Patent ID: 8682474

Claim:
A system, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory comprises program instructions executable by the one or more processors to: identify a first unit of a particular item that has been picked from inventory of a materials handling facility and assigned to a first shipment; from a plurality of candidate shipments, identify a second shipment that requires a given unit of said particular item in order to become a complete shipment; wherein for each candidate shipment, at least one unit assigned to that candidate shipment has already been picked from inventory and subsequently stored within a defined storage area of the materials handling facility; wherein for a given shipment to become a complete shipment, all units of the given shipment must be present within the defined storage area; and in response to identifying the first and second shipments, generate an instruction to reassign the first unit of the particular item from the first shipment to the second shipment in order to transform the second shipment from an incomplete shipment to a complete shipment.