METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT USING PALLET-WORKSTATION AND WORKSTATION-WORKSTATION COMMUNICATION

摘要

Operation of a supply chain having a number of workstation that process items supported by pallets is managed using a sub-central controller, a number of pallet devices, each associated with a pallet, and one or more workstation devices, each associated with a workstation. A workstation device is operable to communicate with the pallet devices to acquire pallet information and to process the pallet information based upon rules provided by the sub-central controller. The workstation device acts on the processed pallet information to modify the operation of the supply chain. A central controller may be used to coordinate activities of multiple sub-central controllers.