Claims
- 1. A method of determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
determining whether or not the mail piece requires urgent delivery; determining a weight of the mail piece; and determining, based on the urgency determination and the weight determination, a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system is further based on a total number of mail pieces to be delivered.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining the most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system is further based on comparing a cost of introducing a mail piece at a first point into the delivery system versus a cost of introducing the mail piece at a second point into the delivery system.
- 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, an identification number of the mail piece, the most cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the urgency determination for the mail piece is a delivery maximizing delivery speed.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the urgency determination for the mail piece is a delivery maximizing delivery cost economy.
- 7. A method of determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
determining whether or not the delivery of the mail piece is urgent; determining a weight of the mail piece; and determining, based on the urgency, the weight, and at least one other classification criteria, a most cost-effective point for introducing the mail piece into the delivery system.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one other classification criteria comprises content sensitivity of the mail pieces.
- 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one other classification criteria comprises a processing category for the mail pieces.
- 10. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one other classification criteria comprises whether the mail pieces are pre-sorted.
- 11. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, the at least one other classification criteria, the most cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece.
- 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the urgency determination for the mail piece is a delivery maximizing delivery speed.
- 13. The method of claim 7, wherein the urgency determination for the mail piece is a delivery maximizing delivery cost economy.
- 14. A method of using a single manifest to track a plurality of mail pieces through a delivery system using more than one delivery service type, the method comprising:
providing a manifest form having a plurality of column headings; entering data about each mail piece into the manifest, the data comprising at least a mail piece identification number, a mail piece weight, and a delivery service type; and submitting the manifest to the delivery system, wherein the manifest is used by the delivery system for tracking the plurality of mail pieces through the delivery system.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the manifest is used to track a total amount of delivery charges.
- 16. A method of determining efficient routing of mail pieces in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
generating a first manifest based on a first entry point for the mail pieces in the delivery system; generating a second manifest based on a second entry point for the mail pieces in the delivery system; and comparing the first and second manifests to determine the efficient routing of the mail pieces.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein comparing the first and second manifests comprises comparing a first delivery charge for the first entry point to a second delivery charge for the second entry point.
- 18. The method of claim 16, wherein comparing the first and second manifests comprises comparing a first delivery speed for the first entry point to a second delivery speed for the second entry point.
- 19. The method of claim 16, wherein generating the first manifest comprises entering data about mail pieces into the first manifest, the data comprising at least mail piece identification numbers, mail piece weights, a delivery service type, and the first entry point.
- 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein generating the first manifest further comprises determining a first delivery cost based on mail piece weights, delivery service type, and the first entry point.
- 21. The method of claim 16, wherein generating the second manifest comprises entering data about mail pieces into the second manifest, the data comprising at least mail piece identification numbers, mail piece weights, a delivery service type; and the second entry point.
- 22. The method of claim 21, wherein generating the second manifest further comprises determining a second delivery cost based on mail piece weights, delivery service type, and the second entry point.
- 23. A system for determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
means for determining whether or not the mail piece requires urgent delivery; means for determining a weight of the mail piece; and means for determining, based on the urgency determination and the weight determination, a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system.
- 24. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for generating a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, an identification number of the mail piece, the most cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece.
- 25. A system for determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
means for determining whether or not the delivery of the mail piece is urgent; means for determining a weight of the mail piece; and means for determining, based on the urgency, the weight, and at least one other classification criteria, a most cost-effective point for introducing the mail piece into the delivery system.
- 26. The system of claim 25, further comprising means for generating a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, the at least one other classification criteria, the most cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece.
- 27. A system for using a single manifest to track a plurality of mail pieces through a delivery system using more than one delivery service type, the method comprising:
means for providing a manifest form having a plurality of column headings; means for entering data about each mail piece into the manifest, the data comprising at least a mail piece identification number, a mail piece weight, and a delivery service type; and means for submitting the manifest to the delivery system, wherein the manifest is used by the delivery system for tracking the plurality of mail pieces through the delivery system.
- 28. A system for determining efficient routing of mail pieces in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
means for generating a first manifest based on a first entry point for the mail pieces in the delivery system; means for generating a second manifest based on a second entry point for the mail pieces in the delivery system; and means for comparing the first and second manifests to determine the efficient routing of the mail pieces.
- 29. The system of claim 28, wherein the comparing means comprises means for comparing a first delivery charge for the first entry point to a second delivery charge for the second entry point.
- 30. The system of claim 28, wherein the comparing means comprises means for comparing a first delivery speed for the first entry point to a second delivery speed for the second entry point.
- 31. The system of claim 28, wherein tire generating means of the first manifest comprises means for entering data about mail pieces into the first manifest, the data comprising at least mail piece identification numbers, mail piece weights, a delivery service type, and the first entry point.
- 32. The system according to claim 31, wherein the generating means of the first manifest further comprises means for determining a first delivery cost based on mail piece weights, delivery service type, and the first entry point.
- 33. The system of claim 28, wherein the generating means of the second manifest comprises means for entering data about mail pieces into the second manifest, the data comprising at least mail piece identification numbers, mail piece weights, a delivery service type; and the second entry point.
- 34. The system of claim 33, wherein the generating means of the second manifest further comprises means for determining a second delivery cost based on mail piece weights, delivery service type, and the second entry point.
- 35. A system for determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
a imaging unit for generating an image of the mail piece; a weight scale for determining a weight of the mail piece; and computer unit connected to the imaging unit and the weight scale for determining a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system and generating a manifest.
- 36. The system of claim 35, wherein the computer unit comprises a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), video card, sound card, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, input/output (I/O) terminals, and a network interface card (NIC).
- 37. The system of claim 35, further comprising a sorting unit connected to the computer unit for sorting the mail pieces based on a delivery service type.
- 38. The system of claim 35, further comprising a identification indicia affixing unit connected to the computer unit for affixing an indicia on the mail piece based on a unique number contained in the manifest.
- 39. The system of claim 38, wherein the identification indicia affixing unit is a device selected from a group consisting of manual placement device, automatic pressure placement device, and blow on placement device.
- 40. The system of claim 35, wherein the imaging unit is a device selected from a group consisting of a digital scanner and digital optical character recognition (OCR) camera.
- 41. The system of claim 35, further comprising a printer connected to the computer unit for printing out the manifest.
- 42. A method of determining economically efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
determining a weight of the mail piece; sorting the mail piece based on delivery service; and determining, based on the weight determination and sorting, a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system.
- 43. The method of claim 42 wherein determining the most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system is further based on comparing a cost of introducing a mail piece at a first point into the delivery system versus a cost of introducing the mail piece at a second point into the delivery system.
- 44. The method of claim 42, further comprising generating a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, an identification number of the mail piece, the most cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/283,356 by Peter Furka, filed Apr. 13, 2001, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/US02/11593 |
4/15/2002 |
WO |
|