System and method for inventory and capacity availability management

• US 20020095307A1
• Filed: 10/29/2001
• Published: 07/18/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: JDA Software Group Incorporated (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Manugistics Inc (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Mitchell, Robert, Weber, David, Hooks, Michael L., Greamo, Christopher A.
• Application Number:
  US09/984,346
• Publication Number:
  US 20020095307A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method whereby a user having the proper permissions to access a supply chain may check the availability of an item within the supply chain network. There are three different types of availability that can be checked: (1) current inventory availability, (2) available to promise inventory (projected+current inventory), and (3) capable to promise inventory (current inventory+projected inventory+capacity for manufacturing, labor, materials, and transportation). Preferably, the system is accessible over a distributed network such as the Internet, thereby facilitating remote access by allowing remote customers to receive a reliable commitment of delivery. The system further allows businesses to offer improved customer support in multiple commercial channels.

Claims

1. A method for committing to a new order requesting a desired item by a desired time, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the new order;

checking the availability of said desired item by said desired time, wherein said checking step considers expected delays associated with a delivering of said new order; and

if said desired item is available by said desired time, promising delivery of said new order.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of checking the availability of said desired item by said desired time considers inventory, production, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation resources needed to deliver said desired item by said desired time.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

determining an alternative item if said desired item is unavailable by said desired time;

checking the availability of said alternative item by said desired time; and

if said alternative item is available by said desired time, promising delivery of said alternative item by said desired time.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said alternative item is predetermined.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

if said desired item is unavailable by said desired time, determining a cause for the unavailability;

addressing said cause for the unavailability;

rechecking the availability of said desired item by said desired time; and

if said desired item is available by said desired time promising delivery of the new order.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

if said desired item is unavailable by said desired time, determining an alternative time at which said item is available; and

promising the delivery of said desired item by said alternative time.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising the steps of

forming said alternative time by offsetting said desired time by a predetermined interval;

and

checking the availability of said desired item by said alternative time.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

canceling a prior order;

after canceling the prior order, rechecking the availability of said desired item by said desired time; and

promising delivery of said new order if said desired item is available by said desired time.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of:

creating a list of existing orders; and

selecting the prior order from the existing orders that are lower in priority than the new order.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said desired item is a promotional item and said desired time is during a promotional period.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

monitoring any allocation of resources needed to ensure on-time delivery of said new order; and

intermittently providing a status report on said new order

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

monitoring any allocations of resources needed for on-time delivery of said new order; and

modifying the allocations of resources as needed to ensure on-time delivery of said new order.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

if multiple schemes exist to make said desired items available by said desired time, determine by a low-cost scheme; and

deliver said new order using said low-cost scheme.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said desired time is a time interval and said new order requests delivery of said desired item during said time interval.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said desired item comprises a set of multiple products.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said promised delivery includes one or more of said products.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein said multiple products are delivered in one shipment.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein said new order further specifies a desired location and wherein said step of checking the availability of said desired item by said desired time considers delivery to said desired location.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said desired location includes a range of sites and wherein the new order is promised to be delivered at one of these sites.

20. The method claim 1, wherein the order specifies delivery of the desired item from a single source and wherein said step of checking the availability of said desired item by said desired time limits considers delivery from only a single source.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the new order specifies a particular single source.

22. A method for committing to a new order requesting a desired item by a desired time, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a supply chain model containing activities effecting inventory

receiving the new order;

checking said supply chain model to determine the availability of said desired item by said desired time;

if said desired item is available by said desired time, promising delivery of said new order; and

if said new order is promised, modifying said supply chain model to reflect said new order.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said step of checking said supply chain considers inventory, production, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation resources needed to deliver said desired item by said desired time.

24. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:

determining an alternative item if said desired item is unavailable by said desired time;

checking said supply chain to determine the availability of said alternative item by said desired time;

if said alternative item is available by said desired time, promising delivery of said alternative item by said desired time; and

if said alternative item is promised by said desired date, modifying said supply chain model to reflect the promised delivery of said alternative item.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said alternative item is predetermined.

26. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:

if said desired item is unavailable by said desired time, determining a cause in the supply chain model for the unavailability;

addressing said cause in the supply chain for the unavailability; and

rechecking said supply chain model to determine the availability of said desired item by said desired time.

27. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:

if said desired item is unavailable by said desired time, determining an alternative time at which said item is available; and

promising the delivery of said desired item by said alternative time.

28. The method of claim 27, comprising the steps of

forming said alternative time by offsetting said desired time by a predetermined interval;

and

checking supply chain model to determine the availability of said desired item by said alternative time.

29. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:

canceling a prior order; and

after canceling the prior order, rechecking the supply chain model to determine the availability of said desired item by said desired time.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising the steps of:

creating a list of existing orders in the supply chain model; and

selecting the prior order from the existing orders that are lower in priority than the new order.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein said desired item is a promotional item and said desired time is during a promotional period.

32. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:

monitoring changes in the supply chain model needed to ensure on-time delivery of said new order; and

intermittently providing a report on the status of these changes in the supply chain model.

33. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:

monitoring changes in the supply chain model needed for on-time delivery of said new order; and

modifying the changes in the supply chain model needed to ensure on-time delivery of said new order.

34. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of:

if multiple schemes exist in the supply chain model to make said desired items available by said desired time, determine by a low-cost scheme; and

deliver said new order using said low-cost scheme.

35. The method of claim 22, wherein said desired time is a time interval and said new order requests delivery of said desired item during said time interval.

36. The method of claim 22, wherein said desired item comprises a set of multiple products.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein said promised delivery includes one or more of said products.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein said multiple products are delivered in one shipment.

39. The method of claim 22, wherein said new order further specifies a desired location and wherein said step of checking the supply chain model considers delivery to said desired location.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said desired location includes a range of sites and wherein the new order is promised to be delivered at one of these sites.

41. The method claim 22, wherein the order specifies delivery of the desired item from a single source in the supply chain and wherein said step of checking supply chain model only considers delivery from single sources.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the new order specifies a particular single source in the supply chain model.

43. A system for committing to a new order requesting a desired item by a desired time, the system comprising:

a database containing supply chain data; and

a first server having

a means for receiving said new order, and

a means for analyzing said supply chain data to determine in real-time whether said desired item may be delivered by a desired time

whereby, if said desired item is available by said desired time, said system promises delivery of said new order and modifies said supply chain data to reflect said promised new order.

44. The system of claim 43 further comprising a second server, whereby said second server having said receiving and analyzing means, and whereby said second server receives and analyzes the new order when said first server in not available.

45. The system of claim 43 further comprising a security module for limiting a user'"'"'s access to the system and for limited a user'"'"'s ability to modify the supply chain data.

46. The system of claim 43 further comprising one or more application protocol interfaces (APIs) that allow the system to connect to outside systems.

47. The system of claim 43 further comprising user-interface that allows a user to access and interact with the system.

48. The system of claim 47 wherein said user-interface allows the user to access and interact with the system over a distributed network.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein said distributed network is the Internet.

50. The system of claim 43 wherein said analyzing means has a limited period of operation.

51. The system of claim 50 where said analyzing means is limited by a maximum processing time.

52. The system of claim 50 wherein analyzing means is limited by a maximum number of calculations.