A system and method for developing optimized cargo transportation solutions. The system may include a number of different modules (programs) that may be executed individually, or in series when an exemplary system includes the programs operating sequentially. Input to the programs may be obtained from the shipment files of an entity for whom a transportation solution is being created. The output of one program may act as at least a partial input to the next program when the programs are executed sequentially. One or more of the programs may employ optimization procedures such as ant colony optimization procedures and/or local improvement heuristics. The systems and methods are provided to determine a most cost effective shipping solution for given cargo.

An automatic estimation method comprises a first step (STEP 01) of introducing a shape data on an item, a second step (STEP 02) of recognizing a shape of the item on the basis of the shape data, a third step (STEP 06) of acquiring a manufacturing condition which can be selected on the basis of the recognized shape, a fourth step (STEP 08) of displaying the manufacturing condition and corresponding price and delivery time, and a fifth step (STEP 09, STEP 10) of updating the displayed price and delivery time depending on change of the manufacturing condition.

A technology is described for a transportation management service. In one example, parameters can be received for transporting a load from an origin location to a destination location. In response, carriers that have available capacity to transport the load can be identified based on the parameters. Meta tags included in a strategic capacity profile defining a strategy for transporting the load can be retrieved. The strategy may be defined by the meta tags, which describe carrier attributes used to select a carrier to transport the load. The meta tags can be used to identify a set of carriers that have attributes that correspond to the meta tags and who are eligible to transport the load based on the parameters. The carrier data for the set of carriers can be provided to a user to allow a selection of one or more carriers to send tenders.

The present disclosure provides a product recommendation system and method for recommending products to add to a current transaction. The method includes, during a transaction process for one or more products: computing a parcel attribute of an expected parcel for shipping the one or more products, the parcel attribute being a weight or a dimension of the expected parcel, and identifying an applicable shipping rate for delivering the expected parcel. The method also includes determining an attribute increase threshold that corresponds to an increase in the shipping rate that is within a shipping rate increase threshold, identifying additional products each having a corresponding attribute that is within the attribute increase threshold, and generating a recommendation for the additional products in real-time during the transaction process. Responsive to receiving selection of one of the recommendations, including the corresponding additional product in the transaction process. The transaction is then completed.

Embodiments of a system and method for automating shipping for a physical object can include an object dimensions measurer (ODM) operable to collect and wirelessly transmit a dimensions dataset for the physical object, an object weight measurer (OWM) operable to collect and wirelessly transmit a weight dataset for the physical object, and a shipping automation system operable to receive datasets from the ODM and the OWM, implement a compatibility rule facilitating standardization of requirements for service levels provided by shipping carriers, determine object characteristics for the physical object, determine object characteristic specifications required by the service levels, and determine a service level for the physical object based on the object characteristics and the object characteristic specifications.

Physical object boundary detection techniques and systems are described. In one example, an augmented reality module generates three dimensional point cloud data. This data describes depths at respective points within a physical environment that includes the physical object. A physical object boundary detection module is then employed to filter the point cloud data by removing points that correspond to a ground plane. The module then performs a nearest neighbor search to locate a subset of the points within the filtered point cloud data that correspond to the physical object. Based on this subset, the module projects the subset of points onto the ground plane to generate a two-dimensional boundary. The two-dimensional boundary is then extruded based on a height determined from a point having a maximum distance from the ground plane from the filtered cloud point data.

Techniques for a package selection feature for selecting subsets of packages and generating instructions to deliver selected packages are described herein. A model may be generated for recursively determining future forecast for potential deliveries associated with a geographic location based at least in part on capacity constraints, delivery vehicle capacity, and historical delivery data for the geographic location. Information that identifies a set of packages for delivery to the geographic location during a first duration may be received. A value for each subset of a plurality of subsets for the set of packages may be determined based on an algorithm that uses the future forecasts and the information. A particular subset may be selected for delivery to the geographic location for a given carrier during a duration based on an algorithm that uses various parametric values for the particular subset, the future forecasts, and the information.

A merchant can use an e-commerce platform to sell products to customers, and customers can use the e-commerce platform to return items that they are unsatisfied with back to the merchant. These product returns have an associated cost. Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to computer-implemented systems and methods to enable customer-to-customer product returns in an e-commerce platform. In a customer-to-customer return, a first customer that wants to return an item of a particular product is connected with a second customer that wants to purchase that product. The e-commerce platform then facilitates a shipment of the item from the first customer directly to the second customer. Embodiments of the present disclosure include online store implementations of customer-to-customer returns, online marketplace implementations of customer-to-customer returns, and customer-to-customer returns implemented using orders for returned items.

A location-based transportation network for a transportation process is disclosed. The transportation process may be divided into the following stages: identification, communication, agreement, shipment, and payment. With identification, one party to the transport of the good is identified to the other party (e.g., potential carriers to a shipper, or potential shippers to a carrier). In the second stage, the shipper(s) and carrier(s) communicate with one another in order to discuss terms of the shipment. In a third stage, the shipper and carrier come to an agreement (e.g., price, timing, etc.). In a fourth stage, the carrier picks up and ships the goods. Finally, payment may be arranged between the shipper and the carrier. An index pricing model is configured to facilitate the identification stage. Further, a graphical user interface (GUI) can convey information, output search results, plan a route, facilitate communication between the shipper and carrier, and/or enable agreement between the shipper and carrier.

Systems and methods are disclosed for packing optimization and visualization. In one example, a method for managing a shipment of a plurality of products, comprises: obtaining a request for a packing instruction from a user via a user interface; ranking the products based on their weight information and dimension information to generate a first ranking list; ranking one or more containers based on their dimension information to generate a second ranking list; determining, based on the first ranking list and the second ranking list, a plurality of layout configurations for packing the products into at least one container selected from the one or more containers; selecting a layout configuration from the plurality of layout configurations based at least partially on a rate table including shipping rate information of one or more shipping carriers identified by the user, wherein the selected layout configuration minimizes a cost of shipping the products; generating a visual illustration of the layout configuration; and providing a packing instruction comprising the visual illustration to the user via the user interface.