Patent Application
20080115465
A fundamental need of commerce-based societies is the transportation of goods from one location to another. The development of various postal systems, first on the national and then on an international basis, established an organized system wherein a carrier, for a price, would convey a parcel from a shipper to a recipient. The service provided by such carriers resulted in increasing demand and expansion of their served customer base. In addition to the governmentally sponsored postal services, private carriers have been organized to transport a wide variety of parcels for paying customers. Such companies include those known as United Parcel Service, Federal Express, DHL, Airborne and Emory, to name a few.
For the past 40-50 years, shippers have been conditioned to excessively package parcel shipments in order to protect their parcels from damage. Such excessive packaging leads to increased packing costs. This packaging cost can be attributed to various factors. First, parcels are typically packed inside a one-time use container, such as a paperboard carton, with the interior of the container filled with cushioning materials, such as Styrofoam “peanuts”, shredded paper or other paper-based filler, to name a few. Second, there is a substantial time investment in packaging that results from the need to carefully pack and seal the paperboard carton and prepare shipping documents. Third, when products are in need of protection, shippers over-package in containers that are very large, increasing the dimensional charge that carriers levy for lighter weight products that take up a lot of space. In many cases the actual product accounts for only about 25% of the available space inside each paperboard box. This is particularly the case when shipping high value, fragile products such as medical devices, electronics, and artwork to name a few. There is generally a large degree of over-packing and overweighting to make certain these products are ‘protected’ from damage. For example, the inventor is aware of at least one case where a company must on a regular basis ship an 87 lb. piece of equipment. In order to protect the equipment it is shipped in a wooden crate with a total shipping weight of 397 lbs. The current costs for the wood container and the heavy weight shipping is very high.
In order to address the economic disadvantages of one-time-use containers and over-packaging, reusable containers and methods have been developed which reduce the need for throwaway containers and over-packing. These containers and methods have lead to broad cost savings by reducing the need for cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, Styrofoam peanuts, and special molded plastic containers, for instance. Lightweight containers, such as described in my previous U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,737,974 and 7,106,202 and particularly my co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/665,762 directed to a Shipping Container, provide significantly better product protection in dramatically lower weights and dimensions than with conventional packaging. For example, in the scenario above, shipping weight was reduced from 397 lbs to 118 lbs by employing these reusable containers. Lower total container weight, and/or smaller container dimension lowers the shipping rate. These containers are also reusable 20 to 50 times and in some cases as many as 100+ times. Package preparation is completed in 50-90% less time than traditional one-time-use disposable packaging.
While these containers have many economic advantages there are still factors that have limited the widespread adoption of reusable containers by some shippers, particularly small businesses. Although in the long run reusable containers make economic sense, many shippers object to the up-front cost associated with them. A reusable product costs more to manufacturer and, while the payback period can be relatively short, it may still require a sizeable capital investment.
Some shippers also object to the logistical overhead associated with reusable containers. For example, reusable containers must currently be inventoried for ready availability where cardboard boxes can be ordered on an as needed basis. Reusable containers should be periodically maintained or replaced whereas cardboard boxes are often just thrown away. The question shippers often have when considering reusable containers is “how are we going to keep track of all these boxes?” Tracking the location of each box and ensuring that they are returned in a timely fashion is an unknown that many shippers would rather just avoid.
In order to take full advantage of the benefits reusable shipping containers can offer there is a need for a better business model for their efficient and economical utilization. Reusable containers have high initial costs and logistical overhead when compared to one-time-use containers, costs that deter many potential customers. Accordingly there is a need for a method for using reusable containers that reduces or eliminates the initial cost to the shipper and frees the shipper from the logistical overhead of tracking and maintaining the containers. These are only some of the needs addressed by the present invention.
Provided is a method of shipping a parcel from a primary location to a secondary location with a reusable container whereby the container is returned to a tertiary location. While at the primary location a shipping package is created by placing a parcel into the reusable container. The shipping package includes a closable container body having an interior and a mouth communicating with the interior.
Also included, is a label construction which has a base substrate for securing to the container and a sleeve overlaying at least a portion of the base substrate. The sleeve has a sleeve opening for receiving an address label. The label also includes a transparent viewing window having an exposed surface for removably receiving an address label.
A first removable label is placed onto the transparent viewing window. The first removable label includes a strip constructed of a selected strip material and having a first surface region provided with information corresponding to an address for the secondary location. The first removable label also includes an opposed second surface region which has a selected adhesive for securing the label to the transparent viewing window during shipment to the secondary location. The adhesive is further selected to allow removal of the label from the transparent viewing window at the secondary location without tearing the strip material. A second removable label is placed inside the sleeve. The second removable label includes information corresponding to an address for a tertiary location.
Once the shipping package is complete the shipping package is delivered to the secondary location. At the secondary location the recipient unpacks the parcel from the reusable container and removes the first removable label to expose the second removable label for viewing through the window. The container is then delivered to the tertiary location.
It should be understood that the tertiary location may be the primary location. For example, a shipper located at a primary location may ship the package to a recipient at a secondary location who then returns the container to the shipper who is now designated as the tertiary location. Alternatively, the tertiary location could be a reusable container maintenance facility. In a case where the container is returned to a maintenance facility for service, the container may, thereafter, be returned to the primary location where the cycle starts again. The tertiary location may be chosen between the primary location and a maintenance facility or other location based on certain selected container metrics. Those metrics may include, for example, number of shipments logged on the container, shipping weight, and/or the particular customer.
The container management system may also include automatically charging the shipper a shipping fee for shipping the parcel. Preferably the shipping fee is charged shortly after the recipient receives the shipping package. Furthermore, the elapsed time between the receipt by the recipient of the shipping package and return of the reusable container to the tertiary location may be used to derive a service charge. Preferably, these fees are charged to the shipper via electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic funds transfer (EFT), or other suitable method as is known in the art.
Provided herein and described with reference to the various exemplary embodiments is a container management system for managing the life cycle of reusable containers such that shippers and recipients are relieved of the burden or tracking, maintaining, and inventorying reusable containers. These methods broadly entail bundling reusable containers with transportation and offering a per use, lump sum, price that may be below traditional packaging, shipping, and ancillary costs of damaged, lost, or stolen products.
It should be understood that various computer environments and connections may be employed in the implementation of the present invention. With reference to
Various types of storage devices can be provided as more permanent data storage areas for the application programs and other data. These can be either read from or written to such as contemplated by secondary (long term) storage 924. Suitable devices may, for example, include a non-removable, non-volatile storage device in the form of a large-capacity hard disk drive 926 which is connected to the system bus 910 by a hard disk drive interface 928 such as ATA (IDE, EIDE), SCSI, FireWire/IEEE 1394, USB, or Fibre Channel. Hard disk drive 926 generally includes at least one bootable disk that stores the OS that is loaded into RAM 914 during a booting sequence, although the OS can alternatively be stored on removable media.
An optical disk drive 930 for use with a removable optical disk 932 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media, may also be provided and interfaced to system bus 910 by an associated optical disk drive interface 934. Computer system 12 may also have one or more magnetic disk drives 936 for receiving removable storage, such as a floppy disk or other magnetic media 938, which itself is connected to system bus 910 via magnetic disk drive interface 940. Remote storage over a network is also contemplated.
One or more of the memory or storage regions mentioned above may comprise suitable media for storing programming code, data structures, computer-readable instructions or other data types for the computer system 12. Such information is then utilized by processor 814 so that the computer system 12 can be configured to embody the capabilities described herein.
System 12 may be adapted to communicate with a data distribution network 941 (e.g., LAN, WAN, the Internet, etc.) via communication link(s) 942 so that, for instance, it can communicate with remote servers, clients, etc. Establishing network communications is aided by one or more network device interface(s) 943, such as a network interface card (NIC), a modem or the like suitably connected to the system bus 910. These can serve as a common interface for various other devices within a LAN and/or as an interface to allow networked computers to connect to external networks. System 12 preferably also operates with various input and output devices as part of I/O system 818. For example, user commands or other input data may be provided by any of a variety of known types of input devices 944 (e.g. keyboard, pointing device, game controller, power pad, digital camera, image scanner, modem, network card, touch screen, microphone, bar code reader) having associated input interface(s), generally 946. One or more output devices 948 (e.g. monitor or other suitable display device, printer, fax, recording device, plotter) with associated interfaces, generally 950, may also be provided. For instance, a display monitor 952 may be connected to the system bus 910 by a suitable display adapter 954 (i.e., video card) having associated video firmware 956.
Although certain aspects for a user's computer system may be preferred in the illustrative embodiments, the present invention should not be unduly limited as to the type of computers on which it can be implemented, and it should be readily understood that the teachings herein contemplate use in conjunction with any appropriate information processing device (IPD) having the capability of being configured in a manner for accommodating the teachings herein. Moreover, it should be recognized that these teachings could be adapted for use on computers other than general-purpose computers (e.g. embedded computers), as well as general-purpose computers without conventional operating systems.
Software embodying the present invention may be distributed in known manners, such as on computer-readable medium that contains the executable instructions for performing the methodologies discussed herein. Alternatively, the software may be distributed over an appropriate communications interface so that it can be installed on the user's computer system. Furthermore, alternate embodiments which implement the teachings in hardware, firmware or a combination of both hardware and firmware, as well as distributing the modules and/or the data in a different fashion will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It should, thus, be understood that the description to follow is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive, and that many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the description.
Central to the container management system is a database that may contain a collection of data files and application software that facilitate the management of a pool of reusable containers. The major components of the container management system are represented schematically in
Maintenance module 20 consists of a manual data maintenance process for the initialization and maintenance of the container pool data. The maintenance module consists of software that allows for the manual input of data pertaining to the three primary data sets. Container management 22 is a set of data that is maintained for each container, such as unique serial number, product code, outside dimensions, inside dimensions, tare weight, and born on date. The customer management data set 24 includes data pertaining to each customer subscribed to the container management system. This data preferably includes customer name, service agreement, reference numbers, agreement period, agreement type, email contact information, and assigned container serial numbers. The carrier management data set 26 includes carrier information such as the carrier name, rates per zone and service level, additional charges, weight period, and volume discount schedule.
The web portal module 30 allows customers to have access to the container management system through a password protected customer account web portal. The web portal provides several applications as described below. The account management application 32 provides customers the ability to review their account, including charges. Customers can also manage their container pool (i.e. order additional containers, request container maintenance, and report container irregularities to name a few). Customers also have the ability to change their e-mail notification, contacts, and email notification logic (e.g., what type of notification for each contact).
The shipping preparation application 34 allows customers to use their own or carrier provided shipping preparation software. Preferably, customers will choose to use the shipping preparation application provided with the container management system. This application provides customers the ability to prepare ship-to and return shipping documents for local printing at their facility. Shipping data collected by this application is sent to the applicable carrier via electronic data interchange (EDI), as known in the art.
The service/product offerings application 36 is intended for use by container management system marketing personnel. Marketing personnel can use the analysis services to determine service and product offerings as well as indicators for applicable customer service goals. The service/product offerings application will monitor actual customer data and compare against these indicators to target offerings to customers.
Services module 40 consists of application software that executes automatically. The carrier movement notification application 44 notifies the container management system whenever a carrier picks up a container at a shipper's facility, for example. This notification is preferably through an e-mail system; however, it may also be through any suitable communication mode. The notification includes the pick up location, pick up time, service level, delivery location, and container serial number. Similarly, when the container is delivered to a recipient, an email notification, or other suitable communication, is sent to the container management system, which here includes the delivery location, delivery time, and container serial number. This process is repeated for the return trip from the receiver's facility back to the shipper's facility. As is described more fully below, the container may alternatively be shipped to a different facility such as a carrier hub facility or a maintenance facility. Regardless of the ship from location and receiver location, each complete roundtrip of the container in the system generates an e-mail notification at the time of shipment and time of receipt. These notifications are processed by the container movement notification application 44 by receiving, for instance, e-mail notifications and parsing the email for applicable data and creating a transaction record that is then stored in the container database.
The automated bill pay application 47 automatically handles billing the shipper for services rendered. In the preferred embodiments, payment for the container management service is due at the time the container is delivered to the recipient. Payment is due from the shipper in the amount agreed upon in the container management service agreement for that particular customer/shipper. The automatic bill pay application 47 preferably processes shipper payments via credit card or electronic funds transfer upon notification of the reusable container's delivery to the recipient.
The exception reporting application 48 is a group of background processes that constantly review certain key aspects of the container management system. For example, containers that reside in a shipper's non-transit inventory for an unacceptable duration, as is defined in the customer agreement, are flagged and reported. Other types of exceptions include missing or overdue containers, container bottlenecks, container shortfalls, payload weight out of specification for designated container, carrier service differential, etc. These background processes review the data, specifically container identifiers, to search for these types of exceptions and reports the exceptions based on severity and will include onscreen alarms to the maintenance modules. These reports can also be automated hardcopy reports, pager and mobile phone notifications, to name a few.
The container statistical analysis application 49 contains data, that when analyzed, provides important information for managing the container pool. The type of information reviewed by the container statistical analysis application 49 are the shipments per container, distance per shipment, service levels per container, minimum, maximum and average ship weight per container, shipments per period per shipper, revenue per period per shipper, carrier rate analysis, etc.
The routine maintenance notification application 46 notifies the shipper that a certain container should be returned to the maintenance facility for routine inspection and maintenance. This notification occurs after a certain number of shipments (as defined in the agreement) or at some other trigger such as payload weight out of specification for designated container or notification of atypical/special handling charges from the carrier. This service also selects containers at random for re-route to the maintenance facility for inspection and quality assurance tasks.
The return reminder notification application 42 helps ensure the efficient utilization of the container pool by sending reminder notifications when a container has sat idle for too long. The key performance metric of the container management system is the percentage of containers that are in transit at any given time. Optimum performance is therefore gained when this percentage is high. The return reminder notification application 42 is an automated process that constantly runs and starts an internal clock each time a container is delivered to a recipient facility. E-mail notifications are then generated and sent according to the schedule shown in
The container management system preferably employs reusable containers such as described in my co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/665,762 the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Preferably the reusable label 65 is constructed such as disclosed in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 7,155,854, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. With reference to
With reference to
Also, after the carrier notifies the system of delivery, the system will start a reminder clock in order to keep track of how long the container is out of service. At step 94 the system will send periodic reminders as necessary. These reminders can be via email, telephone, beeper, cell phone, etc. In addition, at step 95, if the container remains out for too long, which can be selectively determined by the user, the system will automatically bill late charges to the shipper. Once received the recipient will unpack the container at step 96 and then expose the second label for delivery on the return leg at step 97. At this point the recipient after having removed the contents of the package will notify the carrier to pick up the reusable container for return to the shipper at step 98. At step 99, the carrier picks up the container and again sends a notice to the container management system at 100. Also, at this point the system will stop the reminder clock and discontinue reminder messages as well the accrual of late fees. At step 102, the carrier delivers the container to the tertiary location, which in this example is the shipper. And finally, the carrier sends a delivery notice to the system at step 103. As in scenario 70 of
This above flow represents an instantiation of the system. It should be understood, however, that the scenarios in
Accordingly, the present invention has been described with some degree of particularity directed to certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention. It should be appreciated, though, that the present invention is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so that modifications or changes may be made to the preferred embodiment of the present invention without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60554559 | Mar 2004 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11665762 | US | |
| Child | 11941366 | US |
