WO2024041414A1

WO2024041414A1 - Warehouse management system and scheduling method

Info

Publication number: WO2024041414A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/113040
Authority: WO
Inventors: 赵震
Original assignee: 北京极智嘉科技股份有限公司
Priority date: 2022-08-24
Filing date: 2023-08-15
Publication date: 2024-02-29
Also published as: CN117657644A

Abstract

A warehouse management system and a scheduling method. The warehouse management system comprises an order container, inventory containers, and movable vehicles carrying at least one of the order container and the inventory containers. According to at least one of a minimum loading/unloading quantity of the inventory containers and a minimum transfer quantity of the movable vehicles, a control apparatus determines a target inventory container and a target movable vehicle where the target inventory container is located. The warehouse management system further comprises a workstation for docking the movable vehicle, and a loading/unloading device and a transfer device for moving the order container and/or the target inventory container between the workstation and the movable vehicle. The transfer device is used for transferring the target movable vehicle and the movable vehicle carrying the order container to a same workstation. The workstation is configured to perform a sorting operation on at least one target inventory container and a distribution operation on at least one order container.

Description

Warehousing management system and scheduling method

This application claims priority from the Chinese patent application with application number 202211024130.X submitted on August 24, 2022, the entire content of which is incorporated into this application by reference.

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to the field of warehousing technology, and specifically to a warehousing management system and a scheduling method.

Background technique

As the business volume of the e-commerce industry increases, in order to meet the timeliness requirements of warehouse shipments as much as possible, the difficulty and complexity of goods storage and dispatch are also gradually increasing.

In the traditional warehouse operation mode, a large number of workers usually go to the inventory area where the goods are stored to find the goods required for the order, and then bring the found order goods back to the operating area for sorting and packaging. Alternatively, some warehouses use robots to transport a large amount of goods from the inventory area to the operation area. Although the use of robots instead of manual transportation can avoid workers from frequently traveling between the inventory area and the operation area. However, when the robot transports a large amount of goods to the operating area, staff still need to find the goods required for the order from the numerous inventory goods on site, and complete subsequent sorting, packaging, shipping and other operations. This operation mode is based on the use of a large amount of manpower to select and distribute goods. Therefore, it is easily affected by people's thinking and physical strength, and there is uncertainty about whether each link operates normally. It is difficult to improve the flow and delivery of goods in the warehouse. library efficiency.

Contents of the invention

This summary introduces a series of concepts in a simplified form that are further described in detail in the detailed description. The invention summary part of the present disclosure is not intended to limit the key features and necessary technical features of the claimed technical solution, nor is it intended to determine the protection scope of the claimed technical solution.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a warehouse management system and a scheduling method.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a warehousing management system. The warehousing system includes: an order container, an inventory container, a movable carrier, a control device, a workstation, loading and unloading equipment, and handling equipment. Wherein, the order container has space to accommodate the goods; the inventory container stores goods of the target order; the movable carrier is used to carry at least one item in the order container and/or the inventory container. The control device is configured to determine the target inventory container and the target movable carrier where the target inventory container is located based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier; wherein the minimum loading and unloading quantity satisfies The minimum quantity of inventory containers in which all goods of the target order are placed; the minimum handling quantity is the minimum quantity of movable carriers in which all goods of the target order are placed. The handling equipment is configured to move order containers and/or target inventory containers between workstations and movable carriers. The handling equipment is configured for moving the movable carrier carrying the order container and the target movable carrier carrying the target inventory container to the same workstation. The workstation is configured to perform a picking operation on at least one container of target inventory and a placing operation on at least one order container.

In some embodiments, the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of inventory containers in which all goods are located to satisfy a single target order; or, the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of inventory containers in which all goods are located in order to satisfy all target orders.

In some embodiments, the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of movable carriers on which all goods are placed to satisfy a single target order; or, the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of movable carriers on which all goods are placed to satisfy all target orders.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to compare the number of movable carriers where the minimum number of inventory containers for all goods that satisfy the single target order is located and the number of inventory containers where the minimum number of all goods for satisfying all target orders is located. The number of movable vehicles, and the smaller one is determined as the number of movable vehicles in which the inventory container is located corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to determine the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity as the target inventory container; or to determine the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity as the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to determine that if the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located is less than or equal to the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier, determine that the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container is Target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to determine the inventory corresponding to the minimum handling quantity of the inventory container if the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is located is greater than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier. The container is the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured such that if the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than the minimum handling quantity and less than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then the inventory corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is The container is identified as the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the predetermined coefficient has a value greater than 1.

In some embodiments, the movable carrier includes a plurality of storage surfaces, each storage surface accommodates a plurality of inventory containers; the control device is further configured to determine the target inventory container according to the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface, and the target inventory container The target movable carrier where the minimum operation quantity is located; wherein, the minimum operation quantity is the minimum quantity of the storage surface where all the goods are located to satisfy a single target order; or, the minimum operation quantity is the minimum quantity of the storage surface where all the goods are located to satisfy all target orders. quantity.

In some embodiments, the target order includes multiple SKUs, each SKU having a product type and a product quantity; the control device is further configured to match the product type and product quantity based on the goods stored in the inventory container and the target order, Identify target inventory containers.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to, if the commodity type and quantity stored in the target inventory container are the same as those of the target order, then the target inventory container and the order container corresponding to the target order are Perform replacement.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to: If the quantity is half of the quantity, the target inventory container will be replaced with the order container corresponding to the target order.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to, if it is determined that there are multiple target movable carriers, send a handling instruction to the handling equipment, so that the handling equipment first carries the target with the largest number of target inventory containers according to the handling instruction. Transportable carriers to workstations.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to determine a transportation route, which is a route with the shortest distance and/or time to carry the target movable carrier to the workstation; and send the transportation route to the transportation equipment so that the transportation equipment follows the The transport route transports the target movable vehicle to the workstation.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system includes multiple available handling equipment, and the multiple available handling equipment has different priorities; wherein, the priority of the handling equipment is based on the distance between the handling equipment and the target movable carrier and the handling At least one of the distances between the device and the workstation is determined.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes a queuing area corresponding to the workstation, and the queuing area is used to accommodate at least one movable carrier. The control device is further configured to adjust the priorities of the multiple available handling equipment and/or the handling routes of the handling equipment according to the queuing information of the target movable carrier being queued in the queuing area.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to adjust the priorities of multiple available handling equipment and/or the handling routes of the handling equipment according to the task volume information corresponding to the target order; wherein the task volume information includes the handling equipment The size of the task and/or the completion of the task.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system includes j movable carriers. For the i-th SKU of the o-th target order, b ^o,i is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU in the o-th target order, Will It is defined as the hit of the l-th storage space on the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable vehicle to the o-th target order. It is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU of the o-th target order in the l-th storage space of the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable carrier. Certainly is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU in the l-th storage space of the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable carrier. The warehouse management system is configured such that:

Among them, the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface where all the goods for a single target order are located can be determined according to the following formula:

In some embodiments, the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface where all goods are located to satisfy all target orders can be determined according to the following formula:

In some embodiments, the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers containing all goods that satisfy all target orders can be determined according to the following formula:

A second aspect of the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a scheduling method. The method includes: first, hitting multiple inventory containers according to the target order, and the inventory container is a container that stores the goods of the target order; then, based on the multiple inventory containers, determine The minimum loading and unloading quantity of inventory containers and/or the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers; where the minimum loading and unloading quantity is the minimum number of inventory containers in which all goods that meet the target order are located; the minimum handling quantity is the minimum quantity in which all goods that meet the target order are located. The minimum number of movable carriers; secondly, according to at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity, determine the target inventory container among multiple inventory containers, and the target movable carrier where the target inventory container is located; then, to The handling equipment sends a handling instruction so that the handling equipment carries the target movable carrier and the movable carrier carrying the order container to the same workstation; where the order container is a container with space to accommodate the goods; finally, the handling equipment sends Pick and place instructions to enable loading and unloading equipment to move order containers and/or target inventory containers between workstations and movable carriers to perform picking operations on target inventory containers at the workstation and sorting operations on order containers.

In some embodiments, determining the target inventory container among multiple inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity includes: among the multiple inventory containers, determining the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity as Target inventory container; or, among multiple inventory containers, determine the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity as the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, determining the target inventory container among multiple inventory containers is based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity, including: if the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located is less than or equal to the minimum handling quantity, then among multiple inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the target inventory container is determined among multiple inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity, including: if the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located is greater than times the predetermined coefficient of the minimum handling quantity, then among the multiple inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the target inventory container is determined among multiple inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity, including: if the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located is greater than The minimum handling quantity is less than the predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then among the multiple inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

Description of drawings

The following drawings of embodiments of the disclosure are hereby incorporated into an understanding of the disclosure. The embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated in the drawings and their descriptions serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. In the attached picture,

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling method provided according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another scheduling method provided according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

In the following description, numerous specific details are given in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of these details. In other examples, some technical features that are well known in the art are not described in order to avoid confusion with the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In order to thoroughly understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, detailed structures will be set forth in the following description. It will be apparent that practice of the disclosed embodiments is not limited to the specific details familiar to those skilled in the art.

In related technologies, when picking goods based on order information, staff may need to go to the inventory area where goods are stored to find the goods required for the order, and bring the order goods back to the operating area for sorting and packaging operations; or, they may also Control the Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) to transport multiple boxes or shelves corresponding to the goods required for the order in the inventory area to the operation area. Although the use of robot transportation can avoid workers from frequently traveling between the inventory area and the operation area, after the robot moves multiple boxes or shelves to the operation area, workers still need to find out among the numerous inventory goods. The goods required for the order and complete the subsequent sorting, packaging, shipping and other operations. This method requires a large amount of manpower to select and distribute goods, thereby reducing the efficiency of goods circulation and delivery in the warehouse; in addition, because the picking and distribution process of goods is easily affected by people's thinking and physical strength, Therefore, there is also uncertainty about whether each link is operating normally.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a warehouse management system and a scheduling method, which can improve the operation mode of the human-based warehousing system in related technologies, realize an automated operation mode, and improve the management granularity and circulation efficiency in the warehouse. It should be noted that the warehouse management system involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure includes various devices that support the circulation of goods in various links. Warehouse management systems are designed to fulfill order requirements.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system includes an order container, the order container has a space for accommodating goods, and the order container can be put into the goods corresponding to the order.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes an inventory container, and the inventory container may store at least one item, and the at least one item includes items of the target order.

For example, the goods in the inventory container can eventually be placed in the order container and flow to the next link in association with the order, such as outbound delivery, shipment, etc.

In some examples, the attributes of inventory containers and order containers can be distinguished by electronic tags. For example, different data can be written into RFID tags to differentiate between inventory containers and order containers. Alternatively, the properties of inventory containers and order containers can be differentiated by physical structure. For example, logos (or marks) of different colors and numbers are sprayed or adhered to the inventory container and the order container respectively. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the method of distinguishing the attributes of the inventory container and the order container. For example, attributes of inventory containers and order containers may be recognized manually and/or electronically.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes a control device. The control device is used to determine how the goods in the order are transferred from the inventory container to the order container. In some examples, the number, location, and information of the goods stored therein may be stored in the control device so that the control device performs goods flow management. Likewise, order-related information can be stored in the control device.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system may further include a movable carrier configured to carry at least one of an order container and an inventory container.

In some examples, the control device may also be referred to as a control device or control device. The control device can be a server, It may also be a terminal device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some examples, the movable carrier can be used to carry both order containers and inventory containers. For example, the movable carrier may include a first movable carrier for carrying only order containers, a second movable carrier for carrying only inventory containers, and a third movable carrier for carrying both order containers and inventory containers. Mobile vehicle.

In some examples, the mobile vehicle may include a handling robot for handling boxes or shelves. For example, the movable carrier may be provided with wheels so that the movable carrier can move through the wheels.

In some examples, movable carriers and containers (such as order containers and inventory containers) are different hierarchical units for accommodating goods; where the movable carrier is a higher hierarchical unit, and the order container and inventory container are higher-level units than the movable carrier. A lower level unit for mobile vehicles. For example, at least one other hierarchical unit, such as a storage surface, can be set between the hierarchical unit of the movable carrier and the hierarchical unit of the container (such as an order container and an inventory container).

In some embodiments, the movable carrier may include multiple storage surfaces, wherein each storage surface may accommodate at least one (one or more) inventory containers and/or order containers. In other words, the storage surface can be a hierarchical unit between order containers, inventory containers and movable vehicles.

The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the number of hierarchical units used to accommodate goods in the warehouse management system. For example, the number of hierarchical units used to accommodate goods in the warehouse management system may be more or less.

In some examples, the control device may also store information about units at different levels of the warehouse management system. For example, the control device may store the quantity and location of movable carriers, storage surfaces, order containers and inventory containers and their combinations, as well as information about the commodities stored therein.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes a workstation for docking the movable carrier.

Illustratively, a workstation may dock at least one movable carrier(s). For example, the size and structure of workstations can be determined based on the number of movable vehicles that need to be docked. For example, the workstation can dock two movable carriers, or four movable carriers, or other numbers of movable carriers, which are not limited in this embodiment of the disclosure.

By way of example, a workstation may accommodate at least one inventory container and/or at least one order container.

In some examples, at least one inventory container and at least one order container may be transported to a workstation, and goods on the order may be transferred from the inventory container to the order container at the workstation. For example, items on an order can be picked from an inventory container and moved to a workstation, and then moved to an order container. Among them, the operation of moving the goods in the inventory container to the workstation can be called a picking operation (also called a picking operation); the operation of moving the goods picked from the inventory container to the order container can be called a distribution operation (or Can also be called a broadcast job).

For example, the sorting operation of order goods can be completed by staff or by robotic arms. The execution of the distribution operation can be based on factors such as whether the size of the goods is appropriate and whether the shape is regular.

Exemplarily, the warehouse management system may also include a queuing area corresponding to the workstation. The queuing area provides docking space for mobile vehicles that cannot dock at workstations and need to wait.

By way of example, the queuing area may dock at least one (one or more) movable carriers. For example, the size and structure of the queuing area may be determined based on the number of movable vehicles accommodated.

In some examples, the queuing area can accommodate more movable vehicles than workstations. For example, queuing areas can be located near workstations and/or further away from inventory areas. The setting of the queuing area can prepare in advance for the operation of the next batch of goods at the workstation, which is helpful to reduce the time required for the flow of goods from the inventory area to the outbound warehouse.

For example, the control device may determine the inventory container of all goods (or goods) that satisfies the order as the target inventory container, and determine the movable carrier carrying the target inventory container as the target movable carrier.

In some examples, the number of target inventory containers that satisfy all the goods (or goods) of the order can be one or multiple; when the number of target inventory containers is multiple, the target carrying the target inventory containers can be moved The number of vehicles can be one or multiple.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes loading and unloading equipment configured to move order containers and/or inventory containers between workstations and movable carriers.

In some examples, loading and unloading equipment may move target inventory containers between workstations and target removable vehicles; or Alternatively, loading and unloading equipment can also move order containers between workstations and movable carriers carrying order containers.

For example, the loading and unloading equipment can take out the order containers or inventory containers carried by the movable carrier and place them on the workstation, or the loading and unloading equipment can also take out the order containers or inventory containers in the workstation and place them on the movable carrier.

In some examples, loading and unloading equipment may be configured with telescoping rods, slide rails, suction cups, and the like to reliably move order containers and/or inventory containers in various directions.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes handling equipment configured to move the movable carrier carrying the order container and the movable carrier carrying the inventory container to the same workstation.

In some embodiments, the workstation is configured to perform picking operations on at least one target inventory container and perform placement operations on at least one order container.

In some examples, the handling equipment may move a movable carrier carrying an order container and a target movable carrier carrying a target inventory container to the same workstation. When the movable carrier carrying the order container and the target movable carrier carrying the target inventory container arrive at the workstation, the workstation can perform picking operations on at least one target inventory container and perform sorting operations on at least one order container. Among them, the sowing operation can also be called sowing operation.

Since both the order container and the target inventory container have entered the same workstation, staff do not need to frequently run between the inventory area where the target inventory container was originally located and the workstation, which greatly reduces the labor intensity and work burden of the staff and improves the efficiency of goods delivery. Management and circulation efficiency.

In some examples, the inventory container stores the goods required for the target order, but the quantity and type of goods in the inventory container may not exactly match the quantity and type of goods in the target order. That is, the items in one inventory container may not be enough to meet the demand for a target order, and the sum of the items in multiple inventory containers may exceed the demand for the target order. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the target inventory container among the plurality of inventory containers storing all the products of the target order. For example, at least one inventory container among the plurality of inventory containers may be determined as a target inventory container, so that the goods in the target inventory container exactly meet the needs of the target order.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to determine the target inventory container and the target movable carrier on which the target inventory container is located based on at least one of a minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and a minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier.

For example, the minimum loading quantity of the inventory container is the minimum quantity of the inventory container in which all the goods that satisfy the target order are located.

In some examples, the size of the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container can affect the number of operations of the loading and unloading equipment to take out the target inventory container from the target movable carrier and place it on the workstation, and can also affect the operation time of the loading and unloading equipment. For example, the smaller the minimum loading and unloading quantity, the fewer operations the loading and unloading equipment has to take out the target inventory container and place it on the workstation, the shorter the operation time of the loading and unloading equipment, and the higher the picking efficiency.

In some embodiments, the control device may determine the target inventory container based on the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container.

For example, the control device may determine the target inventory container from the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity among the multiple inventory containers. Among them, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity can be one or multiple.

For example, when the target order includes 5 items A, if there are 8 inventory containers containing 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, and 3 items A respectively, then according to For a target order, five inventory containers holding 1 item A can satisfy the target order; alternatively, three inventory containers holding 1 item A and one inventory container holding 2 items A can also satisfy the target order. demand; alternatively, two inventory containers containing 2 items of product A and one inventory container containing 1 item A can also meet the needs of the target order; or, one inventory container containing 2 items of item A and one containing One inventory container of 3 items A can also meet the demand of the target order.

Among the above-mentioned multiple inventory containers that satisfy all the products of the target order, since the two inventory containers containing 2 products A and 3 products A are required on the basis of meeting the demand for all products of the target order, Minimum quantity (e.g. 2) of inventory containers. If the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container, then the two inventory containers containing 2 commodities A and the two inventory containers containing 3 commodities A can be determined as the target inventory containers. That is to say, when two inventory containers containing 2 items A and 3 items A are determined as the target inventory capacity, When using the container, the number of loading and unloading of inventory containers can be minimized (here 2).

By determining the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity as the target inventory container, it can be ensured that on the basis of meeting all the goods of the target order, the number of inventory containers that need to be transported to the workstation is reduced as much as possible, thereby improving picking efficiency.

In some embodiments, the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers is the minimum number of movable carriers on which all goods required to satisfy the target order are located.

For example, the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier can affect the number of times the handling equipment carries the target movable carrier where the target inventory container is located to the workstation, and can also affect the handling time of the handling equipment. For example, the smaller the minimum handling quantity, the fewer the number of times the mobile equipment carries the target movable carrier to the workstation, the shorter the operation time of the mobile equipment, and the higher the handling efficiency.

In some embodiments, the control device may determine the target inventory container based on the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier.

For example, the control device may determine the target inventory container from the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity among the multiple inventory containers. Among them, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity can be one or multiple.

For example, when the target order includes 5 items of product A, if there are two movable shelves (such as movable carriers), one of the movable shelves carries 1, 1, 1, and 1 respectively. , 1, 2, 7 inventory containers of commodity A, and another movable shelf carries one inventory container containing 3 commodities A.

Among the multiple inventory containers that satisfy all the products of the target order, if five inventory containers containing one product A are determined as target inventory containers, or if three inventory containers each containing one product A are determined as the target inventory containers, An inventory container containing two products A is determined as the target inventory container, or two inventory containers each containing two products A and one inventory container containing one product A are determined as the target inventory container, then the target inventory The number of movable carriers corresponding to the container is 1 (that is, the inventory container carried on one movable carrier can meet the needs of the target order). If two inventory containers containing 2 commodities A and 3 commodities A are determined as target inventory containers, then the number of movable carriers corresponding to the target inventory containers is 2 ((that is, the two movable carriers can jointly carry The inventory container can meet the demand of the target order). If the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as the target inventory container, then the inventory container corresponding to the quantity of movable vehicles is 1 can be determined as the target inventory container.

By determining the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity as the target inventory container, it can be ensured that on the basis of meeting all the goods of the target order, the number of movable carriers that need to be handled is reduced as much as possible, thereby improving handling efficiency.

In some embodiments, the control device may also determine the target inventory container based on the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier. In this case, the control device can ensure that the number of inventory containers is small, and it can also ensure that the number of movable carriers being transported is small.

In some embodiments, the control device may be configured to, if the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is located is less than or equal to the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier, determine the minimum handling quantity of the inventory container corresponding to The inventory container is the target inventory container.

For example, when the target order includes 5 items of product A, if there are two movable shelves (such as movable carriers), one of the movable shelves carries 1, 1, 1, 1, There are 6 inventory containers containing 1 and 2 items of product A, and 2 inventory containers containing 2 and 3 items of product A are carried on another movable shelf.

In this case, the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container include two inventory containers containing 2 and 3 items of commodity A. The movable carrier where these two inventory containers are located is the same movable carrier. Then the minimum loading and unloading quantity corresponds to the number of movable vehicles where the inventory container is located; and the minimum handling quantity of movable vehicles is also 1, that is, the minimum loading and unloading quantity corresponds to the number of movable vehicles where the inventory container is located (such as 1 ) is equal to the minimum handling quantity of movable vehicles (such as 1). In this case, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container (that is, two inventory containers containing 2 or 3 items of product A) can be determined as the target inventory container.

That is to say, when the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container is consistent with the target inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity of the movable vehicle, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity can be the target inventory container, thereby satisfying the minimum quantity and Minimum number of movable vehicles.

In some examples, if the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container corresponds to the number of movable vehicles on which the inventory container is located, When it is less than the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container is determined as the target inventory container.

For example, the minimum loading and unloading quantity corresponds to the number of movable carriers where the inventory container is located, and the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers is 2, that is, the minimum loading and unloading quantity corresponds to the number of movable carriers where the inventory container is located (such as 1 ) is less than the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers (such as 2), the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container can be determined as the target inventory container, which can ensure that the inventory container is small and the movable carrier can be ensured The quantity is smaller.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to determine the inventory corresponding to the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier if the number of movable carriers in which the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is greater than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity The container is the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the value of the predetermined coefficient may be greater than 1. For example, the predetermined coefficient may be 1.2. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the specific value of the predetermined coefficient. The following embodiments take the predetermined coefficient as 1.2 as an example for illustrative description.

For example, when the target order includes 5 items of product A, if there are two movable shelves (such as movable carriers), one of the movable shelves carries 1, 1, 1, 1, There are 7 inventory containers of 1, 2, and 2 items of product A, and another movable shelf carries an inventory container containing 3 items of product A.

In this case, the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container include two inventory containers containing 2 and 3 items of commodity A. The two inventory containers are not located on the same movable carrier, that is, the minimum loading and unloading quantity The number of movable vehicles where the corresponding inventory container is located is 2; and if five inventory containers containing 1 product A are determined as target inventory containers, or three inventory containers containing 1 product A and One inventory container containing two products A is determined as the target inventory container, or two inventory containers containing two products A and one inventory container containing one product A are determined as the target inventory container. The minimum number of tools to be transported is 1. That is, the number of movable carriers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container (such as 2) is greater than the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier (such as 1), and is greater than the predetermined coefficient times of the minimum handling quantity (such as 1.2 times , that is, 2>1.2×1). In this case, the inventory container corresponding to when the minimum handling quantity is 1 can be determined as the target inventory container. For example, two inventory containers containing 2 items of product A and one inventory container containing 1 item of item A can be determined as target inventory containers. This can ensure that the minimum inventory containers and Minimal movable vehicles.

That is to say, when the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and the target inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier are inconsistent, the minimum quantity of the movable carrier can be satisfied as long as the conditions of the above control device configuration are met.

In some embodiments, when the number of movable carriers in which the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is located is greater than the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier and less than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, the inventory corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined. The container is the target inventory container.

For example, if the minimum loading and unloading quantity corresponds to the number of movable carriers where the inventory container is located, the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier is 1, and the reservation system is 2.2, then the minimum loading and unloading quantity corresponds to the movable carrier where the inventory container is located. The quantity (such as 2) is greater than the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier (such as 1), and is less than the predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity (such as 2<1×2.2). In this case, the minimum loading and unloading quantity can be The inventory container is determined as the target inventory container, which can ensure that the inventory container is small and the number of movable vehicles is small.

It should be noted that the above embodiment schematically illustrates the minimum loading and unloading quantity of inventory containers and the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers by taking a target order as an example. That is, the minimum loading and unloading quantity can be the inventory container where all the goods that satisfy a single target order are located. The minimum quantity, and the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers can be the minimum quantity of movable carriers on which all the goods of a single target order are located.

In some embodiments, the minimum handling quantity may also be the minimum number of inventory containers in which all goods to satisfy all target orders are located; and the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of movable carriers in which all goods to satisfy all target orders are located.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to compare the minimum number of all items that satisfy the single target order. The quantity of the movable carriers in which the inventory container is located and the quantity of the movable carriers in which the inventory container is located that satisfies the minimum quantity of all goods for all target orders, and the smaller one is determined as the minimum quantity of the inventory container. The number of movable vehicles where the inventory container is located corresponding to the loading and unloading quantity.

In this case, it can be ensured that the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container always meets the minimum item for a single order and all orders, further ensuring that the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier are determined. Target inventory containers are more accurate.

In some embodiments, the movable carrier may have multiple storage surfaces, and each of the plurality of storage surfaces may accommodate at least one (eg, multiple) inventory containers.

For example, multiple storage surfaces can face different directions to facilitate access to inventory containers from different directions.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to determine the target inventory container and the target movable carrier on which the target inventory container is located based on the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface.

For example, the minimum operation quantity is the minimum quantity on the storage surface where all the goods are located to satisfy a single target order, or the minimum operation quantity is the minimum quantity on the storage surface where all the goods are located to satisfy all target orders.

In some examples, the size of the minimum number of operations of the storage surface can affect the number of operations of the loading and unloading equipment to take out the target inventory container from the storage surface of the movable carrier and place it on the workstation, and can also affect the operation time of the loading and unloading equipment. For example, the smaller the minimum operation quantity, the fewer operations the loading and unloading equipment will have to take out the target inventory container from the storage surface of the movable carrier and place it on the workstation, the shorter the operation time of the loading and unloading equipment, and the higher the picking efficiency will be.

For example, in the case where the target order includes 5 items of product A, if there is a movable carrier, a storage surface of the movable carrier stores 1, 1, 1, 1, There are 7 inventory containers for 1, 2, and 2 items of product A, and a storage container containing 3 items of product A is stored in another storage surface.

In this case, if five inventory containers containing one product A are determined as target inventory containers, or three inventory containers containing one product A and one inventory container containing two products A are determined as the target inventory container, or determine two inventory containers containing 2 items of commodity A and one inventory container containing 1 item of item A as the target inventory container, then the operation quantity of the storage surface is 1; or, you can The two inventory containers containing 2 and 3 items of commodity A are determined as target inventory containers, and the operation quantity of the storage surface is 2. Therefore, when two inventory containers containing 2 or 3 items of product A are determined as target inventory containers, the number of operations on the storage surface will become larger (for example, 2). In this case, if the control device determines the target inventory container based on the minimum number of operations on the storage surface, then the corresponding inventory container when the minimum number of operations on the storage surface is 1 can be determined as the target inventory container.

In some embodiments, the control device may also be configured to determine the target inventory container based on at least one of the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface, the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container, and the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier, and the target The target movable vehicle where the inventory container resides.

That is to say, the control device can determine the target inventory container based on any one of the minimum number of operations on the storage surface, the minimum number of loading and unloading of inventory containers, and the minimum number of handling of movable carriers, or any two, or all three together. , the embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit this.

The warehouse management system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can determine the target inventory container from multiple inventory containers of all goods that meet the target order based on the minimum loading and unloading quantity and/or the minimum operation quantity, and then determine the target movable container based on the target inventory container. vehicle. The target inventory container is the minimum inventory container that can guarantee to meet the target order demand, and the target movable vehicle is the minimum movable vehicle that can guarantee to meet the target order demand. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure can improve the efficiency of completing target orders and the circulation efficiency of goods, and reduce labor costs by reducing as much as possible the number of inventory containers and/or the number of movable carriers for all goods that satisfy the target order.

In some embodiments, the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface for all goods in a single order can be determined by the following formula (1):

In some embodiments, the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface of all goods to satisfy all orders can be determined by the following formula (2):

In some embodiments, the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers to satisfy all items of all orders can be determined by the following formula (3):

Among them, the above formula (1) to formula (3) can satisfy the following formula (4) to formula (9).

Among them, each variable in the above formula (1) to formula (9) can refer to the following description:

The warehouse management system includes J movable vehicles. The j-th movable vehicle among the J movable vehicles includes K storage surfaces. The k-th storage surface among the K storage surfaces includes L storage surfaces. Cargo location (each storage location corresponds to one inventory container, that is, the i-th inventory container). And the warehouse management system has O target orders. The o-th target order among the O target orders includes I minimum inventory units (Stock Keeping Unit, SKU). For the i-th SKU of the o-th target order, b ^{o ,i} is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU in the o-th target order. Will It is defined as the hit of the l-th storage space on the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable vehicle to the o-th target order. Will It is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU of the o-th target order in the l-th storage space of the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable carrier. Will It is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU in the l-th storage space of the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable carrier.

In some examples, formula (4) to formula (9) are the constraints for obtaining the minimum value of formula (1) to formula (3), and each formula is represented respectively: formula (4) represents K shelves in total J The inventory in the L storage spaces on the storage surface meets the required quantity of I SKUs of the o-th order. Formula (5) indicates that the quantity of inventory of the i-th SKU of a total of O orders hitting l storage locations on the k storage surfaces of the j-th shelf will not exceed l of the k storage surfaces of the j-th shelf. The i-th inventory in storage locations. Formula (6) indicates that the o-th order (a total of I SKUs) either hits or misses the inventory of l storage locations on the k storage surfaces of the j-th shelf. Formula (7) indicates that the quantity of the i-th SKU of the o-th order hitting l storage locations on the k storage surfaces of the j-th shelf is greater than or equal to zero. Formula (8) indicates that the hit of the o-th order on the l storage locations of the k storage surfaces of the j-th shelf is represented by "1", and the miss is represented by "0". Formula (9) indicates that the quantity of inventory of the i-th SKU of the o-th order hitting l storage locations on the k storage surfaces of the j-th shelf is an integer.

Based on the above formulas (1) to (9), the control device in the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can calculate the optimal solution for transferring goods from the inventory container to the order container regarding the order for a specific optimization goal. It should be noted that the above algorithm is only an example. Without departing from the gist of the present disclosure, embodiments of the present disclosure can also be implemented based on other optimization objectives or based on other algorithms.

In some embodiments, the target order may include multiple SKUs, and each SKU may be defined by product type (eg, specification, model, etc.) and product quantity.

In some examples, when two (or more) products have the same product type and product quantity, the two (or more) products belong to the same SKU.

For example, a combination product of 1 brand A series A shampoo and 1 brand A series A body wash, if the first combined product is 1 600ml brand A series B shampoo and 1 400ml brand A series B body wash , the second combination product is a 600ml piece of brand A and series B shampoo and a 600ml piece of brand A and series B body wash, then the first combination product and the second combination product belong to different SKUs. In other words, for SKUs, even if other attributes including product quantity are the same, as long as the product types (such as specifications, models, etc.) are different, they cannot be regarded as the same SKU.

Limiting SKUs by attributes such as product type and product quantity can ensure that the products stored in the control device are as safe as possible. The information is consistent with the minimum inventory unit of the goods actually existing in the warehouse, which facilitates the control device to manage goods based on the SKU-related information of the goods.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to determine the target inventory container based on the degree of matching between the items stored in the inventory container and the target order in terms of item type and item quantity.

In some examples, the control device may determine the inventory container that satisfies all the goods of the target order as the target inventory based on one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container, the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier, and the minimum operation quantity of the storage surface. Container, where whether all the goods of the target order are satisfied is determined based on the matching degree between the goods stored in the inventory container and the target order in terms of product type and product quantity.

For example, when the target order includes 5 pieces of product A, if there are 3 inventory containers containing 1 piece, 2 pieces, and 3 pieces of product A respectively, then the inventory container containing 3 pieces of product A will be in the same category as the target order ( For example, product A) and product quantity (such as 5 pieces) have the highest matching degree. Therefore, you can first predefine the inventory container containing 3 items as the target inventory container. It should be noted that the final determination of the target inventory container also needs to be determined based on the minimum loading and unloading quantity of inventory containers, the minimum handling quantity of movable carriers, and the minimum number of operations on the storage surface.

For another example, when the target order includes 3 items of product A and 2 items of product B, if there are respectively an inventory container containing 3 items of item A, an inventory container containing 2 items of item B, and an inventory container containing 2 items of item A and 1 item. As for the inventory container of product B, the inventory container containing 2 pieces of product A and 1 piece of product B has the highest matching degree with the target order in terms of product type and product quantity. Therefore, the inventory container can be predefined as the target inventory container first.

It should be noted that the above description takes a single target order hitting the inventory container as an example. The process of multiple target orders hitting the inventory container is similar to that of a single target order. To avoid duplication, it will not be described again here. The embodiment of the present disclosure takes a single target order hitting the inventory container as an example for schematic explanation.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to replace the target inventory container with the order container corresponding to the target order if the product type and product quantity stored in the target inventory container are the same as the product type and product quantity of the target order. .

In some examples, the replacement of the target inventory container and the order container can be achieved by marking. For example, the replacement of the target inventory container and the order container can be achieved by modifying the data written on the electronic label, or replacing the marks with different colors and numbers.

In some examples, the replacement of the target inventory container and the order container can also be achieved through location replacement. For example, the order container located on the first movable carrier is exchanged with the inventory container located on the second movable carrier, so that the replaced order container is located on the second movable carrier, and the replaced inventory container is located on the first movable carrier. Movable vehicles.

The warehouse management system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can reduce the cost (such as mental, physical labor and related data calculation) required to select goods that meet the target order requirements from the inventory container and put them into the order container, and make the goods from The flow of inventory containers into order containers is simpler and more convenient.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to: if the number of product types or product quantities stored in the target inventory container is equal to or less than the number of product types or product quantities of the target order, and is greater than the number of product types or product quantities of the target order, If the quantity of goods is half of the quantity, the target inventory container can be replaced with the order container corresponding to the target order.

In some examples, the above-described embodiments can increase the tolerance of the control device to "hitting" target orders by inventory containers. That is to say, a single inventory container cannot satisfy all the products of the target order (including product types, product quantities, etc.), but as long as the products stored in the inventory container match the target order to a certain extent, for example, when the inventory container When the cost of collecting the stored goods and the goods stored in other inventory containers multiple times to satisfy all the goods of the target order exceeds the cost of replacing the inventory container with the corresponding order container, the inventory container can be replaced with the corresponding order container. Corresponding order container replacement.

For example, the tolerance of the control device for a certain inventory container to hit the target order can be set to the number of commodity types or commodity quantities stored in the target inventory container being equal to or smaller than the number of commodity types or commodity quantities of the target order, And it is greater than half of the number of product types or product quantities of the target order. Alternatively, the control device can be The tolerance for a certain inventory container to hit a target order is set when the number of product categories or product quantities stored in the target inventory container is equal to or smaller than the number of product categories or product quantities in the target order, and is greater than the product category or product quantity in the target order. Two-thirds, three-quarters, etc. of the quantity of goods. This value can be set according to requirements, and is not limited in this embodiment of the disclosure.

In some embodiments, after the target inventory container is determined, the movable carrier where the target inventory container is located may be determined as the target movable carrier.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to, if it is determined that there are multiple target movable carriers, send a handling instruction to the handling equipment, so that the handling equipment first moves the target movable carrier carrying the largest number of target inventory containers according to the handling instruction. The mobile carrier is transported to the workstation.

In some examples, the handling instruction (such as the first handling instruction) may include a handling sequence for handling multiple target movable carriers, and the handling equipment handles the multiple movable carriers according to the handling order.

In some examples, priority is given to target movable carriers carrying the highest number of target inventory containers, which can move as many target inventory containers to workstations for picking operations in as few moves as possible to satisfy more targets as quickly as possible. order, which helps improve picking efficiency and the timeliness of completing target orders.

In some embodiments, the control device is further configured to: determine a transport route; the transport route is a route with the shortest distance and/or time to transport the target movable carrier to the workstation; send the transport route to the transport equipment so that the transport equipment Transport the target movable vehicle to the workstation according to the transport route.

In some examples, the control device may determine the optimal transportation route of the transportation equipment based on the distance between the target movable carrier and the workstation, and/or the time for moving the target movable carrier to the workstation. For example, information such as the quantity, location, and idle status of the handling equipment can be stored in the control device, so that the control device determines the shortest distance and/or shortest time route for the handling equipment to carry the target movable carrier.

In some examples, the control device can directly send the transport route to the transport equipment, so that the transport equipment transports the target movable carrier according to the transport route; or, the control device can also generate a transport instruction (such as the second transport command) based on the determined transport route. Transportation instructions) and sent to the transportation equipment, where the transportation instructions include transportation routes. For example, the second transportation instruction may be the same transportation instruction as the first transportation instruction, or may be a different transportation instruction, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some examples, the handling equipment may include a handling robot. Handling robots can adapt to the shape of movable carriers. For example, a transport robot can transport a movable carrier by lifting, pulling, etc. from the bottom or sides of the movable carrier.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system includes multiple available handling equipment, and the multiple available handling equipment has different priorities; wherein the priority of the handling equipment is based on the distance between the handling equipment and the target movable carrier and At least one of the distances between the handling equipment and the workstation is determined.

In some examples, the available handling equipment may include handling equipment that is in an idle state, that is, the handling equipment is not currently performing relevant handling tasks.

For example, when there are multiple available handling devices for handling a movable carrier, conflicts may occur between the multiple handling devices. For example, conflicts such as collisions between multiple handling equipment due to the intersection of handling routes. When multiple available handling devices are configured with different priorities, the higher priority handling device can be determined from the multiple available handling devices based on the priorities of the multiple handling devices to move the target movable carrier to workstation.

In some examples, the priority of the handling equipment may be determined based on the sum of the distances between the handling equipment and the target movable vehicle and between the handling equipment and the workstation. For example, among multiple transport devices, when the total distance is determined to be the smallest, the priority of the multiple corresponding transport devices can be set to a higher priority. In this case, it can be ensured that the determined transport equipment for transporting the target movable carrier is the transport equipment that is relatively close to the target movable carrier and the workstation, so that the target movable carrier can be transported in the shortest possible time. to the workstation so that picking and sorting operations can be completed quickly.

In other examples, the priority of the handling equipment can also be based on the power information, usage time, and moving equipment of the handling equipment. Determine the congestion level of the transportation route of the equipment. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

In some embodiments, the warehouse management system further includes a queuing area corresponding to the workstation, and the queuing area accommodates at least one movable carrier. The control device is further configured to adjust the priorities of the multiple available handling equipment and/or the handling routes of the handling equipment according to the queuing information of the target movable carrier being queued in the queuing area.

In some examples, when there are multiple target movable carriers queuing in the queuing area, if the sum of the distances taken by two handling devices to reach the target movable carrier and the workstation is the same, one handling device (such as The handling equipment M) is closer to the workstation and further away from the target movable carrier, and another handling equipment (such as handling equipment N) is further away from the workstation and closer to the target movable carrier. In this case, a higher priority can be set for the handling equipment M that is farther away from the workstation and closer to the target movable carrier, and a lower priority can be set for the handling equipment M that is closer to the workstation and farther from the target movable carrier. For example, the priority of handling equipment M is higher than that of handling equipment N.

In some examples, when a target movable carrier that is queuing in the handling queue area of a handling equipment is determined, the priority of the handling equipment can be lowered among multiple handling equipments, or the handling route of the handling equipment can be adjusted. , for example, when there is a route intersection, other handling equipment with higher priority can be allowed to pass first.

For example, when two conveying equipment are running toward each other, the conveying equipment with a lower priority is controlled to change paths, or the conveying equipment with a higher priority is controlled to avoid the conveying equipment with a higher priority. For example, when two handling equipment travel to the same intersection or intersection, the handling equipment with a lower priority can be controlled to give way to the handling equipment with a higher priority.

In some examples, if the task volume of the target order is relatively small, the inventory container in the movable carrier of the corresponding workstation can quickly complete the picking operation or has completed the picking operation. In this case, the inventory container corresponding to the workstation can be The priority of the handling equipment is increased among multiple handling equipment, so that the handling equipment has a higher priority when traveling on the road, thereby ensuring that it carries the target movable carrier to the workstation earlier and then carries out the picking operation.

It should be noted that the above embodiments describe several ways for the control device to control how the transportation equipment is transported. The control device of the warehouse management system provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to determining the transportation mode of the transportation equipment through the above methods.

For the convenience of description, when describing the above device, the functions are divided into various units and described separately. Of course, when implementing this application, the functions of each unit can be implemented in the same or multiple software and/or hardware.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, this method can be executed by the control device in the above embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the method includes steps S110 to S150 as shown below.

Step S110: Hit multiple inventory containers according to the target order.

Among them, the inventory container is a container that stores the products of the target order. The multiple inventory containers are inventory containers for all the products that satisfy the target order.

Step S120: Based on multiple inventory containers, determine the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and/or the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier.

Among them, the minimum loading and unloading quantity is the minimum number of inventory containers where all the goods that meet the target order are located; the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of movable carriers where all the goods that meet the target order are located.

For example, among multiple inventory containers, at least one inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity and at least one inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity can be determined.

Step S130: Determine among multiple inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity. The target inventory container, and the target movable vehicle on which the target inventory container is located.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another scheduling method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, step S130 in the above embodiment may include steps S210 to S250 as shown below.

Step S210: Among multiple inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

It should be noted that step S210 may be executed after step S120, or may be executed after step S230, or may be executed after step S240; this is not limited in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Step S220: Among multiple inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

It should be noted that step S220 may be executed after step S120 or after step S240; this is not limited in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Step S230: Determine whether the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than the minimum handling quantity.

If it is determined that the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is less than or equal to (if equal to) the minimum handling quantity, then step S210 is continued; if it is determined that the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is If the quantity is greater than the minimum handling quantity, step S240 will continue.

Step S240: Determine whether the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity.

If it is determined that the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is less than or equal to the predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then step S210 is continued; if it is determined that the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is If the quantity is greater than the predetermined coefficient times the minimum transportation quantity, step S220 is continued.

The value of the predetermined coefficient may be greater than 1 in some examples. For example, the predetermined coefficient may be 1.2.

In some examples, according to step S210 to step S240 in Figure 2, this solution embodiment can provide five ways of determining the target inventory container. The five ways are:

The first way is to determine the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity as the target inventory container.

In the second method, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

The third method is to first determine the relationship between the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located and the minimum handling quantity. When it is determined that the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is less than or equal to When the minimum handling quantity is reached, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

The fourth method is to first determine the relationship between the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located and the predetermined coefficient of the minimum handling quantity. When determining the movable carrier where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located, When the quantity is greater than the predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

The fifth method is to first determine the relationship between the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located and the minimum handling quantity. When it is determined that the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than the minimum handling quantity When determining the quantity, the relationship between the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located and the predetermined coefficient of the minimum handling quantity are determined. When the quantity is greater than the predetermined coefficient times of the minimum handling quantity and is less than or equal to the predetermined coefficient times of the minimum handling quantity, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present disclosure can determine the target inventory container in any of the above five ways, and the embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit this.

Step S250: Determine the movable carrier carrying the target inventory container as the target movable carrier.

In some examples, after the target inventory container and the target movable vehicle are determined, the movable vehicle where the target inventory container is located is the target movable vehicle. For example, when there are multiple target inventory containers, the target movable vehicle can be one One or more. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, through the target inventory container determined in the above manner, it is possible to carry as few target movable carriers as possible to meet the needs of all goods in the target order.

After the target inventory container and target movable carrier are determined, the target movable carrier needs to be transported to the workstation through handling equipment for picking operations. Therefore, step S140 shown below may be continued.

Step S140: Send a handling instruction to the handling equipment so that the handling equipment carries the target movable carrier and the movable carrier carrying the order container to the same workstation.

Wherein, the order container is a container with space to accommodate the goods.

In some examples, the control device can send a handling instruction to the handling equipment (such as available handling equipment). The handling instruction can include the target movable carrier that needs to be moved, as well as information such as the handling route, so that the handling equipment can move according to the transportation instructions. Command to move the target movable vehicle to the same workstation.

In some examples, if there are multiple target movable vehicles, the transportation instruction may also include transportation sequence information of each target movable vehicle, etc.

For example, multiple target movable carriers can be transported by one transporting equipment, or multiple target movable carriers can be transported by multiple transporting equipments. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Step S150: Send a pick-and-place instruction to the loading and unloading equipment, so that the loading and unloading equipment moves the order container and/or the target inventory container between the workstation and the movable carrier to perform picking operations on the target inventory container at the workstation and sort the order containers. Broadcast homework.

When the handling equipment transports the target movable carrier to the workstation, the control device can send a pick-and-place instruction to the loading and unloading equipment. The loading and unloading equipment receives the pick-and-place instruction and moves the target between the workstation and the target movable carrier according to the pick-and-place instruction. Inventory containers, and/or, move order containers between workstations and removable carriers carrying order containers.

After the order container and target inventory container are moved to the workstation, the goods corresponding to the target order in the target inventory container can be transferred to the order container by workers or robotic arms at the workstation.

The scheduling method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure and the warehousing management system provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can determine the target inventory container from multiple inventory containers that satisfy all the goods of the target order based on the minimum loading and unloading quantity and/or the minimum operation quantity, The target movable vehicle is then determined based on the target inventory container. The target inventory container is the minimum inventory container that can guarantee to meet the target order demand, and the target movable vehicle is the minimum movable vehicle that can guarantee to meet the target order demand. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure can improve the efficiency of completing target orders and the circulation efficiency of goods, and reduce labor costs by reducing as much as possible the number of inventory containers and/or the number of movable carriers for all goods that satisfy the target order.

It should be noted that the terms "comprises," "comprises" or any other variation thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, good, or apparatus that includes a list of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes none. Other elements expressly listed, or elements inherent to the process, method, article or equipment. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in a process, method, article, or device that includes the stated element.

Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems or computer program products. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The application may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. The present application may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices connected through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including storage devices.

Unless otherwise defined, the technical and scientific terms used herein are those commonly used by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure relates. The meaning of understanding is the same. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to limit the disclosure. Terms such as "arranged" when used herein may mean that one component is directly attached to another component or that one component is attached to another component through intermediaries. Features described herein in one embodiment may be applied to another embodiment alone or in combination with other features, unless the feature is inapplicable in that other embodiment or otherwise stated.

The present disclosure has been described through the above-described embodiments, but it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are only for the purpose of illustration and illustration, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to the scope of the described embodiments. Those skilled in the art can understand that more variations and modifications can be made based on the teachings of the present disclosure, and these variations and modifications all fall within the scope of protection claimed by the present disclosure.

Claims

A warehouse management system including:

an order container having space to accommodate the merchandise;

An inventory container, in which the goods of the target order are stored;

A movable carrier for carrying at least one of the order container and the inventory container;

a control device configured to determine a target inventory container and the target movable carrier on which the target inventory container is located based on at least one of a minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and a minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier; Wherein, the minimum loading and unloading quantity is the minimum number of the inventory containers where all the goods that meet the target order are located; the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of the movable carriers where all the goods that meet the target order are located. quantity;

loading and unloading equipment configured to move the order container and/or the target inventory container between a workstation and the movable carrier;

handling equipment configured to move the movable carrier carrying the order container and the target movable carrier carrying the target inventory container to the same workstation;

The workstation is configured to perform picking operations on at least one of the target inventory containers and perform sorting operations on at least one of the order containers.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the minimum loading and unloading quantity is the minimum number of the inventory containers in which all the goods of a single target order are located; or, the minimum loading and unloading quantity is the minimum quantity of the inventory that satisfies all of the The minimum quantity of said inventory container that contains all items for the target order.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of movable carriers that satisfy all the goods of a single target order; and the minimum handling quantity is the minimum number of movable carriers that satisfy all the targets. The minimum number of movable carriers that all items in the order can be placed on.
The warehouse management system according to claim 3, wherein the control device is configured to:

Compare the number of movable carriers on which the inventory containers are located that satisfy the minimum quantity of all goods for a single target order and the movable carriers on which the inventory containers are located on the minimum quantity of all goods that satisfy all of the target orders. The size of the quantity, and the smaller item is determined as the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to:

The inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container; or, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as the target inventory container.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to:

If the number of movable carriers on which the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located is less than or equal to the minimum handling quantity, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to:

If the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum handling quantity are determined as the target inventory. container.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to:

If the number of movable carriers where the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is located is greater than the minimum handling quantity and less than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as Target inventory container.
The warehouse management system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the value of the predetermined coefficient is greater than 1.
The warehouse management system according to claim 1, wherein the movable carrier includes a plurality of storage surfaces, each of the storage surfaces accommodates a plurality of the inventory containers; the control device is configured to:

The target inventory container and the target movable carrier where the target inventory container is located are determined according to the minimum operation quantity of the storage surface; wherein the minimum operation quantity is all the goods that satisfy a single target order. The minimum quantity of the storage surface where the goods are located; or, the minimum operation quantity is the minimum quantity of the storage surface where all the goods that satisfy all the target orders are located.
The warehouse management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the target order includes a plurality of minimum stock keeping units (SKUs), each SKU has a product type and a product quantity; the control device is also configured to:

The target inventory container is determined based on the degree of matching between the merchandise stored in the inventory container and the target order in terms of merchandise type and merchandise quantity.
The warehouse management system according to claim 11, wherein the control device is further configured to:

If the commodity type and quantity stored in the target inventory container are the same as the commodity type and quantity of the target order, the target inventory container is replaced with the order container corresponding to the target order.
The warehouse management system according to claim 11, wherein the control device is further configured to:

If the number of product types or product quantities stored in the target inventory container is less than or equal to the number of product types or product quantities in the target order, and is greater than half of the number of product types or product quantities in the target order, Then the target inventory container is replaced with the order container corresponding to the target order.
The warehouse management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the control device is further configured to:

If it is determined that there are multiple target movable carriers, a handling instruction is sent to the handling equipment, so that the handling equipment prioritizes the target movable carrier carrying the largest number of target inventory containers according to the handling instruction. Transport tools to the workstation.
The warehouse management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the control device is further configured to:

Determine the transportation route; the transportation route is the route with the shortest distance and/or time to transport the target movable carrier to the workstation;

The transport route is sent to the transport equipment, so that the transport equipment transports the target movable carrier to the workstation according to the transport route.
The warehouse management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the warehouse management system includes a plurality of available handling equipment, and the plurality of available handling equipment have different priorities; wherein, the plurality of available handling equipment has different priorities; The priority of the handling equipment is determined based on at least one of a distance between the handling equipment and the target movable carrier and a distance between the handling equipment and the workstation.
The warehouse management system according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the warehouse management system further includes a queuing area corresponding to the workstation, the queuing area being used to accommodate at least one of the movable carriers; the control The device is also configured to:

According to the queuing information of the target movable carrier being queued in the queuing area, the priorities of multiple available handling equipment and/or the handling routes of the handling equipment are adjusted.
The warehouse management system according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the control device is further configured to:

According to the task volume information corresponding to the target order, the priorities of the multiple available transport equipment and/or the transport routes of the transport equipment are adjusted; wherein the task volume information includes the task volume of the transport equipment Size and/or workload completion.
The warehouse management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the warehouse management system includes j movable carriers, and for the i-th SKU of the o-th target order, bo ,i is defined is the quantity of the i-th SKU in the o-th target order, and It is defined as the hit of the l-th storage space on the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable vehicle to the o-th target order. It is defined as the quantity of the i-th SKU of the o-th target order in the l-th storage space of the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable carrier. Defined as the k-th storage surface of the j-th movable vehicle The quantity of the i-th SKU in the l-th storage space, the warehouse management system is configured such that:

Among them, the minimum operating quantity of the storage surface where all the commodities for a single target order are located can be determined according to the following formula:
The warehousing management system according to claim 19, wherein the minimum operation quantity of the storage surface where all the goods that satisfy all the target orders are located can be determined according to the following formula:
The warehouse management system according to claim 19, wherein the minimum handling quantity of the movable carriers containing all the goods that satisfy all the target orders can be determined according to the following formula:
A scheduling method including:

Hit multiple inventory containers according to the target order, and the inventory containers are containers that store the goods of the target order;

Based on the plurality of inventory containers, determine the minimum loading and unloading quantity of the inventory container and/or the minimum handling quantity of the movable carrier; wherein the minimum loading and unloading quantity is the inventory where all the goods that meet the target order are located The minimum quantity of containers; the minimum handling quantity is the minimum quantity of the movable carriers that satisfy all the goods of the target order;

According to at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity, a target inventory container is determined among the plurality of inventory containers, and a target movable carrier where the target inventory container is located;

Send a handling instruction to the handling equipment so that the handling equipment carries the target movable carrier and the movable carrier carrying the order container to the same workstation; wherein the order container is a container with space to accommodate goods ;

Send pick-and-place instructions to handling equipment so that the handling equipment moves the order container and/or the target inventory container between the workstation and the movable carrier to process the target at the workstation. The inventory container performs picking operations, and the order containers perform sorting operations.
The method of claim 22, wherein determining a target inventory container among the plurality of inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity includes:

Among the plurality of inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container; or, among the plurality of inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is determined as The target inventory container.
The method of claim 22, wherein determining a target inventory container among the plurality of inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity includes:

If the number of movable carriers on which the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is less than or equal to the minimum handling quantity, then among the plurality of inventory containers, the inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined. Inventory container for the target.
The method of claim 22, wherein determining a target inventory container among the plurality of inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity includes:

If the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then among the plurality of inventory containers, the inventory corresponding to the minimum handling quantity is The container is determined to be the target inventory container.
The method of claim 22, wherein determining a target inventory container among the plurality of inventory containers based on at least one of the minimum loading and unloading quantity and the minimum handling quantity includes:

If the number of movable carriers where the inventory containers corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity are located is greater than the minimum handling quantity and less than a predetermined coefficient times the minimum handling quantity, then among the plurality of inventory containers, the The inventory container corresponding to the minimum loading and unloading quantity is determined as the target inventory container.