I-Corps: Real-Time Monitoring with Predictive Intelligence for Efficient Warehouse and Outdoor Inventory Management

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project supports improving the efficiency of inventory and warehouse management operations with a cost-affordable technology innovation capable of monitoring goods in real-time without the need for static communications infrastructure. The project promises to enhance such operations through the extraction of information from the collected data and the provision of time-critical insights at a fraction of the costs of current commercial tools. The monitoring innovation will potentially become the first solution in the market capable of continuously monitoring goods in outdoor environments. In addition, the monitoring innovation will potentially become the first cost-affordable monitoring solution for low-value goods. The innovation promises a primary impact in the sectors of defense and construction. In reality, though, it offers the potential to positively impact the cost and efficiency of complex inventory and warehouse management operations across US industry sectors. This I-Corps team will cross-pollinate discovery and innovation across the broad spectrum of implementation scenarios by addressing the existing latent inefficiencies in such operations. This I-Corps project explores the market potential of the real-time monitoring, predictive, and inexpensive innovation in support of inventory and warehouse management operations. A realistic real-time monitoring solution without the need for static communications infrastructure is a technically complex endeavor beyond the capabilities of commercial tracking and monitoring tools. The proposed innovation optimizes operations and information flows, and the response to upstream (push) and downstream (pull) processes and overall system performance. As large datasets are fused the artificial intelligence aspect of the innovation automatically identifies inefficiencies and bottlenecks, and reassesses forecasts and system decisions that account for latest events, data uncertainties, and multiple local optima. This I-Corps team plans to investigate the market potential of the innovation, validate customer needs and how the innovation can alleviate such needs, and discern sustainable business models. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.