period. Referring to Figure 3, it can be seen that the store has fulfilled 800 orders in one day, of which 788 orders were shipped within the estimated required time, resulting in an overall on-time fulfillment rate of 98.5%.

In addition, the order-related statistical information 341 may further include ongoing order statistical information. Specifically, the statistical information of ongoing orders may include information summarized according to the shipping progress status of the current order in progress, excluding orders that have been shipped. In-progress order statistics may include information about an order in a waiting state, an order in a picking state, an order in a waiting state, and an order in a shipping state. With reference to Fig. 3, it can be seen that currently in the store, 28 orders are in progress, of which 2 orders are in a state of waiting for delivery, 8 orders are in a state of picking up goods, 3 orders are in a state of waiting for delivery, and 15 orders are in a state of waiting for delivery. orders are in a shipping state.

Worker related statistics 342 may indicate the number of pickers or shipping workers working on each shipping progress status of an in-progress order. Worker related statistics 342 may include numbers related to the number of pickers waiting for pickup assignments, the number of pickers performing a pickup operation, the number of delivery workers waiting for pickup assignments, At least one of multiple pieces of information related to the number of delivery workers and the number of delivery workers returning to the store. Referring to Figure 3, it can be seen that currently in the store, 27 workers are assigned to the order, 1 of which is waiting for pickup, 8 are performing a pickup operation, 0 are waiting for a shipping operation, and 15 are performing a delivery operation. Shipping operation, and 3 are being returned to the store. In addition, through the worker-related statistical information 342, it can also be inferred that among the 27 workers assigned to the store, 9 are pickers and 21 are delivery workers.

FIG. 4 illustrates a view of an order management page 400 for displaying shipping result information according to an example embodiment.

According to an example embodiment, the order management page 400 may include map information 410 , estimated required time information 420 and statistical information 440 , and a description thereof will refer to FIG. 3 .

According to an example embodiment, the order management page 400 may further include shipping result information 430 . Shipping result information 430 may include an order identifier, customer information of the person who placed the order, a shipping related order status, an estimated time required, a total shipping time, a shipping completion time, an estimated return time of the shipping worker, and the shipping At least one piece of staff information. The description of the order identifier, the customer information of the orderer and the elapsed time information will refer to the description of the ongoing order related information 330 in FIG. 3 .

In the shipping result information 430, the shipping-related order status refers to an order status after shipping an item to a customer has been completed. For example, shipping-related order status may include (of a shipping worker) a shipping complete status and a return status. The delivery time information includes the time taken from the time point of receiving the order information to the completion of a delivery. In addition, the delivery time information may further include label information, and the label information may be determined based on whether the delivery completion time of the item exceeds an estimated required time. For example, when an item's shipping completion time exceeds the estimated required time, the corresponding order may be marked with a "missed order" tag. In addition, when the delivery completion time of the item is within the estimated required time, the corresponding order can be marked with a "order processed on time" tag.

Referring to FIG. 4 , when the estimated time required for an order related to a store is set to 12 minutes, an order that takes 11 minutes and 35 seconds from a point of time when order information is received to a point of time when a delivery is completed can be taken An order marked as an "order processed on time" tag 431 and an order that took 12 minutes and 1 second from the point in time when the order information was received to the point in time to complete a shipment may be marked as a "missed order" tag 432 .

The delivery completion time information in the delivery result information 430 indicates a time of the delivered item. Additionally, the estimated return time for the shipping worker indicates an estimated time for the shipping worker to arrive at the store based on the shipping completion time information. Additionally, the shipping crew information may also include information about a shipping crew that has completed a shipment.

Figure 5 is a view related to an example of collating second information about a required time taken to ship an item to a customer, according to an example embodiment.

According to an example embodiment, the second information may be determined based on information input by a manager of the store. Specifically, the electronic device 10 may receive from the manager terminal 20 an estimated required time taken to ship an item after placing an order for the item at the store, and may check the received estimated required time as third information . According to an example embodiment, an estimated lead time for each order may be entered, and the estimated lead time for each order at the corresponding store may be entered.

Referring to FIG. 5, the user can arbitrarily input an estimated time required for an order of one of the stores. In FIG. 5, the user sets that it takes 12 minutes to complete a shipment of an item. In this case, the estimated time required for one of the corresponding orders may be displayed as 12 minutes in each of the manager terminal 20, the customer terminal 30, and the delivery worker terminal 40.

FIG. 6 is a view related to an example of collating second information about the time required to ship an item to a customer, according to an example embodiment.

According to an example embodiment, the system 1 for providing time information related to item shipping may obtain an average required time taken to ship an item after placing an order based on an order history related to a store. At this time, the average required time can be input from the manager terminal 20 and can also be calculated in the electronic device 10 .

Additionally, the system 1 for providing time information may obtain the number of available shipping workers based on information about one or more shipping workers assigned to the store. This may be information provided by the server based on store information. In addition, the system 1 for providing time information can calculate an estimated required time based on the acquired average required time and the number of transport workers. For example, when it is determined that the number of delivery workers is insufficient to satisfy the average required time, the estimated required time may be calculated to be extended, and in the opposite case, the estimated required time may be further shortened. In addition, the estimated required time can also be calculated by further checking the delivery workers waiting for delivery assignments from among the available delivery workers. For example, the estimated required time can be calculated to extend when there are no delivery workers waiting for a delivery assignment, and in the opposite case, the estimated required time can be calculated based on the obtained average required time.

Referring to FIG. 6 , in an interface 601 , the user can input a request for calculating the estimated required time. In an interface 602, the user can input an average required time 610 or receive the average required time 610 from the server. Additionally, a number 620 of available delivery crews may be received from the server. An interface 603 illustrates an instance in which a user changes a setting of an average required time 630 from 7 minutes to 8 minutes, according to an example embodiment. An interface 604 depicts, according to an example embodiment, through the manager terminal 20 as shown in FIG. Optionally enter an instance of an estimated time required. The mode of automatically calculating the estimated required time and the mode of directly inputting the estimated required time can be switched to each other through a switching interface 640 .

According to another example embodiment, the system 1 for providing time information may receive a fixed required time taken to ship an item in a store after placing an order for the item. The fixed required time can be input from the manager terminal 20 . The fixed required time is a time interval (or time window) that can be arbitrarily set by the user without considering the history of orders related to the store, which is different from the average required time. In addition, the fixed required time is applied to one of the time intervals from the start of delivery to the completion of item delivery (delivery completion) and return to the store. That is, the fixed required time applies to each time interval (or time window) from start of shipment to completion of shipment, from completion of shipment to return to store, and furthermore from start of shipment to completion of shipment for the next order.

The system 1 for providing time information may determine whether there is a delivery worker waiting for a delivery assignment based on information about one or more delivery workers assigned to the store. Estimated delivery time information may be checked against a fixed required time when there are delivery workers waiting for delivery assignments among the one or more delivery workers. For example, when the fixed required time is 10 minutes, it may be estimated that it will take 10 minutes for the delivery worker to pick up the item and complete the delivery. Alternatively, according to another previously described example embodiment, when there are shipping workers waiting for a shipping assignment, the estimated shipping time may be determined based on the obtained average required time.

According to an example embodiment, when there is no delivery worker waiting for a delivery assignment among the one or more delivery workers, the system 1 for providing time information may further check from the one or more delivery workers in a return to The delivery staff of the store status. According to an example embodiment, when there are no delivery workers in a return status, one or more delivery workers may be listed based on the delivery start time. Additionally, the third information may be checked against the shipping worker with the earliest shipping start time based on a fixed required time. For example, when the fixed required time is 7 minutes, it can be achieved by applying 7 minutes to the three times from the start of the shipment to the completion of the shipment, from the completion of the shipment to the return to the store, and from the return to the store to the completion of the shipment of the next order interval (or time window) and the estimated time required is calculated as 21 minutes. Also, when there are shipping workers in a return status, one or more shipping workers may be listed based on the time to return to the store. In addition, the third information can be checked based on a fixed required time for the shipping worker with the earliest return time. For example, when the fixed required time is 7 minutes, it can be calculated by applying a time interval (or time window) of 7 minutes from the return to the store to the completion of the shipment of the next order as the estimated return time of the shipping worker Estimated time required. At this time, since one of the pick-up operations of the items can be performed when the delivery worker returns to the store, it is possible to calculate by excluding an estimated time required for picking up an item at the store after placing an order for the item. Calculate the third information. Although example embodiments have been previously described as calculating the time interval (or time window) based on a fixed required time, the time interval (or time window) may be calculated based on an average required time.

Through the method of the present invention for providing time information related to item shipments, items from a store can be provided to customers within a predetermined radius around a location of the store, and thus, delivery workers assigned to the store can only Delivery is performed within a predetermined radius, so that an estimated required time can be quickly provided without tracking the location of one of the delivery workers and complicated calculations, and can save resources.

Hereinafter, an operation method for providing time information related to item delivery through a flow chart according to an example embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing time information related to item shipments, according to an example embodiment. An electronic device may be the electronic device 10 of the system 1 for providing time information related to item delivery, and a terminal may be a manager terminal 20 of the system 1 for providing time information related to item delivery.

In operation S701, the electronic device 10 may check a store to provide time information related to item delivery. The shop can be selected from the manager terminal 20, or the electronic device 10 can set the shop based on the information of the manager terminal 20. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may check one or more orders related to the store. Additionally, a picker or both a picker and a shipping worker can be assigned to each of the one or more orders.

In operation S702, the electronic device 10 may check the first information about one or more delivery workers assigned to the store. A shipping worker is a person who ships an item to an orderer, and one or more shipping workers can be assigned to a store. Each of the delivery workers may be assigned to multiple stores, or may be uniquely assigned to one store. The first information may include information related to the delivery worker, such as an identifier of the delivery worker, the number of delivery workers assigned to the store, status information of the delivery worker, and the like. The first information may include the number of available transport workers among the one or more transport workers, and may be determined according to multiple pieces of information provided by the one or more transport worker terminals 40 . For example, a delivery worker can input at least one status information through his terminal, such as whether he is currently in a delivery assignment waiting status, an item delivery status, and a return to store status after delivery.

In operation S703, the electronic device 10 may check second information about a time taken to deliver an item of the store to the customer. According to an example embodiment, the second information may be determined based on information input by a manager of the store. For example, the electronic device 10 may receive from the manager terminal 20 an estimated time required to deliver an item in a store after placing an order for the item as the second information. In addition, in subsequent operation S704, the received estimated required time may be checked as the third information. Alternatively, the second information may include an order history that includes information about the time it took for an item in the store to be shipped after an order for the item was placed. In addition, the electronic device 10 can obtain an average required time for shipping an item after placing an order through the order history. Alternatively, the second information may include a fixed required time taken for an item to be shipped at a store after an order for the item is placed. The fixed required time information may be information received from the manager terminal 20 .

In operation S704, the electronic device 10 may check third information about an estimated required time taken to ship an item in a store after placing an order for the item based on the first information and the second information. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 10 may obtain the average required time taken to ship an item after placing an order based on the order history related to the store according to the second information. In addition, the electronic device 10 can acquire the number of available transport workers based on the first information. In addition, the third information on the estimated required time may be calculated based on the obtained average required time and the number of delivery workers.

According to an example embodiment, when the fixed required time is received and checked as the second information, the electronic device 10 may determine whether there is a delivery worker waiting for delivery assignment among the one or more delivery workers based on the first information. When there is a delivery worker waiting for a delivery assignment among the one or more delivery workers, the electronic device 10 may calculate the third information based on the fixed required time. Alternatively, the electronic device 10 may check the shipping worker returning to the store from among the one or more shipping workers when there is no shipping worker waiting for shipping assignment among the one or more shipping workers. At this point, the electronic device 10 may list one or more shipping workers based on the shipping start time in the event that there are no shipping workers returning to the store. Additionally, the third information may be checked against the shipping worker with the earliest shipping start time based on a fixed required time. Alternatively, when there are delivery workers returning to the store, the electronic device 10 may list one or more delivery workers based on the time of return to the store. In addition, the third information can be checked based on a fixed required time for the shipping worker with the earliest return time. Meanwhile, since the delivery worker may have time to pick up an item, when calculating the third information, the electronic device 10 may calculate by excluding an estimated time required to pick up the item after the order is placed.

In operation S705, the electronic device 10 may provide third information. The third information can be provided to the manager terminal 20 , and can also be provided to the customer terminal 30 and the delivery worker terminal 40 .

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a user terminal 20 for providing time information related to item shipments according to an example embodiment. The user terminal 20 in FIG. 8 may correspond to the administrator terminal 20 in FIG. 1 .

According to an example embodiment, the user terminal 20 of the present invention may include a communication device 22 , an output device 24 and a processor 26 . Those of ordinary skill will appreciate that the components depicted in FIG. 8 are not necessary to implement a terminal, and thus a terminal described herein may have more or fewer components than those listed above.

The communication device 22 can communicate with an external electronic device using wired and wireless communication technologies, and can include a transceiver. The external electronic device can be a terminal or a server. In addition, the communication technology using the communication device 22 may include but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5th Generation (5G), Wireless Area Network (WLAN) ), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), ZigBee, Near Field Communication (NFC) and the like, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

According to an example embodiment, communication device 22 may receive information from electronic device 10 regarding an estimated required time it takes for an item in a store to be shipped after an order for the item is placed. The estimated time required information may be information calculated in the electronic device 10 based on first information assigned to one or more shipping workers of the store and second information regarding a time taken to ship an item of the store to a customer . According to an example embodiment, the communication device 22 may receive through an input device (not shown) an estimated required time or a fixed required time taken to ship an item after an order is placed.

The output device 24 is a device for generating an output related to vision, hearing, touch or the like, and may include at least one of an optical output part, a display, an audio output part, and a tactile module. The display can implement a touch screen by forming a layered structure or integrating with touch sensors. The touch screen can provide an output interface between the terminal and the user, and simultaneously serve as a user input portion for providing an input interface between the terminal and the user.

According to an example embodiment, the output device 24 may output map information based on a location of the store. The map information may include indicators of at least one of a delivery worker within a predetermined range from the location of the store in a shipping assignment pending state, an item shipping status, and a returning to store status. In addition, the output device 24 can output information related to the order in progress. In-progress order-related information may include an order identifier, customer information of the person who placed the order, a shipping-related order status, an estimated time required, information related to an elapsed time from receipt of the order information, and staff assignment status at least one of the information. In addition, the elapsed time information may also include flag information determined based on whether an item delivery completion time exceeds the estimated required time and whether a worker is assigned during a predetermined time period from a time point when the order information is received. According to an example embodiment, the output device 24 may output shipping result information. Shipping result information may include an order identifier, customer information of the person who placed the order, a shipping-related order status, an estimated time required, a total shipping time, a shipping completion time, an estimated return time of the shipping worker, and shipping jobs At least one of personnel information. In addition, the output device 24 can output statistical information of the store. Statistical information may include order-related statistical information and staff-related statistical information. According to an example embodiment, order-related statistical information may include the number of orders shipped during a predetermined time period, the number of orders shipped within an estimated required time compared to the number of orders shipped during the predetermined time period, and the number of orders in progress. At least one piece of order statistics information. In addition, in-progress order statistics may include information about an order in a pending pickup status, an order in a pickup status, an order in a pending shipping status, and an order in a shipping status Information. In addition, worker-related statistical information can include the number of pickers waiting for pick-up assignments, the number of pickers performing a pick-up operation, the number of delivery workers waiting for pick-up assignments, and the number of delivery workers performing a delivery operation. At least one of multiple pieces of information related to the number of delivery workers and the number of delivery workers returning to the store. The above-described store map information, ongoing order-related information, shipping result information, and statistical information can be determined based on information received from the electronic device 10, and can also be based on a memory stored in the user terminal 20 (not shown). Display) to determine the information.

The processor 26 can control the overall operation of the user terminal 20 and process data and signals. According to an example embodiment, the processor 26 may control the operation of the communication device 22 and the output device 24 to provide time information related to the shipment of the item. In addition, the processor 26 can configure a page output based on the estimated required time information received from the electronic device 10 . Alternatively, processor 26 may receive from electronic device 10 first information regarding one or more shipping workers assigned to the store and second information about the time it takes to ship an item at the store to the customer, and based on the first First information and second information to configure a page containing estimated time required information.

According to an example embodiment, the user terminal 20 may further include an input device (not shown). The input device may include a camera or an image input section for inputting an image signal, a microphone or an audio input section for inputting an audio signal, and a user input section for receiving information from a user (for example, a tactile keys, a mechanical key or the like). The input device may also include one or more sensors for detecting at least one of information in the mobile terminal, surrounding environment information around the mobile terminal, and user information. For example, an input device may include a proximity sensor, an illumination sensor, a touch sensor, a motion sensor, a finger scan sensor, an optical sensor (eg, a camera), and At least one of a microphone. Meanwhile, the mobile terminal of the present invention can combine and utilize information detected by at least two sensors among the sensors described above.

The apparatus according to the aforementioned example embodiments may include a processor, a memory for storing and executing program data, a permanent storage medium (such as a disk drive), a communication port for communicating with an external device, a user Interface devices such as a touch panel, a key or a button, and the like. Methods implemented as software modules or algorithms may be stored as program instructions or computer readable code executable on a processor on a computer readable medium. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic storage media (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), floppy disk, hard disk, etc.) and optical recording media (e.g., compact disc (CD)- ROM or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer readable program code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. This medium can be read by a computer, stored in memory, and executed by a processor.

Meanwhile, throughout example embodiments, a communication device may include a transceiver for transmitting and receiving information.

The example embodiments may be described in terms of functional block components and various processing operations. These functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or software components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, example embodiments may employ various integrated circuit (IC) components, such as memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may be implemented within one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Various functions are performed under control. Similarly, where components of the invention are implemented using software programming or software components, example embodiments may be implemented using any programming or scripting language, such as C, C++, Java, assembly programming language, or the like, wherein Any combination of data structures, objects, procedures, routines, or other programming elements implements various algorithms. Functional aspects may be implemented as algorithms executing on one or more processors. Additionally, the example embodiment may employ any number of techniques for electronics configuration, signal processing and/or control, data processing, and the like in accordance with the relevant techniques. The terms "mechanism", "element", "part" and "configuration" are used broadly and are not limited to mechanical or physical embodiments. These terms may include software routines and the like in conjunction with a processor.

The example embodiments described above are examples only, and other example embodiments may be implemented within the scope of the invention claims to be described later.

10: Electronic device 20: Admin terminal 22: Communication device 24: output device 26: Processor 30: Client terminal 40: transport staff terminal 200: Order management page 210: Map Information 220:Time information 300: Order management page 310: map information 311: indicator 312: indicator 313: indicator 314: indicator 320: information 330: Information about orders in progress 331: "Missed order" label 332: "Delayed order" label 333: "Orders processed on time" label 340: Statistics 341:Order-related statistical information 342:Staff-related statistical information 400: Order management page 410: Map Information 420: Estimated required time information 430: Delivery result information 431: "Orders processed on time" label 432: "Missed order" label 440: Statistics 601: interface 602: interface 603: interface 604: interface 610: average time required 620:Number of transport workers available 630: average time required 640: switch interface S701: Operation S702: Operation S703: Operation S704: operation S705: Operation

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for providing time information related to item shipments, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a view of an order management page prior to assigning a store, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a view of an order management page for displaying information about an order in progress, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a view of an order management page for displaying shipping result information according to an example embodiment.

Figure 5 is a view related to an example of collating second information about a required time taken to ship an item to a customer, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view related to an example of collating second information about a required time taken to ship an item to a customer, according to another example embodiment.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing time information related to item shipments, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a user terminal for providing time information related to item shipments according to an example embodiment.

S701: Operation

S702: Operation

S703: Operation

S704: operation

S705: Operation

Claims (19)

A method for providing time information related to the shipment of an item by an electronic device, the method comprising: check a store; Check the first information about one or more delivery workers assigned to the store; collating second information about a time taken to ship an item of the store to a customer; reconciling, based on the first information and the second information, third information regarding an estimated time it takes to ship the item after an order for the item is placed at the store; and provide the third information. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information includes the number of available transport workers among the one or more transport workers, determining the first information based on multiple pieces of information provided by the one or more transport workers' terminals, and The second information is determined based on information input by a manager of the store. The method of claim 1, wherein The first information includes multiple pieces of status information for the one or more delivery workers, and The status information of each delivery worker includes at least one of a delivery allocation waiting status, an item delivery status, and a return to the store status. The method of claim 1, further comprising: check one or more orders in relation to the store; and A picker or both a picker and a shipping worker are assigned to each of the one or more orders. The method of claim 1, wherein the verification of the second information includes receiving from a terminal associated with the store the estimated time it takes to ship the item after an order for the item is placed at the store, and The checking of the third information includes checking the received estimated required time as the third information. The method of claim 1, wherein the second information includes an order history that includes information about how long it took to ship the item after an order was placed for the item at the store, and The verification of the third information includes: obtaining an average required time taken to ship the item after placing an order for the item at the store based on the second information; obtaining the number of available transport workers based on the first information; and The third information is calculated based on the average required time and the number of the delivery workers. The method of claim 1, wherein The verification of the second information includes receiving a fixed required time taken to ship the item after placing an order for the item at the store, and The verification of the third information includes: determining whether there is a delivery worker among the one or more delivery workers awaiting delivery assignment based on the first information; and The third information is calculated based on the fixed required time when there is the delivery worker waiting for delivery assignment among the one or more delivery workers. Such as the method of claim 7, wherein When there are no transport workers awaiting a transport assignment among the one or more transport workers, the method includes, checking back from the one or more shipping workers to one of the shipping workers at the store, When there are no shipping workers returning to the store, this method contains: List the one or more delivery workers based on when the delivery started; and checking the third information against the shipping worker with the earliest shipping start time based on the fixed required time, When there is the shipping worker returning to the store, this method includes: list the one or more delivery workers based on return time; and checking the third information against the shipping worker with the earliest return time based on the fixed required time, and The third information is calculated by excluding an estimated time it takes to pick up the item after an order for the item is placed at the store. A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the method of Claim 1. A terminal associated with a store and providing time information for delivery of an item, the terminal comprising: a communication device; an output device; and a processor operatively coupled to the communication device and the output device, where the processor is configured to: receiving, through the communication device, from an electronic device associated with a shipment of an item, information about an estimated time it takes to ship an item at the store after placing an order for the item; and provide through the output device a page containing the estimated time required information, and Wherein the estimated time required information is calculated based on first information about one or more shipping personnel assigned to the store and second information about a time taken to ship the item at the store to a customer. Such as the terminal machine of claim item 10, wherein the first information includes the number of available transport workers among the one or more transport workers, determining the first information based on multiple pieces of information provided by the one or more transport workers' terminals, and The second information is determined according to the information input through the terminal. Such as the terminal machine of claim item 10, wherein The first information includes multiple pieces of status information for the one or more delivery workers, and The status information of each of the delivery workers includes at least one of a delivery allocation waiting status, an item delivery status, and a return to the store status. Such as the terminal machine of claim item 10, wherein the page contains map information based on a location of the store, and The map information includes at least one of an indicator of a delivery worker within a predetermined range from the location of the store in a shipping assignment pending state, an item shipping status, and a returning to the store status. Such as the terminal machine of claim item 10, wherein This page contains information about orders in progress, and The ongoing order-related information includes an order identifier, customer information of the person who placed the order, a shipping-related order status, an estimated time required, information about an elapsed time from a point in time when the order information was received, and At least one piece of worker assignment status information. Such as the terminal machine of claim 14, wherein The elapsed time information includes Flag information, which is determined based on whether an item delivery completion time exceeds the estimated required time and whether a worker is assigned during a predetermined time period from a point in time when the order information is received. Such as the terminal machine of claim item 10, wherein This page contains shipping result information, and The shipping result information includes An order identifier, customer information of the person who placed the order, a shipping related order status, an estimated time required, a total shipping time, a shipping completion time, an estimated return time of the shipping worker and at least one. Such as the terminal machine of claim item 10, wherein the page contains statistics for the store, and The statistical information includes order-related statistical information and staff-related statistical information. Such as the terminal machine of claim 17, wherein The order-related statistical information includes the number of orders shipped during a predetermined time period, the number of orders shipped within an estimated required time compared to the number of orders shipped during the predetermined time period, and order statistics in progress at least one, and The in-progress order statistical information includes information about an order in a waiting state, an order in a picking state, an order in a waiting state and an order in a shipping state. Such as the terminal machine of claim 17, wherein Statistics related to this worker include The number of pickers awaiting pickup assignments, the number of delivery workers awaiting delivery assignments, the number of pickers performing a pickup operation, the number of such delivery workers performing a delivery operation, and returns to the store At least one of the number of such transport workers.

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