Systems and methods for packing optmization and visualization

A method for managing a shipment of a plurality of products, comprising:

• obtaining a request for a packing instruction from a user via a user interface, wherein the request comprises:
• weight and dimension information of the plurality of products, dimension information of one or more containers available for containing the plurality of products, and a rate table including shipping rate information of one or more shipping carriers identified by the user;
• ranking the plurality of products based on at least one of their weight and dimension information to generate a first ranking list;
• ranking the one or more containers based on their dimension information to generate a second ranking list;
• determining, based on the first ranking list and the second ranking list, a plurality of layout configurations for packing the plurality of products into at least one container selected from the one or more containers;
• selecting a layout configuration from the plurality of layout configurations based at least partially on the rate table, wherein the selected layout configuration minimizes a cost of shipping the plurality of products;
• working remotely in concert with a remote server to generate a visual illustration of the selected layout configuration;
• providing the visual illustration as a packing instruction to the user via the user interface, wherein the plurality of products shown in the visual illustration are sorted in an ascending order of face depth in three dimensional projection;
• and
• when an online shopper adds, removes or modifies a product in an online shopping cart,
• updating the plurality of layout configurations for packing an updated plurality of products based on a user input that triggers at least one of the following actions on the user interface:
• breaking apart items in a container, changing a size of a container, altering a dimensional weight associated with a container, or adding a condition for packing the updated plurality of products,
• updating the selected layout configuration based on the updated plurality of layout configurations,
• generating an updated visual illustration based on the updated layout configuration, and
• providing the updated visual illustration as an updated packing instruction.

A system having at least one processor, storage, and a communication platform connected to a network for managing a shipment of a plurality of products, comprising:

• a user interface configured for obtaining a request for a packing instruction from a user, wherein the request comprises:
• weight and dimension information of the plurality of products, dimension information of one or more containers available for containing the plurality of products, and a rate table including shipping rate information of one or more shipping carriers identified by the user;
• a ranking unit configured for
• ranking the plurality of products based on at least one of their weight and dimension information to generate a first ranking list, and
• ranking the one or more containers based on their dimension information to generate a second ranking list;
• a layout determiner configured for
• determining, based on the first ranking list and the second ranking list, a plurality of layout configurations for packing the plurality of products into at least one container selected from the one or more containers, and
• selecting a layout configuration from the plurality of layout configurations based at least partially on the rate table, wherein the selected layout configuration minimizes a cost of shipping the plurality of products,
• when the remote user adds, removes or modifies a product in the plurality of products:
• updating the plurality of layout configurations for placing an updated plurality of products based on a user input that triggers at least one of the following actions via the web server or an application:
• breaking apart items in a container, changing the size of a container, altering a dimensional weight associated with a container, or adding a condition for packing the updated plurality of products,
• updating the selected layout configuration based on the updated plurality of layout configurations;
• a layout visualizer configured for:
• generating a visual illustration of the layout configuration, and generating an updated visual illustration based on the updated layout configuration;
• and
• a packing instructor configured for providing the visual illustration as the packing instruction to the user via the user interface, and
• an updated packing instruction comprising the updated visual illustration to the user via the user interface.