PATENT OF THE WEEK – WAREHOUSE MANAGING SYSTEM

This process of warehouse management was invented by Nobuhiko Onozaki on15th February 2000 bearing the patent grant number. US6026378A by the USPTO which was later granted to CNET Co. Limited for the purpose of commercialization.

It’s a utility patent that was granted to this process that helps manage and regulate the warehouse storage inventory. This procedure starts when an article is received in a warehouse, an article code placed on the article and a location code placed on a shelf loading the article are stored as management data via scanning. A manufacturing date, a lot number associated with the article, and the number of a pallet used to transport the article are also stored as management data.

As a result, the host computer uses those data to perform a variety of warehouse management tasks, including first-in, first-out warehouse management and accurate shipping management via a terminal connected to the host computer, reducing the use of paper such as an article slip and/or an article order. This invention is a proof that patents are not only granted to the working physical apparatus but also to software’s and process of such kind.