US20030180138A1 - Method and computer program for monitoring the transport of objects in a distribution system - Google Patents

Method and computer program for monitoring the transport of objects in a distribution system Download PDF

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Publication number
US20030180138A1
US20030180138A1 US10/331,506 US33150602A US2003180138A1 US 20030180138 A1 US20030180138 A1 US 20030180138A1 US 33150602 A US33150602 A US 33150602A US 2003180138 A1 US2003180138 A1 US 2003180138A1
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objects
detection point
time
detection
points
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Abandoned
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US10/331,506
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English (en)
Inventor
Rene Scheltes
Bertus Edens
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Neopost Industrie BV
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Neopost Industrie BV
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Assigned to NEOPOST INDUSTRIE B.V. reassignment NEOPOST INDUSTRIE B.V. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: EDENS, BERTUS K., SCHELTES, RENE
Publication of US20030180138A1 publication Critical patent/US20030180138A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a method for monitoring the transport of objects, as in a postal or other distribution system in which objects are transported to distribution points, are sorted at the distribution points according to destination, and are further transported in batches of objects having the same destination or destinations located relatively close to each other.
  • the objects are transported to at least one detection point and the objects are detected at that at least one detection point.
  • a warning signal is generated.
  • this warning signal for instance a replacement object and/or a message can be sent.
  • This object is achieved by monitoring the transport of an object, including: sending the object to at least one detection point via a distribution system with distribution points; determining a target time for arrival of the object at the at least one detection point; if the object, or related objects belonging to the same group, is or are detected at the at least one detection point, signalling the arrival of the respective object or the respective objects; in response to signallings representing arrival of the objects and related objects belonging to the same group at the at least one detection point, registering the signallings; and if for the object, at an associated target time, no signalling has been received which represents arrival at the at least one detection point, generating a warning signal; while the target time for the object is determined or adjusted depending on time points of signalling of arrival of related objects at the at least one detection point.
  • the target time at which the presence of an object at a detection point is to be signalled is determined on the basis of signalling of the presence of related objects at that detection point, this automatically provides an adjustment of the target time at which the object is to have arrived, to the normal transport time for the transport of related objects to the respective detection point.
  • the time of warning in case of a disturbance in the transport of an object is also adjusted to that transport time.
  • the invention further provides a computer program for monitoring the transport, including: instructions for registering the sending of the object to at least one detection point; instructions for registering signallings representing arrival of the object and related objects belonging to the same group at the at least one detection point; instructions for determining a target time for reception of a signalling representing arrival of the object at the at least one detection point; and instructions for generating a warning signal if for the object, at an associated target time, no signalling has been received which represents arrival at the at least one detection point, while the instructions for determining the target time for the object are designed for determining the target time depending on time points of signalling of arrival of related objects at the at least one detection point.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an example of distribution of objects between a number of locations.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of communication between different parties with regard to the monitoring of the transport of objects.
  • FIG. 1 schematically represents, by way of example, the transport of objects in the form of postal items between a number of locations.
  • the numbers of locations and objects that are transported are much more limited than is typical in practice. Of course, this holds not only for the total number of objects to be sent, but also for the number of objects to be sent per sender and the number of senders, etc.
  • the numbers represent the objects 1 - 21 , or at least they indicate from what starting points the objects leave and by what route they are transported.
  • the objects are jointly transported or are jointly present, they are represented in a common frame.
  • the destinations of the objects are represented by frames having upstanding sides inclined to the right.
  • a network with three regional distribution points R 1 , R 2 and R 3 is used for collecting and distributing mail in cooperation with the regional distribution point R 1 .
  • the system has three local distribution points L 1 , L 2 and L 3 .
  • objects coming from or destined for the local distribution points L 4 and L 5 are sent via the regional support point R 2 and objects coming from or destined for the local distribution points L 6 , L 7 and L 8 are sent via the regional support point R 3 .
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a number of different routes.
  • the set 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 which is sent to the local distribution point L 1 can be seen as a representation of the sender who sends large quantities of mail, which bulk postal matter is carried individually to the post office.
  • the postal matter 5 , 6 going to local station L 2 can be seen as a consignment from a medium sender. The same holds for the postal matter 18 , 19 and 20 , 21 going to the special distribution point S 1 , and for the postal matter 10 , 11 , 12 going to the local distribution point L 8 .
  • the practice of the invention will first of all be discussed from the perspective of the large sender 50 , which large sender is also represented in the communication diagram (FIG. 2).
  • the objects, in this example postal items 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 are to be sent to four different addresses.
  • the addresses for postal items 1 and 2 are located along a delivery route 23 starting from a local distribution point L 4 .
  • Address 3 is located along a delivery route 24 starting from a local distribution point L 5 and address 4 is at local distribution point L 6 , being, for instance, a postoffice box.
  • the sender nonetheless wishes to be able to take action as fast as possible when objects do not reach, or are not going to reach, the intended addressee, for instance by sending a replacement message in response to a warning signal.
  • Fast detection is also relevant if the missing postal item represents a substantial value, such as credit cards, because the chance of recovery is then greater and damage can be prevented by blocking operations and the like.
  • the sender 50 sends sending data 51 to a postal server 52 which in turn is coupled to a mail follow system 53 .
  • This mail follow system 53 is coupled to reading heads at the local and regional distribution points L 1 -L 8 and R 1 -R 3 .
  • the sending data 51 are subsequently registered and passed on via the mail follow system 53 , so that the mail follow system 53 can be set for recognizing the correct patterns.
  • the postal items 1 - 4 are sent to the respective destinations by presenting them for dispatch at the local distribution station L 1 .
  • the documents 1 - 4 traverse a sorting operation, which offers an opportunity to scan them and, upon recognition, to confirm their presence at the local distribution station L 1 by signalling 54 to the large sender 50 .
  • the postal items 1 - 4 are all forwarded to the regional distribution point R 1 and from there the postal items 1 - 3 proceed to the regional distribution point R 2 and the postal item 4 proceeds to the regional distribution point R 3 .
  • the postal items 1 , 2 proceed from the regional distribution point R 2 to the local distribution point L 4 , from where they are delivered to the addresses along the delivery route 23 .
  • the postal item 3 is distributed via local distribution point L 5 and delivered to an address along a delivery route 24 .
  • the postal item 4 finally, proceeds from the regional distribution point R 3 to the local distribution point L 6 and is there collected from a postoffice box or the like, as symbolized by the direct arrow.
  • the target time is automatically adjusted to the time it generally takes to reach the respective detection point.
  • a warning signal can then be generated fast.
  • the most accurate determination of a target time can be achieved when all postal items arrive at the same detection point, as in this example the postal items 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 reaching the regional support point R 1 .
  • a period of time can be added to the time at which presence of the first of the postal items 1 - 4 at the regional distribution point R 1 was signalled.
  • the duration of this time period can be determined, for instance, on the basis of previous experiences with comparable sets of postal items at the respective detection point.
  • the detection time interval per group of related postal items that applies to a detection point which time interval is added to the time point of first signalling of a postal item from the group at the detection point in order to determine the target time, can also be a fixed time interval. This can be, for instance, the time interval in which a batch of objects can be processed at a detection point.
  • the target time can further be determined in part on the basis of variation in elapsed time between time points of signalling of objects from different other groups of related postal items at the respective detection point. If the variation is large, a relatively long time interval after signalling of a first one of a group of related postal items at a detection point must be utilized before a warning signal is generated in response to the absence of a postal item, so as to avoid false warning signals.
  • the target time can moreover be adjusted more and more finely depending on time points of signalling of the presence of related objects according as more of the related objects have been signalled at the detection point or detection points.
  • the probability that, leaving disturbances aside, all postal items will have come in within a particular time period is increasingly higher according as more documents from a group of related postal items have come in.
  • the length of the time interval until the target time can, if x% of the objects have been detected, be set at 1/x % of the elapsed time plus a margin, while the target time is frozen if, for instance, 80% of the objects of a group have been detected.
  • a further way of detecting errors very fast is to signal that postal items are being detected in an order counter to the transport direction of those postal items.
  • postal items which have been detected as moving counter to the direction of transport are also excluded from the group of related objects, thereby eliminating the necessity for having to wait and establish if the respective postal item arrives at a detection point after all. Further, in such a situation, preferably a warning signal is generated.
  • the monitoring of postal item 4 in the routes from R 1 to R 3 and from R 3 to L 6 can be improved by utilizing the detections of the postal items 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 and 6 , 8 , 9 , 17 , respectively, for the prediction of the target times of postal item 4 at R 3 and L 6 .
  • the target time for the postal items 14 - 17 from this group can therefore be automatically determined for the path to R 2 , from detection of at least one of the others upon arrival at R 2 .
  • the determination of the time window of arrival for the next route sections can be estimated by predicting the expected arrival from the signalled arrival of postal items then traveling along in the same batch.
  • the small sender 56 requests a franking and an identification (step 57 ).
  • the user receives franking information and identification information 58 from the postal server 52 .
  • the franking administration debits the franking value against the user's balance.
  • the user After the user has printed the franking and identification information on his postal item with a printer, he can put the postal item in the mail at any time, for instance in the mailbox which will be emptied by distribution station L 5 . From the moment when the postal item has first been detected, it is subject to the monitoring system as described earlier.
  • the user receives only a confirmation of the arrival at the most downstream detection station or a warning that the letter has not been signalled anymore (step 61 ).
  • the relevance of such combination possibilities holds especially for senders who send relatively small quantities.
  • the senders of the postal items 18 , 19 and 20 , 21 make use thereof by combining the postal consignments and presenting them to a courier distribution point S 1 , from where the postal items are sent directly to the local distribution point L 4 which is closest to the addresses where the postal items are to be delivered. Any feedback information from the addressees can be combined to be able to predict more reliably when all postal items might normally speaking be expected to have arrived.
  • the related objects of which the time point of signalling of detection at a detection point forms an input variable for determining the target time for the arrival of a monitored object do not themselves need to be monitored, nor does any target time need to be determined for them. It is therefore possible that the detection of objects whose transport is not automatically monitored is used for determining target times for the arrival at detection points, or at least the signalling thereof, of objects whose transport is automatically monitored.
  • the earlier-mentioned possibility can be advantageously utilized by providing that at least a number of the detection points are formed by delivery addresses of the postal items. Signallings of presence of objects at the delivery addresses can then be obtained in the form of confirmations of receipt received from the addressees. These confirmations can be, for instance, in the form of e-mails, data which have been filled in via an on-line form, or involve the entering of a code specified on the delivered object after a feedback telephone number has been selected. The time lapse involved in the arrival of such feedback messages can be utilized to choose a suitable moment for a reminder or renewed messaging. Arrival of first replies can also be used as an indicator of short-term required capacity for processing replies.
  • Such a system can also be used advantageously by users who do not have a sufficient volume of mail available to make predictions based on the feedback messages of addressees, about the moment when addressees could have reported back if they had received the postal item.
  • Such small senders 56 , 64 can attain the necessary volumes by having their sending information 67 and feedback information run via a delivery monitoring agent 63 , 21 , to which end they request an identification code (step 67 ) which is included in the feedback message 65 (possibly via internet).
  • This delivery monitoring agent 63 , 21 can be formed, for instance, by a computer program in a form readable by a data processor, which runs on a server and determines from the sending information and the feedback information within which time period feedback information regarding a particular postal item is plausible and sends a warning when after elapse of that time period no feedback information 65 has been received yet.
  • Systems based on feedback by the user can be used especially advantageously if the user has an interest in the feedback, for instance to activate a telephone card or a credit card.

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US10/331,506 2001-12-31 2002-12-31 Method and computer program for monitoring the transport of objects in a distribution system Abandoned US20030180138A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL1019682 2001-12-31
NL1019682A NL1019682C2 (nl) 2001-12-31 2001-12-31 Werkwijze en computerprogramma voor het monitoren van het transporteren van objecten.

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20040202294A1 (en) * 2003-03-17 2004-10-14 Gardner Jon S. Messaging and document management system and method
US7627640B2 (en) 2003-03-17 2009-12-01 Epostal Services, Inc. Messaging and document management system and method
US20110316713A1 (en) * 2010-06-25 2011-12-29 Koichi Okubo Sample processing apparatus, sample container transporting apparatus, sample processing method and sample container transporting method
US11301799B1 (en) 2014-10-09 2022-04-12 Aeris Communications, Inc. Tracking physical delivery of products through a fulfillment system

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070136302A1 (en) * 2005-12-12 2007-06-14 Microsoft Corporation Automated device blog creation

Citations (11)

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US5043908A (en) * 1989-10-03 1991-08-27 Pitney Bowes Inc. Mail delivery system with arrival monitoring
US5592561A (en) * 1994-04-14 1997-01-07 Moore; Lewis J. Anti-counterfeiting system
US5917925A (en) * 1994-04-14 1999-06-29 Moore; Lewis J. System for dispensing, verifying and tracking postage and other information on mailpieces
US5929780A (en) * 1996-12-04 1999-07-27 Pagnol; Frederic Method of monitoring and programming a plurality of transponders simultaneously, and apparatus for implementing the method
US6266575B1 (en) * 1998-10-27 2001-07-24 Bell & Howell Mail And Messaging Technologies Company Client-server system, method and computer product for managing database driven insertion (DDI) and mail piece tracking (MPT) data
US20010030599A1 (en) * 2000-04-13 2001-10-18 Uwe Zimmermann Device and method for monitoring the interior space of a transport container
US6348856B1 (en) * 1997-12-04 2002-02-19 At&T Laboratories - Cambridge Limited Detection system for determining positional and other information about objects
US6539360B1 (en) * 1999-02-05 2003-03-25 United Parcel Service Of America, Inc. Special handling processing in a package transportation system
US6557755B1 (en) * 2000-08-10 2003-05-06 Bell & Howell Mail And Messaging Technologies Company Methods and systems for tracking and controlling mailpiece processing using postal service mailpiece code
US6879962B1 (en) * 1998-05-24 2005-04-12 Joseph D. Smith Logistics system and method
US6988080B2 (en) * 2001-02-16 2006-01-17 Zack Robert E Automated security and reorder system for transponder tagged items

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DE4002738A1 (de) * 1990-01-31 1991-08-01 Leiendecker Hans Juergen Ortsfeste oder mobile vorrichtung zur registrierung und identifizierung von frei bewegbaren, passiven "funk-aufzeichnungs-marken" mit speicher
GB9416349D0 (en) * 1994-08-12 1994-10-05 Neopost Ltd Mailing system
WO2001050376A2 (en) * 1999-12-30 2001-07-12 General Electric Company Online tracking of delivery status information over a computer network

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5043908A (en) * 1989-10-03 1991-08-27 Pitney Bowes Inc. Mail delivery system with arrival monitoring
US5592561A (en) * 1994-04-14 1997-01-07 Moore; Lewis J. Anti-counterfeiting system
US5917925A (en) * 1994-04-14 1999-06-29 Moore; Lewis J. System for dispensing, verifying and tracking postage and other information on mailpieces
US5929780A (en) * 1996-12-04 1999-07-27 Pagnol; Frederic Method of monitoring and programming a plurality of transponders simultaneously, and apparatus for implementing the method
US6348856B1 (en) * 1997-12-04 2002-02-19 At&T Laboratories - Cambridge Limited Detection system for determining positional and other information about objects
US6879962B1 (en) * 1998-05-24 2005-04-12 Joseph D. Smith Logistics system and method
US6266575B1 (en) * 1998-10-27 2001-07-24 Bell & Howell Mail And Messaging Technologies Company Client-server system, method and computer product for managing database driven insertion (DDI) and mail piece tracking (MPT) data
US6539360B1 (en) * 1999-02-05 2003-03-25 United Parcel Service Of America, Inc. Special handling processing in a package transportation system
US20010030599A1 (en) * 2000-04-13 2001-10-18 Uwe Zimmermann Device and method for monitoring the interior space of a transport container
US6557755B1 (en) * 2000-08-10 2003-05-06 Bell & Howell Mail And Messaging Technologies Company Methods and systems for tracking and controlling mailpiece processing using postal service mailpiece code
US6988080B2 (en) * 2001-02-16 2006-01-17 Zack Robert E Automated security and reorder system for transponder tagged items

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20040202294A1 (en) * 2003-03-17 2004-10-14 Gardner Jon S. Messaging and document management system and method
US7502828B2 (en) * 2003-03-17 2009-03-10 Epostal Services, Inc. Messaging and document management system and method
US7627640B2 (en) 2003-03-17 2009-12-01 Epostal Services, Inc. Messaging and document management system and method
US20110316713A1 (en) * 2010-06-25 2011-12-29 Koichi Okubo Sample processing apparatus, sample container transporting apparatus, sample processing method and sample container transporting method
US8698644B2 (en) * 2010-06-25 2014-04-15 Sysmex Corporation Sample processing apparatus, sample container transporting apparatus, sample processing method and sample container transporting method
US11301799B1 (en) 2014-10-09 2022-04-12 Aeris Communications, Inc. Tracking physical delivery of products through a fulfillment system

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NL1019682C2 (nl) 2003-07-01
EP1336928A1 (en) 2003-08-20

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