Fulfillment of orders from multiple sources
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsGustavo Eduardo Lopez, Paul J. Walsh, Jason Aaron McMahon, Christian M. Ricci
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure relates to order fulfillment by various fulfillment sources in a fulfillment network. A fulfillment source may be selected in the fulfillment network to fulfill an order before a contingency deadline. If the order is not fulfilled by the deadline, other fulfillment sources are used. Lead times for fulfillment of orders for products are adjusted for respective fulfillment sources based on their past fulfillment history.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a data store that stores a plurality of inventories, individual ones of the plurality of inventories expressing an inventory of products associated with a corresponding fulfillment entity of a plurality of fulfillment entities;
- at least one computing device in communication with the data store;
- and
- at least one program executable in the at least one computing device, wherein when executed the at least one program causes the at least one computing device to at least:
- identity multiple ones of the plurality of inventories that include a product;
- obtain a lead time associated with the product for individual ones of the multiple ones of the plurality of inventories from the corresponding fulfillment entity;
- obtain a historical performance of the corresponding fulfillment entity at fulfilling products;
- adjust the lead time according to the historical performance;
- and
- generate a listing of each of the plurality of fulfillment entities associated with a respective one of the multiple ones of the plurality of inventories, the listing including the lead time for the product that has been adjusted for the historical performance of the corresponding fulfillment entity.
A method, comprising:
- storing a plurality of inventories in a memory accessible by at least one computing device, each of the plurality of inventories expressing an inventory of items associated with a corresponding fulfillment entity of a plurality of fulfillment entities;
- identifying, by the at least one computing device, multiple ones of the plurality of inventories that include an item;
- identifying, by the at least one computing device, a lead time associated with the item for each of the multiple ones of the plurality of inventories based at least in part on a historical performance of the corresponding fulfillment entity at fulfilling items;
- and
- generating, by the at least one computing device, a network page including a listing of each of the plurality of fulfillment entities associated with a respective one of the multiple ones of the inventories, the listing including the lead time for the item for the corresponding fulfillment entity.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein when executed the program causes the at least one computing device to at least:
- store a plurality of inventories in a memory, each of the plurality of inventories expressing an inventory of items associated with a corresponding fulfillment entity of a plurality of fulfillment entities;
- identify multiple ones of the plurality of inventories that include an item;
- identity a lead time associated with the item for each of the multiple ones of the plurality of inventories based at least in part on a historical performance of the corresponding fulfillment entity at fulfilling items;
- and
- direct one of the plurality of fulfillment entities having an optimal lead time associated with the item to take an action to fulfill an order for the item.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.