TWI843324B - Electronic apparatus for providing information for delivery tasks and method thereof, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including computer program to execute such method - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of providing information for delivery tasks in an electronic apparatus, the method including obtaining information on a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information, determining a first camp for handling a sortation job of the item, obtaining, based on a result of determining the first camp, information including a delivery route for processing the delivery task, and providing information on the delivery task to a delivery agent in charge of the delivery route.

Description

Electronic device and method for providing information for a delivery mission, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium containing a computer program for executing the method

The present invention relates to an electronic device and method for providing information for a delivery task. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for: determining a first camp for a sorting job for handling an item; obtaining information including a delivery route for handling the delivery task; and providing information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route, and an electronic device using the method.

With the development of electronic technology, the e-commerce market is expanding. In the e-commerce market, transactions are conducted online without going to a shopping mall or market in person, and a delivery task for the delivery of purchased items comes along.

With the widespread use of e-commerce, reducing delivery costs and allowing customers to receive their ordered items in a timely manner has become an important competitive factor in the e-commerce market. Therefore, it is important to perform efficient delivery.

One way to perform efficient delivery is to make a designated courier familiar with the area including the delivery location by having the courier repeatedly handle deliveries to the same delivery location. However, the amount of delivery tasks by area is not always the same, the time when delivery tasks occur varies, and it is difficult to always consider which area the courier is familiar with during the task allocation stage, which makes it not so easy to have a designated courier repeatedly handle deliveries to the same delivery location.

In this regard, reference may be made to previous documents such as KR101972376B1 or KR20160040704A.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide an electronic device, which: obtains information including item information and delivery destination information of a delivery task; determines a first camp for a sorting work for handling items; obtains information including a delivery route for handling the delivery task based on a result of determining the first camp; and provides information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route, and a method thereof.

The technical aspects of the present invention are not limited to the technical aspects mentioned above, and other technical aspects can be inferred from the following examples.

According to one aspect, a method for providing information for a delivery task in an electronic device is provided, the method comprising: obtaining information of a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information; determining a first camp for a sorting work for handling the item; obtaining information including a delivery route for handling the delivery task based on a result of determining the first camp; and providing information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route.

According to an example embodiment, the method may further include determining that the delivery task of the item is to be assigned to a second camp. The obtaining of the information including the delivery route may include: obtaining the information including the delivery route based on the result of determining the first camp and a result of determining the second camp.

According to an example embodiment, the obtaining of the information including the delivery route may include: receiving the information including the delivery route from the first camp.

According to an example embodiment, obtaining the information including the delivery route may include: selecting the delivery route from one or more preset candidate routes.

According to an example embodiment, the obtaining of the information including the delivery route may include: determining whether there is a route suitable for processing the delivery task among one or more preset candidate routes, and if there is no suitable route for processing the delivery task, then newly configuring a route for processing the delivery task.

According to an example embodiment, the providing of the information about the delivery task may include: associating electronic information including the delivery route with an object including the item.

According to an example embodiment, the information including the delivery route may include identification information associated with one or more areas corresponding to the delivery route.

According to an example embodiment, the identification information can be determined based on at least one of zip code information and street name information.

According to an example embodiment, the information including the delivery route may include at least one of information associated with the first camp, information associated with a type of the delivery task processed on the delivery route, and information associated with a time when the delivery route was created.

According to an example embodiment, the information associated with the time of creating the delivery route may include at least one of information associated with a time when the delivery route was initially created and information associated with a time when the delivery route was updated.

According to an example embodiment, the information including the delivery route may include information suggesting an order in which the courier should handle a plurality of delivery tasks on the delivery route.

According to an example embodiment, the information including the delivery route may include route guidance information for assisting the courier in handling the delivery task on the delivery route.

According to an example embodiment, the method may further include configuring one or more candidate routes in consideration of a route efficiency associated with a processing of a delivery task and a number of delivery tasks occurring in each of one or more areas.

According to an example embodiment, the route efficiency may be determined based on at least one of information about a time taken by the courier to travel from the campsite to a destination and information about a distance traveled by the courier from the campsite to the destination.

According to an example embodiment, configuring the one or more candidate routes may include: predicting future delivery tasks; and newly configuring the one or more candidate routes in response to determining that it is difficult to process the future delivery tasks based on one or more default candidate routes as a result of the prediction.

According to another aspect, an electronic device for providing information for a delivery task is provided, the electronic device comprising a transceiver, a memory storing instructions therein, and a processor. The processor is connected to the transceiver and the memory, and is configured to: obtain information of a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information; determine a first camp for a sorting work for handling items; obtain information including a delivery route for handling the delivery task based on a result of determining the first camp; and provide information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route.

Details of other exemplary embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

According to the present invention, an electronic device and method for providing information for a delivery task can improve delivery efficiency by enabling a designated delivery person to repeatedly handle deliveries to the same delivery location.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and from the description of the scope of the invention patent application, those familiar with this technology will clearly understand other effects not mentioned.

100:System

110: Electronic equipment

120: Deliveryman device

130: First camp equipment

140: Customer device

210: Operation

220: Operation

230: Operation

240: Operation

300:Example

310: Postal code information

320: Partition name information

330: Alias information

340: Route information

350: Sub-route information

360:Information

400: Example

410: Campsite information

420: Delivery type information

430: Create time information

500: Example

510: First delivery route

520: Second delivery route

530: The third delivery route

540: The fourth delivery route

600: Example

610: Objects

620: Electronic information

710: Transceiver

720: Processor

730:Memory

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an information providing system for a delivery task according to an example implementation example.

FIG2 is a flow chart of an information providing method for a delivery task of an electronic device according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for illustratively illustrating a delivery route according to an example implementation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustratively illustrating an operation of processing one or more candidate routes of a delivery task according to a new configuration of an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrative purposes showing a delivery person in charge of a delivery route according to an example implementation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for illustrative purposes showing electronic information associated with an item to be delivered according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram of a configuration of an electronic device for providing information associated with processing of a delivery task according to an example embodiment.

In consideration of the functions in the present invention, the terms used in the example embodiments have been selected as general terms that are currently used as widely as possible, but these terms may change according to the intention of those familiar with this technology, a precedent, the emergence of new technologies, and the like. In addition, in some cases, there are terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the corresponding description. Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the terms and the entire content of the present invention rather than just the name of the term.

Throughout this specification, when a part is stated to "include" or "comprise" a specific component, it means that other components may be further included and other components are not excluded unless otherwise stated. In addition, terms such as "...part", "...module" and the like described in this specification mean a unit for performing at least one function or operation, which unit can be implemented as hardware or software or as a combination of hardware and software.

Throughout this specification, the expression "at least one of a, b, and c" may include "only a", "only b", "only c", "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "all a, b, and c".

The "terminal" mentioned below may be implemented as a computer or a portable terminal that can access a server or other terminals through a network. Here, the computer includes, for example, a notebook computer equipped with a web browser, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and the like, and the portable terminal is, for example, a wireless communication device that ensures portability and mobility, which may include all types of handheld-based wireless communication devices, including communication-based terminals such as IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), W-CDMA (W-Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), smartphones, tablet PCs, and the like.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art of the present invention can easily implement the exemplary embodiments. However, the present invention can be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein.

In the following, an example embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

When describing an example embodiment, detailed descriptions of technical specifications that are well known in the art and not directly related to the present invention may be omitted. This is to convey the gist of the present invention more clearly by omitting unnecessary descriptions without making it unclear.

For the same reasons, some elements are exaggerated, omitted or simplified in the drawings, and in practice, the elements may have sizes and/or shapes different from those shown in the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or equivalent parts are indicated by the same element symbols.

The advantages and features of the present invention and the methods attached thereto may be more easily understood by referring to the following detailed description of the example embodiments and the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the example embodiments described herein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so that the present invention will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concepts of the present invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention will be defined solely by the scope of the accompanying invention claims. Throughout this specification, the same element symbols refer to the same elements.

It will be understood that each block of the flowchart and/or block diagram and the combination of blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce components for implementing the functions/actions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram. These computer program instructions can also be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable memory and can guide a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture embedded with instruction components that implement the functions/actions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram. Computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operating steps to be executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented program, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions/actions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram.

Furthermore, each block may represent a module, a segment or a portion of a program code that includes at least one or more executable instructions for performing (some) specific logical functions. Furthermore, it should be noted that in several modifications, the functions of the blocks may be executed in a different order. For example, two consecutive blocks may be executed substantially simultaneously according to their functions, or may be executed in reverse order.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an information providing system for a delivery task according to an example implementation example.

According to various example embodiments, a system 100 for providing information for a delivery mission includes an electronic device 110 and a delivery person device 120. Depending on the example embodiment, the system 100 may further include at least one of a first camp device 130 and a customer device 140. Depending on the example embodiment, the system 100 may further include a network that supports information transmission and reception between at least some of the electronic device 110, the delivery person device 120, the first camp device 130, and the customer device 140.

Each of the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. In addition, each of the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may be a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and the unit may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. At the same time, throughout the example embodiments, the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 are each referred to as a separate device or server. However, it may be a logically divided structure, and at least some of them may be implemented as separate functions in a device or server.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may include a plurality of computer systems or computer software implemented as a network server. For example, at least some of the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may refer to a computer system and computer software connected to a sub-device, and the sub-device can communicate with other network servers via a computer network (such as an intranet or the Internet) to receive an operation request and perform an operation to provide an execution result. In addition, at least some of the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 can be understood as a broad concept including a series of applications that can be operated on a network server and various databases built internally or externally in other connected nodes. For example, at least some of the electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 can be implemented using a network server program that is provided differently depending on the operating system (such as DOS, Windows, Linux, Unix, or MacOS).

Electronic device 110 is a device that constructs and provides various types of information. Electronic device 110 can facilitate a series of delivery tasks by providing information for the delivery tasks. Specifically, electronic device 110 can transmit and receive information associated with delivery, provide information associated with delivery as a web page or an application screen, or provide information that can be displayed on a receiving terminal as a web page or an application screen.

The electronic device 110 obtains information about a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information. The information about the delivery task can be obtained from a device in a fulfillment center, the first camp device 130, or the customer device 140, but is not limited thereto.

Based on the information about the delivery task, the electronic device 110 determines a first camp for a sorting work of handling items corresponding to the delivery task. In this regard, the item sorting work may include an operation of dividing a plurality of items into a plurality of groups to achieve efficient delivery. Depending on the example implementation, direct delivery to the delivery destination may or may not be performed in the first camp.

If direct delivery to the delivery destination is not performed, the items may be transported to a second camp after being sorted in the first camp. In this regard, according to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may further determine the second camp to which the item delivery is assigned. In this case, the electronic device 110 may notify the first camp device 130 of a result of determining the second camp. In addition, depending on the example embodiment, even if direct delivery is not performed in the first camp in principle, for special circumstances, the first camp may still directly perform delivery to the delivery destination, such as a delivery task to a delivery destination located within a preset distance from the first camp, or a delivery task to a delivery destination in which an appropriate second camp has not yet been configured.

If direct delivery to the delivery destination is not performed in the first camp, the first camp can save space for delivery (e.g., storage and movement space for delivery vehicles) and use the space for sorting work. Therefore, there is a technical effect that the first camp can be arranged at a location with a smaller area compared to the case where both sorting and delivery are performed, and more sorting work can be handled when arranged at a location with the same area. In addition, since there is no need to perform a separate sorting work in the second type of camp, there is the following technical effect: compared with the case where both sorting and delivery are performed, the second type of camp can be configured at a location with a smaller area, and more delivery tasks can be handled when configured at a location with the same area. On the other hand, if direct delivery is performed in the first camp, delivery can be completed without passing through a separate camp. Therefore, there may be an advantage of being able to use a smaller number of camps for processing in an area with a low delivery volume (for example, an area with a low population density).

Based on a result of determining the first campsite, the electronic device 110 obtains information including a delivery route for processing the delivery task. Specifically, the electronic device 110 may receive information including a delivery route from the first campsite. Alternatively, the electronic device 110 may select a route for processing the delivery task from one or more preset candidate routes. In addition, the electronic device 110 may obtain information including a delivery route based on various methods, without being limited to a specific method.

When receiving information including a delivery route from the first camp, the transmission of the information can be completed by the first camp device 130.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may directly obtain information including a delivery route without determining the first campsite. In this case, the information including the delivery route may include the first campsite information. However, for ease of explanation, an example embodiment will be described below in which the electronic device 110 determines the first campsite and then obtains information including a delivery route based on this.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may further obtain information including a delivery route for processing a delivery task based on the result of determining the second camp. For example, the electronic device 110 may receive information including a delivery route from the second camp or select a delivery route in consideration of the information of the determined second camp.

The electronic device 110 provides information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route. The delivery person may be a first camp staff member, but is not limited thereto. For example, if direct delivery from the first camp to the delivery destination is not performed, the first camp may sort the items and then transport the items to the second camp. In this case, the delivery person in charge of the delivery route may be a second camp staff member.

The electronic device 110 can provide information about the delivery task to the delivery person device 120 corresponding to the delivery person in charge of the delivery route.

As described above, when the first camp does not deliver directly to the delivery destination, specifically, the second camp may be further determined or the delivery route may be determined by further considering the second camp, and the delivery person may also be a staff member of the second camp. In the following, for the convenience of description, an example embodiment will be described in which the first camp performs direct delivery to the delivery destination (i.e., without further considering the second camp). However, the content described below can be applied to the case of further determining the second camp or determining the delivery route under the condition of further considering the second camp after appropriate modification.

Further details regarding the operation of electronic device 110 will be described later in FIG. 2 and the like.

The first campsite device 130 is a concept covering devices associated with the first campsite, and the first campsite device 130 may include a device installed inside the first campsite or the like, but is not limited thereto. For example, according to an example embodiment, the first campsite device 120 may include a device for an operator who handles sorting work when working in the first campsite or a manager of the first campsite.

The delivery person may include various entities that perform delivery tasks. The delivery person may include, but is not limited to, an entity that is formally employed with respect to the delivery service provided by the electronic device 110, and may include various types of entities such as freelancers. It may include legal persons as well as natural persons.

The deliveryman device 120 and the first camp device 130 can receive information from the electronic device 110 or an input from a deliveryman, a staff member, a manager, etc., and perform an operation corresponding thereto. For example, the deliveryman device 120 can receive information about a delivery task from the electronic device 110 and provide it to the deliveryman. Furthermore, the first camp device 130 can generate information including a delivery route and provide it to the electronic device 110.

A customer may correspond to an entity that has requested the delivery of an item. A customer includes, but is not limited to, an entity that orders an item. The customer device 140 may receive a user input from the customer or receive information from the electronic device 110 or the like, and may perform an operation corresponding thereto. For example, the customer device 140 may transmit at least one of item information and delivery destination information to the electronic device 110 in response to a user input from the customer, or transmit information about a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information to the electronic device 110.

At least one of the deliveryman device 120 and the first site device 130 of the example embodiment can be implemented in the form of an application installed on a smart phone, or can be implemented in the form of an application installed on a POS machine. In addition, at least one of the deliveryman device 120 and the first site device 130 includes a function for identifying a barcode, and the deliveryman, staff, manager, etc. can obtain information related to the item or information about the delivery task by identifying the electronic information corresponding to the item, or request the information from the electronic device 110.

The electronic device 110, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may include a computer device, a mobile communication terminal, a server, and the like. The deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may include an input device (such as a touch pad, a mouse, a keyboard, or the like) for receiving user input, or may be connected to the input device. In addition, the deliveryman device 120, the first campsite device 130, and the customer device 140 may include an output device (such as a screen, a speaker, an interface device, etc.) for providing information to the user, or may be connected to the output device. In addition, the input and output devices of the deliveryman device 120, the first camping site device 130, and the customer device 140 may be integrally constructed or associated. For example, an interface for receiving a user input may be displayed on at least one of the deliveryman device 120, the first camping site device 130, and the customer device 140.

The operations associated with a series of information processing methods according to various example embodiments may be implemented by a single physical device, or may be implemented in a manner in which a plurality of physical devices are coupled in an organized manner. For example, some components included in the system 100 may be implemented by one physical device, and other parts may be implemented by another physical device. For example, one physical device may be implemented as a part of the electronic device 110, and another physical device may be implemented as a part of the delivery person device 120 or other external device. In some cases, the components included in the system 100 may be distributed and configured in different physical devices, and the distributed components are organized to perform the functions and operations of the system 100. For example, the electronic device 110 of this specification may include at least one sub-device, and some operations described as being performed by the electronic device 110 may be performed by a first sub-device, and some operations may be performed by a second sub-device.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for providing information for a delivery task in an electronic device according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2 , in operation 210 , the electronic device 110 according to an example embodiment obtains information of a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information. The item information includes information associated with an item to be delivered, and the delivery destination information includes final destination information of the delivery. The electronic device 110 may receive information about the delivery task from a fulfillment center device, a first camp device 130 or a customer device 140 , but is not limited thereto.

In operation 220, the electronic device 110 determines a first camp for handling a sorting work of items corresponding to the delivery task. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may obtain an allocation request for the delivery task from a specific camp and determine the corresponding camp as the first camp. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may determine the first camp based on camp information included in the information about the delivery task.

According to an example embodiment, it is possible to check whether an item has passed through the first camp by obtaining identification information of the item using a scanning device. For example, a manager of the electronic device 110 uses a scanning device to read electronic information contained in or attached to an object corresponding to the item (e.g., a box containing the item, a rolltainer, a package, etc.) to obtain information about the first camp. In this regard, the entity that uses the scanning device to obtain identification information of the item may be a manager using the electronic device 110 or a manager of the fulfillment center, but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the scanning device may be included in the electronic device 110, but is not limited thereto.

According to an example implementation, the electronic device 110 may directly determine the first camp. Specifically, the electronic device 110 may determine one or more candidate camps configured to handle the sorting work, and determine the first camp for handling the sorting work of the delivery task among the one or more candidate camps. According to an example, the electronic device 110 determines at least one of an item list managed by each of the one or more candidate camps and the delivery efficiency of each of the one or more candidate camps handling the delivery task, and may determine the first camp based on this. In this regard, handling items means not only items currently stored in the candidate camp, but also items that can be prepared in the candidate camp within a preset time (for example, an item that is being transported to the candidate camp, an item that can be quickly obtained by requesting a nearby fulfillment center, etc.). The delivery efficiency may be determined based on the delivery destination information corresponding to the delivery mission and the location information of one or more candidate campsites. For example, the electronic device 110 may determine the delivery efficiency based on at least one of the distance information between one or more candidate campsites and the delivery destination, the delivery route information of a delivery person starting from one or more candidate campsites to visit the delivery destination, and the information about the time taken to go from one or more candidate campsites to the delivery destination. In addition, depending on the example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may determine the delivery efficiency by further considering various factors that may affect the delivery (such as real-time weather information or traffic condition information).

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may determine the first campsite based on the characteristic information of the item included in the item information. In this regard, the characteristic information of the item may include at least some of the volume of the item, the weight of the item, and the possibility of damage to the item. For example, based on the characteristic information of the item, the electronic device 110 may determine the corresponding campsite as the first campsite only when the item meets the volume and weight criteria within a range that can be handled by a specific campsite.

In operation 230, based on the result of determining the first camp, the electronic device 110 obtains information including a delivery route for processing the delivery task. According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may receive information including the delivery route from the first camp. In this case, the electronic device 110 may request the delivery route information from the determined first camp, and receive the information including the delivery route in response to the request.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may obtain information including a delivery route by selecting a route for processing a delivery task from one or more preset candidate routes. Relatedly, according to an example embodiment, when there are multiple candidate routes that pass through a delivery destination corresponding to a delivery task or are near the delivery destination, the electronic device 110 may select a delivery route from the candidate routes based on the number of delivery tasks processed (or scheduled to be processed) by each candidate route, the cost required for each candidate route to process a delivery task, etc. Depending on the example implementation, the electronic device 110 may select a delivery route by further considering various factors such as real-time traffic information, real-time weather information, and special circumstances related to each candidate route (for example, when a new apartment building enters an area that a specific candidate route passes through, it is expected that the number of delivery tasks to be responsible for will increase sharply), and the method of selecting a delivery route is not limited to the above method.

FIG3 shows an example 300 of information including a delivery route. Referring to FIG3 , the information including a delivery route may include identification information associated with one or more regions. The identification information associated with one or more regions may be determined based on at least one of zip code information and street name information. For example, the identification information may be a zip code such as "12345" or "12346", or identification information generated by the electronic device 110 based on a zip code (such as "12345-1" and "12345-2") (element symbol 310 indicates an example embodiment in which the identification information corresponds to zip code information).

Depending on the example implementation, the identification information associated with one or more regions may further include district name information 320 corresponding to detailed area information generated separately from or in combination with at least one of the zip code and street name information.

In addition, the information including the delivery route includes alias information 330 for specifying where each area specifically points to, and the alias information may include information such as (for example) XX Apartment, YY Middle School, and ZZ Apartment. In addition, the alias information may further include detailed information such as a specific building of XX Apartment or an attached kindergarten. According to an example embodiment, the alias information may further include notification information associated with delivery to the corresponding area, for example, information indicating that delivery is only possible during the day, such as "YY Middle School/Night delivery is not available" in item 10.

In addition, the information including the delivery route may further include information about a wider area including each detailed area, and as an example, it may include information 360 about a name of a neighborhood (dong) covering each detailed area.

According to an example embodiment, the information including the delivery route may further include identification information of the delivery route itself. According to an example, the identification information of the delivery route may include route information 340, or it may be determined by a combination of route information and sub-route information 350.

In addition, the information including the delivery route may include at least one of information associated with the first camp, information associated with a type of delivery task processed on the delivery route, and information associated with a time when the delivery route was created. In this regard, the information associated with the time when the delivery route was created may include at least one of information about a time when the delivery route was initially created and information about a time when the delivery route was updated.

The information associated with the first camp is associated with the camp information 410 of FIG. 4 to be described later, the information associated with the type of delivery task processed on the delivery route is associated with the delivery type information 420 of FIG. 4, and the information associated with the time of creating the delivery route can be associated with the creation time information 430 of FIG. 4.

The example shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to an example in which entries 1 to 14 as a whole form a delivery route, but the information including the delivery route is not limited to including only information corresponding to one delivery route.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may determine whether there is a route suitable for processing a delivery task among one or more preset candidate routes. When there is no route suitable for processing a delivery task, the electronic device 110 may newly configure a route for processing a delivery task. In this regard, the electronic device 110 may determine whether there is a suitable route based on a method similar to the method of selecting a route for processing a delivery task from one or more candidate routes. For example, if there is no candidate route passing near the delivery destination corresponding to the delivery task, or even if there is a candidate route, if it is difficult to process the delivery task in consideration of factors such as real-time traffic information and weather information, the electronic device 110 may determine that there is no suitable route for processing the delivery task.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example 400 of a new configuration for processing an operation of one or more candidate routes for a delivery task. Referring to FIG. 4 , the electronic device 110 inputs campsite information 410 and delivery type information 420, and a new candidate route can be configured based on this new configuration. This can be performed automatically by the electronic device 110 itself, or can be performed based on an external input (such as an input from an administrator who manages the electronic device 110).

In this regard, camp information 410 may include information about a camp that processes delivery tasks associated with a route, and delivery type information 420 may include information associated with the type of delivery tasks processed on the route.

The input of the campsite information 410 and the delivery type information 420 can be performed by selecting one of a plurality of options, but is not limited thereto, and can be performed by directly inputting each item.

According to an example, the campsite information 410 can be determined by a combination of a specific area range and other information (e.g., number), such as "Daegu City 2", "Daejeon City 1", "Seocho District 1", etc. In addition, according to an example, the delivery type information can include information related to a specific method of performing delivery, such as "regular delivery", "drop-off delivery", "early morning delivery", "Shift 1", "Shift 2", "fresh delivery", "same-day delivery", etc.

According to an example embodiment, when a candidate route is newly configured, its creation time information 430 may be set together. The creation time information 430 may reflect the actual time information at the time of configuration, but is not necessarily limited thereto. In addition, when a candidate route is newly configured by modifying an existing candidate route, the creation time information 430 may include at least one of information about a time when the candidate route was initially created and information about a time when the candidate route was updated. When the creation time information 430 includes information about the time when the candidate route was updated, each time information may reflect the candidate route created at that time. In other words, the candidate routes created for each time point may be backed up and stored.

When the electronic device 110 determines the newly configured candidate route as a delivery route for processing a delivery task, the information including the delivery route may include at least one of the previously determined campsite information 410, the delivery type information 420, and the creation time information 430.

In operation 240, the electronic device 110 provides information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of a delivery route. FIG. 5 shows an example 500 of a delivery person in charge of a delivery route. Referring to FIG. 5, each delivery person may correspond to one or more delivery routes, and a delivery task to be processed in a specific delivery route may be processed by a delivery person corresponding to the delivery route. For example, a delivery person in charge may be assigned to each of the first delivery route 510, the second delivery route 520, the third delivery route 530, and the fourth delivery route 540 departing from the first camp.

However, there does not have to be a one-to-one correspondence between delivery routes and couriers. One couriers may correspond to multiple delivery routes, or multiple couriers may correspond to a single delivery route.

The information provided to the courier does not necessarily have to be the same information as the "information including the delivery route" obtained in operation 230. For example, the information including the delivery route may include updated historical information of the delivery route, but only the most recently updated final delivery route information may be provided to the courier.

According to an example embodiment, information about a delivery route may include information suggesting an order in which a courier should handle a plurality of delivery tasks on the delivery route. However, the courier is not bound by the suggested order in which to perform the deliveries, and the courier may adopt a more appropriate order based on his/her own judgment.

According to an example embodiment, information about a delivery route may include route guidance information for assisting in performing a delivery task on the delivery route. The route guidance information may include information for guiding specific vehicle operations and movements beyond the recommended sequence for processing the delivery task.

According to an example embodiment, in order to provide the courier with information about the delivery task, the electronic device 110 may associate electronic information including the delivery route with the object including the item. In this case, the courier may obtain the information about the delivery task by reading the electronic information using a scanning device or the like.

FIG. 6 shows an example 600 of electronic information associated with an item to be delivered. Referring to FIG. 6 , component symbol 610 corresponds to an example of an object containing an item, and component symbol 620 corresponds to an example of electronic information. The electronic information may include barcode information, and the scanning device used by the courier may include the courier device 120. In addition, associating the electronic information with the object containing the item may include associating the electronic information with the outside of the object containing the item (e.g., a box, a roll, or a package), associating the electronic information with the inside of the object, or the like. The meaning of association may include various forms, such as printing, attaching, enclosing, etc.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 can provide the courier with information about the delivery task in various ways, such as transmitting the information about the delivery task to the courier device 120 of the courier responsible for the delivery route in addition to associating the electronic information.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may configure one or more candidate routes in consideration of the number of delivery tasks occurring in each of one or more areas and the efficiency of the route associated with the processing of the delivery tasks. This is intended to improve delivery efficiency and prevent the possibility of problems associated with future deliveries in advance, so it may be different from an example embodiment in which a candidate route is newly configured because there is no suitable route for processing a specific delivery task.

Regarding the operation of configuring one or more candidate routes in consideration of route efficiency, the route efficiency may be determined based on at least one of information about a time taken by a courier to travel from a campsite to a destination and information about a distance traveled by a courier from a campsite to a destination, and various factors such as real-time traffic information and weather information may be further considered.

According to one example, the electronic device 110 may predict future delivery tasks, and as a result of the prediction, when it is determined that it is difficult to process the future delivery tasks based on one or more preset candidate routes, one or more candidate routes may be newly configured. In this regard, the prediction of the delivery task may include predicting the type, quantity, and delivery destination of the items to be delivered.

According to an example embodiment, the operation of the electronic device 110 to configure one or more candidate routes in consideration of the number of delivery tasks generated for each of the one or more regions and the efficiency of the routes associated with the processing of the delivery tasks may be performed automatically (i.e., it may continue to be performed even if there is no separate feedback).

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram of a configuration of an electronic device for providing information associated with processing of a delivery task according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the electronic device 110 includes a transceiver 710, a processor 720, and a memory 730. The electronic device 110 is connected to the first camping device 130 and other external devices through the transceiver 710, and can exchange data with them.

The processor 720 may include at least one device described above with respect to FIGS. 1 to 6 , or it may execute at least one method described above with respect to FIGS. 1 to 6 . The memory 730 may store information for executing at least one method described above with respect to FIGS. 1 to 6 . The memory 730 may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory.

The processor 720 may control the electronic device 110 to execute a program and provide information. The program code of the program executed by the processor 720 may be stored in the memory 730.

Furthermore, the electronic device 110 according to an example embodiment may further include an interface capable of providing information to a user.

The exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in this specification and drawings. Although specific terms are used, they are only used in a general sense to easily explain the technical content of the present invention and assist in understanding the present invention, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is obvious to those familiar with this technology that in addition to the exemplary embodiments disclosed in this article, other modified examples based on the technical concept of the present invention can also be implemented.

The electronic device or terminal according to the above-mentioned example embodiment may include a processor, a memory for storing and executing program data, a permanent storage (such as a disk drive), a communication port for communicating with an external device, and a user interface device (such as a touch panel, a key, a button or the like). The method implemented as a software module or algorithm can be stored as a computer-readable program code or program instruction that can be executed on a processor on a computer-readable recording medium. Here, computer-readable recording media include a magnetic storage medium (e.g., ROM (read-only memory), RAM (random access memory), floppy disk, hard disk, etc.) and optical readable media (e.g., CD-ROM and DVD (digital versatile disc)). Computer-readable recording media are distributed throughout network-connected computer systems so that computer-readable program codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. The media can be read by a computer, stored in a memory and executed on a processor.

The present example embodiments may be represented by functional block configurations and various processing steps. Such functional blocks may be implemented using various numbers of hardware and/or software configurations that perform specific functions. For example, the present example embodiments may employ an integrated circuit configuration that is capable of performing various functions, such as memory, processing, logic, lookup tables, or the like, by controlling one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similar to components that may be implemented using software programming or software components, the present example embodiments include various algorithms implemented using a combination of data structures, procedures, routines, or other programming components, and may be implemented using a programming or scripting language (including C, C++, Java, assembly language, Python, etc.). Functional aspects may be implemented using an algorithm running on one or more processors. In addition, the present embodiment may employ a known technique for at least one of electronic environment configuration, signal processing and/or data processing. Terms such as "mechanism", "component", "component" and "combination" may be used in a broad sense and are not limited to mechanical and physical configurations. Such terms may include the meaning of a series of software routines in conjunction with a processor or the like.

The above-mentioned exemplary embodiments are merely examples, and other exemplary embodiments may be implemented within the scope of the invention application to be described later.

210: Operation

220: Operation

230: Operation

240: Operation

Claims (16)

A method for providing information for a delivery task in an electronic device, the method comprising: obtaining information of a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information; determining a first camp for a sorting job for disposing of items; obtaining information including a delivery route for processing the delivery task based on a result of determining the first camp; and providing information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route; wherein obtaining the information including the delivery route comprises: determining whether there is a route suitable for processing the delivery task among one or more candidate routes associated with the first camp; and determining whether there is a route suitable for processing the delivery task based on the determination that there is no candidate route suitable for processing the delivery route. The route for processing the delivery task is newly configured to process a route for the delivery task, and wherein the determination whether there is the route suitable for processing the delivery task includes: when the one or more candidate routes do not have a candidate route passing through a delivery destination corresponding to the delivery task, determining that there is no route suitable for processing the delivery task; and when a candidate route passing through a delivery destination corresponding to the delivery task among the one or more candidate routes is not suitable for processing the delivery task based on one or more of real-time traffic information and weather information, determining that there is no route suitable for processing the delivery task. The method of claim 1 further includes: determining that the delivery task of the item is to be assigned to one of the second camps, wherein obtaining the information including the delivery route includes: obtaining the information including the delivery route based on the result of determining the first camp and a result of determining the second camp. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the information including the delivery route comprises: receiving the information including the delivery route from the first camp. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the information including the delivery route includes: selecting the delivery route from the one or more candidate routes based on determining that there is a route suitable for processing the delivery task. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the information about the delivery task includes associating electronic information including the delivery route with an object including the item. As in the method of claim 1, the information including the delivery route includes identification information associated with one or more areas corresponding to the delivery route. The method of claim 6, wherein the identification information is determined based on at least one of zip code information and street name information. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the delivery route includes at least one of information associated with the first camp, information associated with a type of the delivery task processed on the delivery route, and information associated with a time when the delivery route was created. The method of claim 8, wherein the information associated with the time of creating the delivery route includes at least one of information associated with a time when the delivery route was initially created and information associated with a time when the delivery route was updated. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the delivery route includes information suggesting an order in which the courier should handle a plurality of delivery tasks on the delivery route. As in the method of claim 1, the information about the delivery route includes route guidance information for assisting the courier in handling the delivery task on the delivery route. The method of claim 1 further comprises: configuring one or more candidate routes taking into account the efficiency of a route associated with processing a delivery task and the number of delivery tasks occurring in each of one or more areas. The method of claim 12, wherein the route efficiency is determined based on at least one of information about a time taken by the courier to travel from the camp to a destination and information about a distance traveled by the courier from the camp to the destination. The method of claim 12, wherein configuring the one or more candidate routes includes: predicting future delivery tasks; and newly configuring the one or more candidate routes in response to determining that it is difficult to process the future delivery tasks based on the one or more candidate routes as a result of the prediction. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium comprising a computer program for executing a method as claimed in claim 1. An electronic device for providing information for a delivery task, the electronic device comprising: a transceiver; a memory in which instructions are stored; and a processor, wherein the processor is connected to the transceiver and the memory and is configured to: obtain information of a delivery task including item information and delivery destination information; determine a first camp for a sorting job for disposing items; obtain information including a delivery route for processing the delivery task based on a result of determining the first camp; and provide information about the delivery task to a delivery person in charge of the delivery route; wherein the obtaining of the information including the delivery route comprises: determining whether there is a candidate route that is suitable for the delivery task among one or more candidate routes associated with the first camp. A route for processing the delivery task; and based on determining that there is no such route applicable to processing the delivery task, a new configuration is used to process a route for processing the delivery task, wherein the determination of whether there is such route applicable to processing the delivery task includes: when the one or more candidate routes do not have a candidate route passing through a delivery destination corresponding to the delivery task, determining that there is no such route applicable to processing the delivery task; and when a candidate route passing through a delivery destination corresponding to the delivery task among the one or more candidate routes is not applicable to processing the delivery task based on one or more of real-time traffic information and weather information, determining that there is no such route applicable to processing the delivery task.