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Order Flow

This document describes the complete lifecycle of an order in the Goods/Switchyard system, from customer placement through robot delivery.

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Overview

Orders in Goods can be fulfilled from two sources:

1. RFC (Warehouse) - Items stocked in our fulfillment center, available for immediate picking
2. Retailers - Items sourced from partner retailers (HEB, Target, Walmart, Central Market, Whole Foods, Costco, Trader Joes)

The fulfillment strategy depends on product availability, pricing, and route optimization.

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Order Fulfillment Flow

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Bags, Totes, and Order Assembly

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Relationships:

• Order → has many Totes (one order may require multiple totes)
• Tote → has many Bags (bags go inside totes)
• Bag → has many Bag Items (items packed into a bag)
• Bag Item → links to Order Item (fulfills an order item)
• Tote → paired with Robot for delivery (1:1)

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Bag Types

Bags are temperature-separated:

• ambient - Room temperature items
• chilled - Refrigerated items
• frozen - Frozen items

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Order Statuses

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Staff Roles

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Detailed Flow

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1. Order Placement

Customer places an order through the Goods mobile app or admin dashboard. Orders reference:

• location_id - Store location for pricing and tax
• customer_id - Customer placing the order
• source - ‘app’ or ‘admin’

Order items reference sellable_products (not raw scraped products).

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2. Source Analysis (Allocation Engine)

When an order arrives, the allocation engine analyzes each line item: Decision Factors:

• RFC inventory availability (using FEFO/FIFO)
• Retailer pricing (we track costs at each retailer)
• Bulk vs individual SKU pricing
• Route optimization

Sourcing Rules:

1. Check inventory_items for available stock (FEFO/FIFO order)
2. If sufficient stock → allocate to pick_list (fulfillment_source = ‘inventory’)
3. If insufficient/none → allocate to sweep (fulfillment_source = ‘sweep’)
4. For sweeps, select best retailer based on price (including bulk SKU options)

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3. RFC-Only Orders (Inventory Path)

Orders containing only RFC-stocked items:

1. Order items allocated to pick_list
2. Pick_list assigned to staff (picker)
3. Picker uses Zebra scanner to locate items (FEFO/FIFO order)
4. Picker scans items into bags (temperature-separated)
5. Bags assigned to totes
6. Totes staged for robot delivery

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4. Sweep Operations

Orders requiring retailer items: Routes and Sweeps:

• Routes group multiple sweeps for a driver trip
• Each sweep is for one retailer store
• Sweep type: ‘order’ (for customer orders) or ‘inventory’ (for stock replenishment)

Sweep Manifest:

• Aggregates items from sweep_items
• Includes aisle locations from retailer_mappings
• Driver receives manifest on their device

During Shopping:

• Driver shops the manifest
• Records actual_price paid
• If item is out of stock, can be pushed to another sweep or substituted

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5. Intake Processing

When drivers return from sweeps:

1. Items scanned at intake station
2. Scanned items create bag_items linked to:
   • sweep_item_id (for tracking)
   • order_item_id (for fulfillment)
3. Bags assigned to totes per order

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6. Order Picking (RFC Items)

Pickers use Zebra scanners with the picking app:

1. Picker assigned to pick_list
2. App guides picker to inventory items (FEFO/FIFO order)
3. pick_list_item.inventory_item_id tracks which specific item
4. Picker scans into bag, creates bag_item
5. pick_list_item.bag_item_id links to the created bag_item

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7. Staging

Completed orders are staged in totes:

• Bags from both pick path and sweep path combined
• Each tote has a tote_code (QR)
• Totes staged at inventory_locations
• One robot assigned per tote (1:1)

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8. Robot Delivery

1. Robot scans tote QR (tote_code)
2. Robot delivers tote to customer location
3. Customer picks up order
4. Order marked as delivered

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Fulfillment Types

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Key Entities

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Integration Points