Method and system for capturing and utilizing item attributes

A system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein said memory stores program instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors to:
• instruct an agent to capture item information from a given item in a current bin in an inventory area from which items are picked to fulfill orders;
• store the captured item information;
• select, while the agent is at the current bin, a next bin, from among a plurality of bins within the inventory area, to which the agent is to be directed, wherein said selection is based upon a plurality of factors including:
• a location of the current bin,
• a determination of which bins of the plurality of bins include items for which item information is to be captured, and
• travel distance or travel time to the bins including items for which item information is to be captured,
• wherein said selecting the next bin is performed to maximize a number of bins at which the agent is to capture item information per di stance traveled or per time traveled;
• direct the agent to travel to the selected next bin to capture the respective item information;
• and
• repeat said instruct, said store, said select, and said direct for one or more additional items.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

• instruct an agent to capture item information from a given item in a current bin in an inventory area from which items are picked to fulfill orders;
• store the captured item information;
• select, while the agent is at the current bin, a next bin, from among a plurality of bins within the inventory area, to which the agent is to be directed, wherein said selection is based upon
• a plurality of factors including:
• a location of the current bin,
• a determination of which bins of the plurality of bins include items for which item information is to be captured, and
• travel distance or travel time to the bins including items for which item information is to be captured,
• wherein said selecting the next bin is performed to maximize a number of bins at which the agent is to capture item information per distance traveled or per time traveled;
• direct the agent to travel to the selected next bin to capture the respective item information;
• and
• repeat said instruct, said store, said select, and said direct for one or more additional items.