Patent ID: 8010420

Claim:
A package processing system for a distribution facility supplying inventory to a plurality of retail outlets, the package processing system comprising: a reader configured to: automatically identify vendor labels on each package of a shipment of packages, each such vendor label being one of a plurality of label types and comprising a package identifier code representative of the corresponding package, select a vendor label for each package from identified vendor labels from each package based on label type, compare the label types of identified vendor labels to a plurality of predetermined label types, each of the predetermined label types having an assigned priority level, select the identified vendor label having the label type with the highest assigned priority level; and compare the package identifier code to electronic shipment data from vendors and to distribution instructions received from an external host system based on inventory needs of the plurality of retail outlets to determine a distribution label, and a controller configured to receive distribution instructions for each package based on electronic shipment data representative of the shipment and each package of the shipment and on inventory needs of the retail outlets, and to assign a routing code for each package based on a comparison of the package identifier code of the corresponding selected label with the electronic shipment data and the distribution instructions, wherein each package is distributed within the distribution facility based on the corresponding routing code.