Patent ID: 7627666

Claim:
An apparatus for tracking a plurality of containers, wherein the apparatus is coupled to a status tracking structure that provides event information regarding at least a portion of the plurality of containers, the apparatus comprising: a centralized tracking manager comprising a processor; an event table for storing the event information; a rule execution component, constituting at least a portion of the centralized tracking manager and coupled to the event table, that processes the event information in accordance with at least one rule, wherein the at least one rule tests for non-optimal use of at least one container of the plurality of containers based on the event information; a configuration engine component, also constituting at least a portion of the centralized tracking manager and coupled to the rule execution component, that causes the rule execution component, without regard to occurrence of the event information and according to at least one user-specified execution frequency, to process the event information in accordance with at least a portion of the at least one rule wherein the at least one rule comprises at least two rules, and wherein the configuration engine component associates at least two execution frequencies with the at least two rules such that a portion of the at least two rules is executed with a frequency different from other rules of the at least two rules; and an event engine component, also constituting at least a portion of the centralized tracking manager and coupled to the status tracking structure and the event table, that receives the event information, stores the event information in the event table and, in response to the receipt of the event information, causes the rule execution component to process the event information in accordance with at least a portion of the at least one rule.