Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Jonathan S Battles

Kevin R Vliet

Michael A Holland

Wayne A Kiser

Peter D Rowley

Methods and apparatus for material handling in an order fulfillment center. An order fulfillment system may include inventory storage, a processing area, and a control system. The inventory storage may in some instances include two storage areas, and in some cases the processing area may be disposed between the two storage areas. The processing area may include a router module that is configured to receive inventory items that have been picked from the inventory storage. Inventory items may be received by the router module via conveyance receptacles (e.g., totes, bins) that are conveyed using a conveyor mechanism. The processing area may also include a plurality of processing modules that may be configured to receive inventory items from the router module. In some instances, the processing modules may receive the inventory items via conveyance receptacles that are conveyed using the conveyor mechanism.

Modular material handling system for order fulfillment

Methods and apparatus for material handling in an order fulfillment center. An order fulfillment system may include a pre-shipment package preparation module that receives packaged units, and performs various post-packaging operations to facilitate shipment. Some embodiments may include an alignment section configured to orient received packaged units, a package verification section configured to verify one or more physical parameters of the packaged units, a labeling section configured to automatically apply shipping labels to each packaged unit while the packaged units travel at a constant velocity from the packaging verification section and through the labeling section, thereby applying labeling without need to stop or slow travel of the packaged units through the system. Some embodiments include a routing section that is configured to route each packaged unit to a corresponding shipping path that is selected based on information (e.g., packaged height, customer order information) associated with the given packaged unit.

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Medina, WA, United States of America

Jonathan S Battles