Patent ID: 8892240

Claim:
An order fulfillment system, comprising: inventory storage, comprising two storage areas; a processing area disposed between the two storage areas, the processing area including: a router module configured to receive inventory items from the inventory storage via conveyance receptacles, wherein the conveyance receptacles are transported using a conveyor mechanism, and wherein the conveyance receptacles are not fixed to the conveyor mechanism; a plurality of processing modules configured to receive the inventory items from the router module via the conveyor receptacles, and to package the inventory items; and a shipping module configured to receive the packaged inventory items from ones of the plurality of processing modules; and a control system operable to: in response to a received customer order, cause a particular inventory item to be picked from the inventory storage and to be routed, via the conveyor receptacles, to the router module of the processing area; and cause the router module to route the particular inventory item to a selected particular processing module to be packaged, wherein the particular processing module is selected based at least in part on the received customer order.