Patent ID: 11883853
Assignee: UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 10:
11. A system of tracking items in a distribution network, the system comprising:
a processor in communication with an item processing machine, the item processing machine comprising a plurality of disposition locations, the item processing machine configured to sort items to the plurality of disposition locations, the processor configured to:
apply first placard information to a first placard, the first placard comprising a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag;
associate, by the processor, the first placard with one of the plurality of disposition locations in the item processing machine;
store, in a memory, the association between the one of the plurality of disposition locations and the first placard;
receive an indication that the items planned to be sorted to the one of the plurality of disposition locations have been sorted;
in response to the received indication, apply second placard information to a second placard, the second placard comprising a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag;
generate a close event for the first placard;
store, in the memory, the close event for the first placard; and
associate, by the processor, the second placard to the one of the plurality of disposition locations in the item processing machine.