US 12,448,211 B1
Managing allocation of workstations in fulfillment center
Matthew Cornford, Seoul (KR); Bragadesh Rajaraman, Taipei (TW); Xiufang Zhu, Beijing (CN); and Venkataraja Nellore, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to Coupang Corp., Seoul (KR)
Filed by Coupang Corp., Seoul (KR)
Filed on Apr. 25, 2025, as Appl. No. 19/189,509.
Int. Cl. G06F 7/00 (2006.01); B65G 1/137 (2006.01); G06Q 10/087 (2023.01); G06Q 30/0202 (2023.01)
CPC B65G 1/1373 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/087 (2013.01); G06Q 30/0202 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for managing workstation allocation in a fulfillment center, the method comprising:
receiving a batch of orders of items associated with a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs), respectively, each SKU being associated with a product, wherein the fulfilment center includes:
a plurality of workstations that allow a plurality of operators to transfer the items corresponding to order SKUs of the batch of orders from one or more inbound containers to one or more outbound containers, wherein each workstation comprises a plurality of slots configured to accommodate the one or more inbound containers and the one or more outbound containers, and
a plurality of conveyors configured to move the one or more inbound containers and the one or more outbound containers along the plurality of workstations, each conveyor being configured to move along one of the plurality of workstations;
determining a throughput of each of the plurality of workstations based on a number of outbound SKUs leaving one workstation per unit time;
determining a sales velocity of each of the order SKUs;
generating a workstation allocation plan that assigns each of the order SKU to one or more particular workstations among the plurality of workstations based on (i) the throughput of each of the plurality of workstations and (ii) the sales velocity of each of the order SKUs to thereby decrease a discrepancy between the throughputs of the plurality of workstations with respect to a baseline discrepancy between the throughputs; and
transmitting the workstation allocation plan to a transportation device configured to deliver the order SKUs from a storage system to the one or more particular workstations in accordance with the workstation allocation plan.
 
11. A computer-implemented system for managing workstation allocation in a fulfillment center, the computer-implemented system comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:
receiving a batch of orders of items associated with a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs), respectively, each SKU being associated with a product, wherein the fulfilment center includes:
a plurality of workstations that allow a plurality of operators to transfer the items corresponding to order SKUs of the batch of orders from one or more inbound containers to one or more outbound containers, wherein each workstation comprises a plurality of slots configured to accommodate the one or more inbound containers and the one or more outbound containers, and
a plurality of conveyors configured to move the one or more inbound containers and the one or more outbound containers along the plurality of workstations, each conveyor being configured to move along one of the plurality of workstations;
determining a throughput of each of the plurality of workstations based on a number of outbound SKUs leaving one workstation per unit time;
determining a sales velocity of each of the order SKUs;
generating a workstation allocation plan that assigns each of the order SKU to one or more particular workstations among the plurality of workstations based on (i) the throughput of each of the plurality of workstations and (ii) the sales velocity of each of the order SKUs to thereby decrease a discrepancy between the throughputs of the plurality of workstations with respect to a baseline discrepancy between the throughputs; and
transmitting the workstation allocation plan to a transportation device configured to deliver the order SKUs from a storage system to the one or more particular workstations in accordance with the workstation allocation plan.