Automated Expected Arrival Creation - Accountable Material
Data sources outside of TAV can be used to create Expected Arrival
entries in the TAV Data Base. The most common are interfaces with
customers' Purchase Order systems, whereby Purchase Order information
is read and used to create and/or update Expected Arrival entries,
against which the ordered material will be received and appropriately
handled. Non-acceptable material may be seamlessly "Returned To
Sender" via TAV External Shipping operations available in MDS or CDS.
Ad-Hoc Expected Arrival Creation - Accountable Material
Authorized individuals with access to TAV may post an Expected Arrival
via user applications available in both "FAT" and "Thin" client
configurations. Posting an Expected Arrival entry BEFORE the arrival of
the material indicates that the incoming
material truly was expected and should be handled as a matter of
course.
Ad-Hoc Unexpected Arrival Creation - Accountable Material
Receiving operators may post Unexpected Arrival entries whenever an
incoming material CAN NOT BE FOUND among the Expected Arrival entries
in TAV. Posting an Expected Arrival entry AFTER the arrival of the
material indicates that the incoming material truly was unexpected and
should be handled differently. Unexpected inbound material may not be
made available for pickup or delivery until the recipient authenticates
its arrival.
Ad-Hoc Arrival Processing - Non-Accountable Material
Inbound processing of non-accountable material such as mail can be
accomplished in a variety of ways. Mail trays (tote, container, etc.)
can be identified as they are received, with those tray identifications
used to track the migration of the contained material. Migration can
include placement in a Test Chamber, the application of contamination
tests, and the removal from a Test Chamber upon "GOOD" test results
postings. These tray identifications would also be used to enforce
quarantine handling upon "BAD" test results postings.
Arrival Processing - Accountable Material
Inbound processing of accountable material consists of using TAV to
find the Expected Arrival entry applicable to that material. Selection
can be made against recipient information (name, organization, address,
etc.) or parcel information (carrier, control number, P.O. Number, RMA
number, etc.), or any combination of the two. Once a match is found and
so indicated to the system, TAV will apply the handling selected and
process the material accordingly.
Automated Arrival Recipient Notification
If so configured, TAV can notify the recipient of the materials
arrival and disposition via e-mail.
Accreditation Based
All user defined material/parcel handling, routing and processing
events are applied according to classification assignment.
Unexpected Arrival Authentication - Accountable Material
If TAV Unexpected Arrival handling is in force, unexpected material
will have its handling set to "HOLD FOR FORWARD" and will be
temporarily stored at the receiving location. This handling setting
will not be changed until the identified recipient acknowledges the
arrival's validity to TAV. Once the Unexpected arrival's validity has
been acknowledged, TAV will change its handling setting to the
selection originally made by the receiving operator (e.g. "FORWARD
INTERNALLY", "HOLD FOR PICKUP", etc.) thereby making it available for
further internal processing.
Quarantine Chamber Administration & Management
TAV enables it users to create and administer Quarantine Areas/Chambers.
Once created these chamber instances may be opened,
loaded, unloaded, closed, manifested, and locked. Material may not be
removed from Quarantine until all test results have been posted and that
all results where hazard negative.
Test Chamber Administration & Management
TAV enables users to create and administer Test Chambers. Once created
these chamber instances may be opened, loaded, unloaded, closed,
manifested, and locked. Once inside a Test Chamber, material is tested
for hazard exposure and the potential for contamination. Material may not
be removed from Test Chambers untill all test results have been posted and
that all results were hazard negative.
Hazard Test Management and Execution
Testing inbound material for hazard exposure and contamination potential
is customer configurable so that any variety of tests may be applied in
any order required. TAV will acquire data about the test process and test
objects.
Hazard Test Results Management
Once test operations are completed and the corresponding results have been
determined, the results must be posted in TAV. If all test results are
"GOOD" then the Quarantine Area or Test Chamber may be opened and
unloaded, with the unloaded material's placement directed by TAV. If any
test results are "BAD", the Quarantine Area of Test Chamber may only be
opened by a Chamber Administrator, and then only material with "GOOD" test
results may be removed from the Quarantine Area or Test Chamber.
Disposal Management
Inbound material with any "BAD" test results may be removed from a
Quarantine Area of Test Chamber for appropriate disposal. TAV supports
any type of disposal method from incineration to biocide
emulsification. Whatever the method(s) employed, TAV will acquire data
about the disposal process and disposal objects.
Location Based
TAV supports the definition of an indefinite number of activity
locations.
Trans-Shipment Container Consolidation - Non-Accountable Material
Inbound non-accountable material such as mail, is typically broken down
and sorted according to the methods best suited to a given customer's
operations. Some deployments perform multi-phase sortation; at the
receiving location the mail is sorted by its "next destination" such as
a building, where upon its arrival at the floor, the mail is sorted by
recipient, e.g. Mail Stop or Office, after which it is delivered.
Other deployments perform single phase sortation; at the receiving
location the mail is sorted by recipient within courier/route and
loaded onto the appropriate mail cart. The loaded mail cart is then
forwarded to its first route stop. Deployments utilizing the TAV
Inbound Imaging Module (IIM) perform single phase sortation; at the
receiving location the mail is sorted by recipient with each recipient
"batch" forwarded to a Scanning Station. In all scenarios, TAV enables
its users to create and load "non-accountable" content containers
(trays, totes, bags, etc.) and forward them to their next destination.
Digitized Mail
Deployments utilizing the TAV Inbound Imaging are equipped
with Scanning Workstations. Each of the TAV workstations are connected
to a Document Image Scanner by which inbound mail is digitized, placed
into the TAV Data Base and made available for electronic viewing. As
each tote containing the mail for a given recipient is received at a
TAV Scanning Workstation, its bar code is scanned and the contents are
placed in the hopper of the Document Image Scanner. From the
workstation screen the operator initiates the digitization process
where all documents in the hopper are scanned with their images placed
into the TAV Data Base. Once all material from a given container is
digitized, the operator indicates batch completion on the screen, which
causes TAV to dispatch an email to the recipient informing them of mail
image availability for viewing. Upon digitization completion, the
corresponding container may be forwarded to a holding area, and staged
for eventual disposal.
Trans-Shipment Container Consolidation - Accountable Inbound Material
Inbound accountable material is typically forwarded to its end
recipient via internal distribution services managed by TAV. To
expedite truck loading and unloading, it is sometimes
desirable to consolidate all material destined for a given
location into a single container for transport. TAV enables its
users to "create" a Trans-Shipment container instance, identify that
container's "next destination" and then make the container available
for loading. The Trans-Shipment container load software lists all
material eligible for placement into that container and enables the
operator to only load the eligible material via bar code scanning.
Once loaded, the Trans-Shipment container is "shipped"
to its designated destination via internal distribution services.
Upon arrival, the Trans-Shipment container is opened and unloaded,
with each material removed and scanned so that TAV may
route it to its end destination. Once empty, the Trans-Shipment
container may be re-destined to another location, with the process
repeating itself until done.
Courier Route Administration
TAV enables its users to create and maintain a variety of distribution
routes, any of which may intersect as often as necessary. A given
route may be applied to multiple courier/services just as a given
courier/service may utilize multiple routes. A route is given a user
definable designation and is comprised of two or more stop locations.
A route may be defined to be available for service by pick up and/or
drop off within any given day of the week. Any time two or more
routes share a stop location, an intersection occurs, thereby allowing
an infinite number of interconnects. Once a given route is activated,
TAV will use that route information in its material routing
operations.
Courier Route Assignment and Load Management
As material is shipped, TAV will determine the quickest means
by which to effect end delivery. As material is routed, appropriate
pick-ups and drop-offs are posted to applicable route stops. At any
time, authorized personnel may view all route stop material
assignments. Before a given route may be started by a courier, it
must first be dispatched, which gives the operator the opportunity to
assign the entire route to a given courier, or split the route among
more than one courier. Once the route stop allocations for a given
route are selected, that route instance is then dispatched, thereby
making it eligible for delivery.
Courier Route Execution Management
Once a route is dispatched, it becomes eligible for execution, which is
initiated by the designated courier's "starting" the route. Once
started, the courier proceeds to the first route stop location,
arrives, drops off any indicated material by scanning it (and acquiring
signatures as required), picks up any indicated material by scanning
it, and then departs that location. For each subsequent route stop
location, the courier will arrive, drop off material, pick up material,
and depart. Upon completion of the above steps at the last route stop
location, the courier will indicate route completion to TAV.
Automatic Routing
All material/parcels shipped using an AMS Routed carrier/service are
automatically assigned to the pick-ups and drop-offs required to
achieve end destination delivery.
Adaptive Routing
As material/parcels are handled, the end destination route
is re-evaluated to accommodate location changes and/or
route changes.
Automated Advanced Shipment Notification
If so configured, TAV can notify the recipient of a parcel's shipment
via mail, e-mail, or fax.
Automated Tracer Actions
If so configured, TAV can notify the requestor, originator, carrier
and/or recipient of a parcel's overdue delivery via mail, e-mail, or
fax.
Automated Receipt Tracer Actions
If so configured, TAV can notify the requestor, originator, carrier
and/or recipient of a parcel's overdue return receipt via mail, e-mail,
or fax.
Accreditation Based Entity Relationship Modeling
TAV provides for the establishment and maintenance of Accreditation
Entity Relationships and does NOT permit incestuous relationships. No
Entity may be related to itself, regardless of the applied classification.
A single class entity relationship "family" is well represented by an
organizational chart. A multiple class entity relationship "family" may
represent a multi-dimensional "Mudds" and "Ludds" intelligence repository;
e.g. telecommunications interations, familial relations, financial
relations, etc.
Address Security
The least amount of address validation available consists of matching
country/province/postal code combinations. Address hygiene can be
extended to include validation and verification using the National Address
Data Base maintained by the U.S. Postal Service, or some other source of
data. Every address in turn may be individually accredited.
Address Multiplicity
TAV supports unlimited address types thereby allowing a given account to
have as many addresses as there are "types". A typical application of
address typing is that of carrier/courier association in support of
shipping. A more comprehensive application of address typing, is that of
address consolidation from multiple sources.
