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WO2010083592A1 - Procédé de commande d'une chaîne logistique - Google Patents

Procédé de commande d'une chaîne logistique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2010083592A1
WO2010083592A1 PCT/CA2010/000074 CA2010000074W WO2010083592A1 WO 2010083592 A1 WO2010083592 A1 WO 2010083592A1 CA 2010000074 W CA2010000074 W CA 2010000074W WO 2010083592 A1 WO2010083592 A1 WO 2010083592A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
agents
instructions
goods
status
knowledge base
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/CA2010/000074
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English (en)
Inventor
Paul Sicard
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from CA2650314A external-priority patent/CA2650314C/fr
Priority claimed from US12/356,673 external-priority patent/US8355963B2/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to EP10733167.0A priority Critical patent/EP2389648A4/fr
Publication of WO2010083592A1 publication Critical patent/WO2010083592A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B19/00—Programme-control systems
    • G05B19/02—Programme-control systems electric
    • G05B19/418—Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM]
    • G05B19/4183—Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B19/00—Programme-control systems
    • G05B19/02—Programme-control systems electric
    • G05B19/418—Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM]
    • G05B19/41865—Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/08—Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
    • G06Q10/083—Shipping
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
    • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
    • G05B2219/31—From computer integrated manufacturing till monitoring
    • G05B2219/31324—Distributed real time knowledge, database
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
    • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
    • G05B2219/33—Director till display
    • G05B2219/33002—Artificial intelligence AI, expert, knowledge, rule based system KBS
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P90/00—Enabling technologies with a potential contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation
    • Y02P90/02—Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Definitions

  • the invention relates to the field of method and systems for controlling a supply chain for carrying and moving goods and more specifically to methods and systems adapted for multi-company, multi-service and multi-modal supply chains.
  • Supply chains are for carrying and moving goods from one place to several other places in the world with multimodal means by promising requesting parties (payers) to provide a specific service, knowing as precisely as possible, at any time, the status of the specific service ordered and reliably achieving the specific service.
  • services are specified with several kinds of data including: origin and destination locations, parties, kind, quantity and conservation prescription of goods, delivery date and conditions, quality requirements, traceability requirements, etc.
  • the first step consists generally in answering clients requesting information about their order in progress or submitting quotations to the clients or taking orders.
  • This first step is generally managed by a first system specialized on the client relationship.
  • the second step consists in regulating the traffic for achieving transportation orders.
  • the last step consists in collecting information about an order and invoicing it according to standard practices.
  • Each step needs new manual and independent entries with specific information and mainly into separate systems, per transport segment (container, LTL, or VL). Such multiple entries consume time, increase the risks of errors and delays invoicing.
  • a method for controlling globally and/or individually, and for optimizing based on live events, in real-time, in a single or multi company environment simultaneously many well known business activities such as customer relationship management (CRM), pickup calls phone services, scheduling, monitoring of picking up and delivery of parcels and operations status, of transfer, of terminal, of interleaving and of deliveries, human resource management, pricing, maintenance, engine monitoring, device monitoring and invoicing, offering thus integrated solutions to each segment of the market of goods transportation in a single system.
  • CRM customer relationship management
  • pickup calls phone services scheduling, monitoring of picking up and delivery of parcels and operations status, of transfer, of terminal, of interleaving and of deliveries
  • human resource management pricing, maintenance, engine monitoring, device monitoring and invoicing
  • a method for controlling a supply chain for moving a plurality of goods by a plurality of agents and according to a plurality of orders comprises: updating a knowledge base populated with information comprising: a status of each one of the goods; a status of each one of the agents; a plurality of rules for establishing expected behaviors of the goods and of the agents; and the orders.
  • the method further comprises: determining, based on at least a portion of the information in the knowledge base, a plurality of instructions to be executed by the agents for moving the goods to achieve the orders at least in part, each one of the instructions having an expected completion duration; sending the instructions to the agents; receiving the instructions for execution by the agents; upon completion of one of the instructions by one of the agents or when an event affects one of the instructions executed by one of the agents, the same one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base; and returning to the updating a knowledge base, wherein each elapsed time between each one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base and the same one of the agents receiving one of the instructions is smaller that the expected completion duration of the same one of the instructions.
  • a processor platform for controlling a supply chain for moving a plurality of goods by a plurality of agents and according to a plurality of orders.
  • the processor platform comprises an input means for receiving information comprising a status of each one of the goods; a status of each one of the agents; a plurality of rules for establishing expected behaviors of the goods and of the agents; and the orders.
  • the processor platform further provides a data memory means for making available data comprising a knowledge base and a code memory means for storing a program code.
  • the program code comprises updating the knowledge base populated with the information and determining, based on at least a portion of the information in the knowledge base, a plurality of instructions to be executed by the agents for moving the goods to achieve the orders at least in part, each one of the instructions having an expected completion duration.
  • the processor platform further comprises a processor for executing the program code and an output means for sending output information comprising the instructions to be sent to the agents for receiving the instructions for execution by the agents.
  • the processor platform allows, upon completion of one of the instructions by one of the agents or when an event affects one of the instructions executed by one of the agents, the same one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base. Each elapsed time between each one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base and the same one of the agents receiving one of the instructions is smaller that the expected completion duration of the same one of the instructions.
  • a processor readable medium having recorded thereon statements and instructions for execution by a processor platform for carrying out a method comprising: updating a knowledge base populated with information comprising: a status of each one of the goods; a status of each one of the agents; a plurality of rules for establishing expected behaviors of the goods and of the agents; and the orders; determining, based on at least a portion of the information in the knowledge base, a plurality of instructions to be executed by the agents for moving the goods to achieve the orders at least in part, each one of the instructions having an expected completion duration; sending the instructions to the agents; receiving the instructions for execution by the agents; upon completion of one of the instructions by one of the agents or when an event affects one of the instructions executed by one of the agents, the same one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base; and returning to the updating a knowledge base; wherein each elapsed time between each one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system using a method according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 2 is a flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a processor platform according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 4 is block diagram illustrating a processor platform connected to a processor readable medium, according an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 1 there is shown a block diagram of a system 100 for controlling a supply chain 101 using a method according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • the supply chain 101 is for moving and transforming goods 102 by agents 103 into an environment 104, according to orders 105.
  • the control of the supply chain 101 is completed by instructions 106 continuously transmitted in realtime to the agents 103, themselves controlling the goods 102.
  • the instructions 106 are continuously determined by a determining module 107.
  • the instructions 106 are determined for achieving at least in part the orders 105 when they are executed by the agents 103.
  • the determining of the instructions 106 is based on a knowledge base, not numbered, continuously updated in real-time.
  • the knowledge base comprises a synchronous status file 113 containing information about statuses of the agents 108 and statuses of the goods 109, an order file 114 containing the orders 105 and a rule file 115 containing the rules 110, establishing expected behaviors of the goods 102 and of the agent 103.
  • the goods 102 comprise any combination of any kind of physical entity like a unit, a package, a unit load, a container, a portion of a transport fleet, bulk material, a living animal and a person.
  • a unit could be a single object without packaging like a car, a meat carcass, wood, a metal coil, a beam or the like.
  • a package is generally movable by a person and contains goods packed with cardboard or other disposable or reusable packaging.
  • a unit load combines packages or items into a single "unit" of a few thousand kilograms that can be moved easily with simple equipment.
  • a unit load packs tightly into warehouse racks, containers, trucks, and railcars, yet can be easily broken apart at a distribution point, usually a plant, a distribution center, wholesaler, retail store, etc.
  • a pallet is a type of unit load.
  • a container could be a multi-purpose oversea container of different sizes, a refrigerated container, a specialized intermediate bulk container for transporting in bulk liquid, powder, aggregate or the like, and a specialized container fitted to a single unit or several units as an engine, a piece of airplane or the like.
  • the goods to move or to transform comprise pieces of transport fleet like a loaded or empty trailer with or without a tractor, a wagon, an airplane, a ship and the like.
  • Bulk material could be liquid such as chemical liquid or petroleum product, gas or solid as sand, stone, cement, coal, grains, ore, flour and the like.
  • the agents 103 comprise any combination of any means such as a person (e.g. a driver, a cargo handler, a maintenance man, a clerk, a manager, etc.) a moving device (e.g. a tractor, a trailer, a forklift, a crane, a ship, a wagon, an aircraft, a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, etc.), a transforming device (e.g. a milling machine, a press, a molding tool, a cutting machine, etc.), a assembling device (e.g. a welding device, a screwdriver, a mount assembly, etc.), a packaging device (e.g.
  • a person e.g. a driver, a cargo handler, a maintenance man, a clerk, a manager, etc.
  • a moving device e.g. a tractor, a trailer, a forklift, a crane, a ship, a wagon, an aircraft, a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, etc
  • a wrapper, a bagger, a crating machine, etc. e.g. a containing device (e.g. a pallet, a surface storage, a location in warehouse, a refrigerator, a freezing room, a container, etc.), an identifying device (e.g. a laser marking device, a device for installing RFID chip, a machine to lay labels, etc.), a monitoring device (e.g. a geographic positioning system, a physical characteristic (e.g. temperature, weight, pressure, etc.) measurement device, a presence detector, etc.), a maintenance device (e.g. a spare tire, a tow truck, a refrigeration (for maintaining the temperature), etc.), an eliminating device (e.g.
  • a containing device e.g. a pallet, a surface storage, a location in warehouse, a refrigerator, a freezing room, a container, etc.
  • an identifying device e.g. a laser marking device, a device for installing RFID chip, a machine to lay labels
  • the agents 103 are directly controlled by different organizations, not shown. Organizations comprise partner companies, providers, customers or public organizations resident in different countries.
  • the goods 102 and the agents 103 interact with themselves and within the environment 104.
  • the environment 104 comprises any combination of any external element with which the goods 102 and the agents 103 interact such as: transport networks (land, air, and sea), traffics, meteorological phenomenon, administrative constraints (customs formalities, permits, etc.), fuel and service network, customers, providers and partners and the like.
  • Each one of the orders 105 comprises at least one of an expected service (i.e. what the supply chain 101 is able to achieve; e.g. shipping, logistic & brokerage, less than load shipping, vanload shipping, container transport, intermodal shipping, packaging, splitting, warehouse management, transport terminal, traceability, quality, fleet maintenance, geodesic, driving maintenance and manufacturing), an expected loading status of one of the goods (i.e. expected characteristics of one of the goods at the loading instant), an expected delivery status of the same one of the goods (i.e. expected characteristics of the same one of the goods at the delivery instant), a specification (i.e.
  • Each one of the orders 105 could further comprise contract related matters such as property, responsibility, insurance and payment.
  • Each one of the orders 105 could come from a customer, from a partner, from one of the organizations controlling the agents 103 or from the main organization controlling the supply chain 101.
  • the statuses of each one of the goods 102 or of the agents 103 are formal characteristics thereof at a given instant.
  • a status could vary at any time; it is a transcription of the real state of the goods or of the agents.
  • a status comprises at least one of a time, a location (e.g. a geographical position), a state of association with one of the goods (e.g. "trailer ddd contains pallet ppp"), a state of association with one of the agents (e.g. "trailer ddd is pulled by tractor ttt"), a state of association with the environment (e.g. "trailer ddd is ridding on ice”), a physical characteristic (i.e.
  • Each one of the instructions 106 comprises at least a request to one of the agents for interacting with at least one of the environment, one of the goods and another one of the agents.
  • requests include “load the pallet xxxx at the gate gggg with the forklift ffff” , “go to gate gggg and unload at location HH", “Unpack the pallet yyyy at location kkkk", “Adjust the temperature to dddd Celsius degrees", “Inflate tire tttt”, “Identify the present container”.
  • Each one of the instructions 106 has expected completion duration, which is an expected duration between the expected time that one of the agents 103 will receive one of the instructions 106 and the expected time that the same one of the agents 103 will complete the same one of the instructions 106.
  • One of the instructions 106 could be to interrupt a previous one of the instructions 106 before receiving a new one.
  • Each one of the instructions 106 can be assembled into, or referred to as, a set of sub-instructions to be performed by one of the agents 103.
  • Each set of sub- instructions includes one or more sub-instructions.
  • One of the agents 103 acts one of the instructions 106, namely one set of sub-instructions, at a time.
  • Each one of the instructions 106 can be modified during its execution by a deletion, a modification or an addition of a sub-instruction.
  • the rules 110 comprise an establishment of an expected behavior of at least one of one of the goods 102 with respect to the environment 104 (e.g. "timber not to be exposed to air of less than 80% moisture"), one of the goods 102 with respect to another one of the goods 102 (e.g. "is it prohibited to move sulfuric acid and food in the same container” ), one of the goods 102 with respect to one of the agents 103 (e.g. "check of a pallet of kind ffff requests an operator having a permit jjj"), one of the agents 103 with respect to the environment 104 (e.g.
  • the rules 110 further comprise a unitary conversion means for converting money, physical units (e.g. ISO units to imperial units and reverse) or codification; a performance calculator, a pricing calculator and an invoicing calculator.
  • the synchronous status file 113 is continuously updated in real-time by an updating means 112.
  • real time means that when a variation of the status of one of the goods 102 or one of the agents 103 appears in the supply chain 101 , information of the new status is transmitted immediately to the synchronous status file 113.
  • Sampled information may include :
  • the updating means 112 transmits information via classical means such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, an Ethernet network, the Internet, a mobility network and the novel E VDEO technology system. Information could also transit by intermediate databases controlled by different organizations.
  • the synchronous status file 113 is synchronized with the supply chain 101 and reflects reality as much as possible.
  • This synchronous status file 113 could comprise :
  • Each of the instructions 106 is continuously transmitted in real time from an instruction file 116 to a corresponding one of the agents 103 of the supply chain 101 by a distributing means ,117.
  • the distributing means 117 could distribute an alphabetic data message, a voice message or a visual message to an input/output device 130 such as on a computer, a display screen, a cell phone, a handle device or other receiving devices which are rendered accessible to agents from within the environment 104 for example.
  • the distributing means 117 could use communication tools such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, an Ethernet network, the Internet, a mobility network and the novel E VDEO technology system.
  • the distributing means 117 could cross several networks and databases controlled by different organizations.
  • the determining module 107 is continuously monitoring the statuses of the agents 108 and the statuses of the goods 109. When a change appears, the determining module 107 determines the instructions 106 which will achieve, at least in part, the orders 105 when they will be executed by the agents 103.
  • the speed of the determining module 107 combined with the speed of the distributing means 117 and the speed of the updating means 112 is such that, each elapsed time between each one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base and the same one of the agents receiving one of the instructions is smaller that the expected completion duration of the same one of the instructions.
  • the determining module 107 uses a real time and dynamic artificial intelligence system on a computer; more particularly it uses an expert system.
  • the expert system allows optimizing the instructions 106 according to the rules 110 which can be updated without generating a program code.
  • the expert system comprises an inference engine, a computer program that attempts to derive answers from the knowledge base.
  • the inference engine is the "brain" that the expert system uses to process the information in the knowledge base for the ultimate purpose of formulating new instructions.
  • the rules 110 stored in the rule file 115 included in the knowledge base, are updated by a customizable program code allowing the input of any kind of rules without a generation of a new program code.
  • the determining module 107 forecasts several scenarios of instructions and determines optimized instructions using usual tools of expert systems including operational research tools.
  • the determining module 107 takes into account overall rules 110, overall orders 105, overall statuses of agents 108 and overall statuses of goods 109, globally; e.g. a change in a pricing of a vanload provider could modify the choice of a LTL service or a tractor could be used indifferently for a container service or for a LTL service.
  • the system 100 further comprises a module for determining an expected performance 111. While the determining module 107 determines the instructions 106, it determines also an expected status of each one of the goods 102 and an expected status of each one of the agents 103, as they are expected to be when the instructions 106 will be achieved.
  • the expected performance 111 is determined according to the performance calculator included in the rules 110.
  • the expected performance 111 comprises a measure of differences between the expected statuses of the goods and the orders 105, similarities between the expected statuses of the goods and the orders 105, a service rate, an overall equipment effectiveness, a profitability including costs and prices, a value added production ratio, and an assessment of an impact to the environment.
  • the system 100 further comprises a module editing the orders 118.
  • a front office operator not shown, communicates with one of clients 119 and can enter a real new order or a temporary new order, e.g. for quotation.
  • the determining module 107 proposes the best pricing chosen among overall available pricing of agents by crossing every kind of packaging unit (e.g. pallet, weight, volume, length in trailer, etc.), every kind of service (e.g. Vanload, LTL, container, intermodal shipping, etc.) and every kind of partner and provider.
  • one of the clients 119 can directly enter or transfer one of the orders 105 to the orders file 114 via a private assistant 120.
  • the system 100 is able to answer a request from one of the clients 119 in real-time (i.e. minutes or seconds in some cases) by the front office operator or directly by the private assistant 120.
  • the system 100 further comprises a module for validating 125, permitting, given the expected performance 111 of the supply chain 101 , to return directly to the module editing the order 118 or to send the instructions 106 to the agents 103 by the distributing means 117.
  • a module for validating 125 permitting, given the expected performance 111 of the supply chain 101 , to return directly to the module editing the order 118 or to send the instructions 106 to the agents 103 by the distributing means 117.
  • the expected performance 111 is updated.
  • the front office operator connected to one of the clients 119, analyses the expected performance 111 and can validate the instructions 106 or edit the one of the orders 105.
  • a portion of the expected performance 111 is shown on a single screen allowing a non-specialist operator to understand quickly and to respond successfully to a request of one of the clients 119.
  • a regulator 124 evaluates if the instructions 106 when executed, will achieve a good response to the orders 105. If it is, the regulator 124 can activate the validating 125 which transmit the instructions 106 to the agents 103 via the distributing means 117. If the expected performance 111 is not evaluated as a good response to the orders 105, the regulator 124 can activate the module editing the orders 118 or editing the rules 110 before evaluating again the new expected performance 111.
  • the system 100 further comprises a recording module, not shown, continuously recording at least one of a portion of the statuses of the goods 109, namely the recorded status of the goods, a portion of the statuses of the agents 108, namely the recorded status of the agents, and a portion of the orders 105, namely the recorded orders, to a historical database 121.
  • a past performance 122 of the supply chain 101 is determined, based on at least one of a portion of the information in the knowledge base, a portion of the historical database 121 , and a portion of the performance calculator included in the rules 110.
  • the past performance 122 of the supply chain 101 comprises a measure of differences between the recorded status of the goods and the recorded order, a similarity between the recorded status of the goods and the recorded order, a service rate, an overall equipment effectiveness, a profitability including costs and prices, a value added production ratio, and an assessment of an impact to the environment.
  • the system 100 further comprises an accessing module, accessing to the historical base 121 for purposes of at least one of traceability, quality, and risk management.
  • the system 100 further comprises an invoicing module 127, invoicing according to a portion of at least one of the information in the knowledge base, the historical database 121 , the pricing calculator and the invoicing calculator included in rules 110, and an invoicing database 123 detailing invoicing agreements.
  • the invoicing database 123 comprises for each one of the clients 119 a detailed price scale and the price policy of the company including the relationship with other organizations.
  • the clients 102 can obtain a portion of the statuses of its goods 109 either directly via a private link 126 from the synchronous status file 113 or via the front office operator.
  • the system 100 further comprises an updating module, updating the rules 110 according to the historical base 121. Based on a manual analysis of the historical database 121 , it is possible to edit the rules. Also, in normal operation, the expert system proposes amendments of the rules 110 to enhance performances of the supply chain 101.
  • the system 100 For satisfying the clients 119 and for achieving the orders 105, particularly the included expected services, better for all parties, the system 100 provides features such as customer relationship management (CRM), pickup calls phone services, scheduling, monitoring of picking up and truck positioning, of transfer, of terminal, of interleaving and of deliveries, human resource management, pricing, maintenance, engine monitoring and device monitoring.
  • CRM customer relationship management
  • pickup calls phone services scheduling, monitoring of picking up and truck positioning, of transfer, of terminal, of interleaving and of deliveries
  • human resource management pricing, maintenance, engine monitoring and device monitoring.
  • Method 200 comprises: updating a knowledge base populated with information comprising: a status of each one of the goods; a status of each one of the agents; a plurality of rules for establishing expected behaviors of the goods and of the agents; and the orders (step 202).
  • Method 200 further comprises: determining, based on at least a portion of the information in the knowledge base, a plurality of instructions to be executed by the agents for moving the goods to achieve the orders at least in part, each one of the instructions having an expected completion duration (step 204); sending the instructions to the agents (step 206); receiving the instructions for execution by the agents (step 208); upon completion of one of the instructions by one of the agents or when an event affects one of the instructions executed by one of the agents, the same one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base (step 210); and returning to the updating a knowledge base, wherein each elapsed time between each one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base and the same one of the agents receiving one of the instructions is smaller that the expected completion duration of the same one of the instructions (step 212).
  • steps 206 and 210 optionally involve respectively displaying the instructions and the status on a display device for the agent's viewing.
  • at least one of steps 206 and 210 involve respectively storing the instructions and the status on a memory device which is accessible to agents.
  • an additional step is performed after step 212 so as to display contents of the updated knowledge base on a display screen and/or render at least a portion of this updated knowledge base accessible to users and/or agents.
  • FIG. 3 there is shown a block diagram illustrating a processor platform 300 for controlling a supply chain for moving a plurality of goods by a plurality of agents and according to a plurality of orders, according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • the processor platform comprises an input means 301 , a data memory means 302, a code memory means 303, a processor 304, and an output means 305.
  • the input means 301 receives information 306 comprising: a status of each one of the goods, a status of each one of the agents, a plurality of rules for establishing expected behaviors of the goods and of the agents, and the orders.
  • the information 306 further comprises requirements of controllers of the supply chain and organizations comprising partner companies, providers and clients, resident in different countries.
  • the input means 301 receives information 306 via a plurality of communication media such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, an Ethernet network, the Internet, a mobility network and the novel E VDEO technology system.
  • Information 306 could come from intermediate databases controlled by different organizations.
  • the data memory means 302 makes available data comprising a knowledge base populated with the information 306. Data can be stored exclusively on the processor platform 300 or divided on several remote processor platforms.
  • the code memory means 303 stores a program code comprising: updating the knowledge base populated with the information; and determining, based on at least a portion of the information in the knowledge base, a plurality of instructions to be executed by the agents for moving the goods to achieve the orders at least in part, each one of the instructions having an expected completion duration.
  • the processor 304 makes a call 307 for a portion of the program code to the code memory means 303, receives the portion of the program code 308, and executes the portion of the program code.
  • the processor 304 exchanges, via a link 309, a portion of the data with the data memory means 302 and treats the received portion of data according to the portion of the program code 308.
  • the output means 305 sends output information 310 comprising the instructions to be sent to the agents for receiving the instructions for execution by the agents.
  • the output information 310 further comprises reports (e.g. expected performance, past performance, invoicing, etc.) to controllers of the supply chain and to organizations comprising partner companies, providers and clients, resident in different countries.
  • the output means 305 sends the output information 310 via a plurality of communication media such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, an Ethernet network, the Internet, a mobility network and the novel E VDEO technology system.
  • Output information 310 can be sent to intermediate databases controlled by different organizations._The output information 310 sent out by the output means 305 is received at an input/ output device(s) 320 (similar to the input / output device(s) 130 shown in Fig. 1), such as a computer, a display screen, a cell phone, a handle device or other receiving devices accessible to agents.
  • an input/ output device(s) 320 such as a computer, a display screen, a cell phone, a handle device or other receiving devices accessible to agents.
  • the processor 304 further controls an input 311 coming form the input means 301 and an output 312 going to the output means 305 according to the program code.
  • the processor platform 300 allows, upon completion of one of the instructions by one of the agents or when an event affects one of the instructions executed by one of the agents, the same one of the agents to send the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base included in the processor platform 300.
  • Each elapsed time between each one of the agents sending the status of one of the goods or its own status to the knowledge base and the same one of the agents receiving one of the instructions is smaller that the expected completion duration of the same one of the instructions.
  • the program code of the processor platform 300 comprises a real time and dynamic artificial intelligence system; more particularly it comprises an expert system.
  • the expert system allows optimizing the instructions according to the rules which can be updated without generating a new program code.
  • the expert system comprises an inference engine, a computer program that attempts to derive answers from the knowledge base.
  • the inference engine is the "brain" that the expert system uses to process the information in the knowledge base for the ultimate purpose of formulating new instructions.
  • the rules, included in the knowledge base are updated by a customizable program code allowing the input of any kind of rules without a generation of a new program code.
  • the processor platform may comprise a plurality of input means, a plurality of output means, a plurality of processors, a plurality of code memory means and a plurality of data memory means, each of these components being connected locally or remotely, sharing the tasks described above.
  • a processor platform 401 connected to a processor readable medium 406 having recorded thereon statements and instructions for execution by the processor platform 401 for carrying out the method for controlling a supply chain described herein.
  • the processor readable medium 406 comprises a local repository 402 (e.g. a hard disk), a medium reader 403 able to read a removable medium 404 (e.g. a DVD, a Blue Ray, a USB Key, etc.) and a remote repository 405 (e.g. Internet, Ethernet, etc.).
  • a local repository 402 e.g. a hard disk
  • a medium reader 403 able to read a removable medium 404 (e.g. a DVD, a Blue Ray, a USB Key, etc.)
  • a remote repository 405 e.g. Internet, Ethernet, etc.

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Abstract

La présente invention porte sur un procédé, une plateforme de processeur et un support lisible par processeur pour commander une chaîne logistique pour que des agents déplacent des biens conformément à des commandes. Le procédé sert à commander globalement et/ou individuellement et à optimiser simultanément, sur la base d'évènement en direct et en temps réel, dans un environnement à une seule ou à plusieurs entreprises, de nombreuses activités commerciales bien connues telles que la gestion de la relation client (CRM), les services téléphoniques d'appel de ramassage, la programmation, la surveillance du ramassage et de la livraison de paquets et d'états d'exécution, de transfert, de terminal, d'entrelacement et de livraisons, la gestion du personnel, la tarification, l'entretien, la surveillance de moteur, la surveillance de dispositif et de facturation, offrant ainsi des solutions intégrées à chaque segment du marché de transport de biens dans un seul système. Le procédé comporte : la mise à jour d'une base de connaissances peuplée par des états des biens ; des états des agents ; des règles servant à établir des comportements attendus des biens et des agents, et les commandes. Le procédé comporte en outre : la détermination, sur la base de la base de connaissances, d'instructions devant être exécutées par les agents pour déplacer les biens afin de satisfaire les commandes, chacune des instructions ayant une durée d'achèvement attendue ; l'envoi des instructions aux agents ; la réception des instructions pour une exécution par les agents ; lors de l'achèvement d'une instruction par un agent ou lorsqu'un évènement a une incidence sur une instruction exécutée par un agent, l'envoi, par le même agent, de l'état d'un bien ou de son propre état à la base de connaissances, et le retour à la mise à jour d'une base de connaissances, chaque durée écoulée entre l'envoi, par chaque agent, de l'état d'un bien ou de son propre état à la base de connaissances et la réception, par le même agent, d'une instruction étant inférieure à la durée d'achèvement attendue de la même instruction.
PCT/CA2010/000074 2009-01-21 2010-01-21 Procédé de commande d'une chaîne logistique Ceased WO2010083592A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP10733167.0A EP2389648A4 (fr) 2009-01-21 2010-01-21 Procédé de commande d'une chaîne logistique

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA2650314A CA2650314C (fr) 2009-01-21 2009-01-21 Methode de gestion de chaine logistique
US12/356,673 US8355963B2 (en) 2009-01-21 2009-01-21 Method for controlling a supply chain
CA2650314 2009-01-21
US12/356,673 2009-01-21

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EP2389648A4 (fr) 2014-07-02

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