Ryder Patents a Shipment Planning and Execution Process

Ryder System Inc., a provider of transportation and supply chain management solutions, has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for its systems and methods that integrate and optimize supply chain performance in the areas of shipment planning and execution.

The newly issued U.S. patent has been assigned the number 7,711,602 and was issued May 4, 2010. This U.S. patent award provides Ryder with the intellectual property protection related to its Logistics Release process that improves supply chain integration and management of logistics for supply chains.

The key approach to the Logistics Release process is configuring the data to create a common, web-native data utility for each stakeholder in the supply chain. The process then creates an optimum shipment that takes into account weight, cube, packaging, stackability, pallet configuration and mode determination. The shipment receives a plan, or "release” with the logistics information and instructions for that shipment.

The plan is created and initiated prior to the movement of goods and then all events of the subsequent movement are controlled by this plan. The virtual movements are monitored continually by a "Control Tower," or central office from which all movements can be monitored, tracked and coordinated.

This capability can help improve transit time and reduce the cost of integrating multiple transportation networks. The technology also includes exception-based reporting, which identifies events that vary from the Logistics Release plan and enables alternative actions and routing, as well as measures the plan's progress against the actual results.