Automated retail supply chain and inventory management system

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for supplying one or more goods to a physical store location. The goods may be received at a distribution center (DC). At the DC, the goods may be decanted from their shipping containers into one or more sub-totes, which are contained within one or more product totes. The sub-totes may be transferred from the one or more product totes to one or more order totes based on a velocity of movement of the plurality of goods at the physical store location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of supplying goods to a physical store location, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a distribution center (DC), a plurality of goods;   transferring one or more goods of the plurality of goods received at the DC into one or more sub-totes configured to fit within a tote, wherein a quantity of the one or more goods transferred into the one or more sub-totes is dictated by a velocity of movement of the one or more goods at the physical store location; and   making the one or more sub-totes available for shipment within a tote from the DC to the physical store location.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transferring the one or more goods of the plurality of goods into one or more sub-totes is performed by a robot. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transferring the one or more goods of the plurality of goods into one or more sub-totes is performed manually. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transferring the one or more goods of the plurality of goods into one or more sub-totes comprises the step of selecting a size of the one or more sub-totes based on the velocity of movement of the one or more goods at the physical store location. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of tracking an identifier for the one or more goods transferred into the one or more sub-totes. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of transferring the one or more sub-totes into one or more product totes, and storing the product tote. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising the step of retrieving the one or more product totes from storage, and transferring the one or more sub-totes from the one or more product totes to one or more order totes. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transferring the one or more goods of the plurality of goods into one or more sub-totes comprises the step of transferring a plurality of different goods into a plurality of sub-totes in one order tote, the plurality of different goods selected based on inventory needs of the physical store location. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of tracking, in real time at the DC, the velocity of movement of the one or more goods in the physical store location. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the velocity of movement which dictates the quantity of the one or more goods transferred into the one or more sub-totes comprises the rate at which the one or more goods are being sold at the physical store location. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the velocity of movement which dictates the quantity of the one or more goods transferred into the one or more sub-totes comprises the stock level of the one or more goods at a given instant in time at the physical store location. 
     
     
         12 . A method of supplying goods to a physical store location, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a distribution center (DC), a plurality of goods;   transferring the plurality of goods into a plurality of sub-totes in, the plurality of sub-totes being different sizes;   transferring one or more sub-totes of the plurality of sub-totes into one or more order totes, wherein selection of one or more sizes of the one or more sub-totes is dictated by a velocity of movement of the one or more goods at the physical store location; and   making the one or more order totes available for shipment from the DC to the physical store location.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the step of transferring the plurality of goods to a decanting station upon receipt and prior to the step of transferring the plurality of goods into a plurality of sub-totes in a product tote. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transferring the plurality of goods to the decanting station is performed by a mobile robot. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of transferring the plurality of goods into the plurality of sub-totes is performed at a decanting station by an automated robot. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of transferring the plurality of goods into the plurality of sub-totes is performed manually at a decanting station. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of different goods contained in the plurality of sub-totes have the same stock keeping units (SKUs). 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising the step of tracking SKUs for the one or more goods contained in the one or more sub-totes. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein placing goods with the same SKU in a sub-tote, and tracking that SKU allows tracking of inventory expiration dates at the physical store location. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the steps of transferring the one or more sub-totes into a product tote and storing the product tote in a storage location after the step of transferring the one or more sub-totes into the product tote, and before the step of transferring one or more sub-totes into one or more order totes. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the step of storing a product tote is performed by mobile robot. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of transferring the product tote from the storage location to a workstation, the step of transferring the one or more sub-totes from the product tote into the one or more order totes being performed at the workstation. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of transferring the one or more sub-totes into the one or more order totes is performed by a robot. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of transferring the one or more sub-totes into the one or more order totes is performed manually. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of making the one or more order totes available for shipment comprises the step of transferring the one or more order totes including the one or more sub-totes from a workstation to a shipping area by a mobile robot. 
     
     
         26 . A method of supplying goods to a physical store location, the method comprising:
 storing, at a storage location within a distribution center (DC), a plurality of goods in one or more sub-totes in one or more product totes;   transferring, at a workstation in the DC, the one or more sub-totes from the one or more product totes into one or more order totes, wherein selection of the one or more sub-totes into the one or more order totes is dictated by a velocity of movement of the plurality of goods at the physical store location; and   making the one or more order totes available for shipment from the DC to the physical store location.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising the steps of tracking a quantity and location of the plurality of goods stored in each of the product totes in real time according to SKU. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the velocity of movement which dictates a quantity of the one or more goods transferred into the one or more sub-totes comprises the rate at which the one or more goods are being sold at the physical store location. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the velocity of movement which dictates a quantity of the one or more goods transferred into the one or more sub-totes comprises the stock level of the one or more goods at a given instant in time at the physical store location. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising the step transferring the one or more product totes from the storage location to the workstation by a mobile robot. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more product totes comprise a first group of one or more product totes, the method further comprising the step of transferring the sub-totes from the first group of one or more product totes to a second group of one or more product totes to improve product tote storage efficiency. 
     
     
         32 . A method of supplying goods to a physical store location, the method comprising:
 storing, in storage locations at a distribution center (DC), a plurality of goods in a plurality of sub-totes in one or more product totes, the plurality of sub-totes comprising sub-totes of different sizes;   transferring the one or more product totes from the storage locations to a workstation by a mobile robot;   transferring one or more order totes to the workstation by a mobile robot;   transferring at least one sub-tote of the one or more sub-totes in the one or more product totes into the one or more order totes, wherein a size of the at least one sub-tote transferred into the one or more order totes is based on a velocity of movement of the goods in the at least one sub-tote at the physical store location; and   making the one or more order totes available for shipment from the DC to the physical store location.   
     
     
         33 . A method of supplying goods to a physical store location, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a distribution center (DC), a plurality of goods;   transferring a plurality of different goods of the plurality of goods received at the DC into a plurality of different sub-totes in one or more order totes, wherein types of goods in the plurality of different goods, and sizes of the plurality of different sub-totes, are selected based on a velocity of movement of the plurality of different goods at the physical store location; and   making the one or more order totes available for shipment from the DC to the physical store location.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the step of transferring a plurality of different goods into a plurality of different sub-totes in one or more order totes comprises the step of transferring a plurality of different sub-totes into a single order tote. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the plurality of different goods in the plurality of different sub-totes in the single order tote have different stock keeping units. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein goods contained in a single sub-tote have the same stock keeping units. 
     
     
         37 . A method of supplying goods to a physical store location, the method comprising:
 transferring, at a workstation in the DC, a plurality of sub-totes including one or more goods into a plurality of order totes, wherein selection of the plurality of sub-totes into the plurality of order totes is dictated by a velocity of movement of the plurality of goods at the physical store location;   transferring the plurality of order totes to storage locations on a portable rack;   making the portable rack comprising a plurality of order totes available for shipment from the DC to the physical store location.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the step of transferring the plurality of order totes to storage locations on a portable rack is performed by an automated robot. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the step of transferring the plurality of order totes to storage locations on a portable rack is performed manually. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the step of making the portable rack available for shipment comprises the step of transferring the portable rack to a shipment area by a mobile robot.