Pull to customer order demand fulfillment system and method

• US 20020103690A1
• Filed: 01/31/2001
• Published: 08/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Kevin T., Clark, Thomas J., Lyon, David J., Beard, Lee B., Wala, Tomasz P., Graban, Mark R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,577,577 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

A demand fulfillment system and method that uses customer orders to generate a work schedule and a material delivery schedule for a factory that mass produces items, particularly commodities, built to customer order. The demand fulfillment system enables the manufacturer to operate the factory with minimal in-house inventory of parts and/or raw materials by only scheduling work for which inventory is available. Parts and/or raw materials are requested and delivered to an operation of at least one operation on a manufacturing line in the factory from in-house and external inventory based upon the work scheduled for that operation.

Claims

1. A method for planning and scheduling mass production of items according to customer orders comprising:

repeating a series of steps a plurality of times during a manufacturing shift, the series of steps comprising;

using at least one outstanding customer order to generate a work schedule and a material delivery schedule, each customer order of the at least one outstanding customer order including at least one item, the generating the work schedule including scheduling work to manufacture each item of the at least one item on an operation of at least one operation on a manufacturing line, the generating the delivery schedule including scheduling a delivery of material to manufacture each item of the at least one item to the operation, wherein the scheduling the delivery includes scheduling the delivery of the material prior to the time the material is needed according to the work schedule;

providing the work schedule to the manufacturing line, substantially immediately after generating the work schedule, for initiating work to mass produce each of the at least one item according to the work schedule; and

providing the material delivery schedule for the delivery of the material to manufacture each item of the at least one item according to the material delivery schedule.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein

each time of the plurality of times that the series of steps is repeated is a repetition;

and

the scheduling the delivery of the material prior to the time the material is needed according to the work schedule includes scheduling the delivery of the material at most one repetition prior to the time the material is needed.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein

the material is delivered from an available inventory of material at a material source.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein

the available inventory includes at least one of a group consisting of the following:

an in-house inventory; and

an external inventory.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein

the external inventory includes at least one of a group consisting of the following:

a supplier inventory; and

a hub inventory.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein

the available inventory further comprises an in-transit inventory.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein

the generating a work schedule comprises adding work to the work schedule;

and

the generating a material delivery schedule comprises adding a delivery of the identified material from an available inventory of material to an operation of at least one operation on a manufacturing line to the material delivery schedule.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule comprises adding the work to the work schedule at a start time;

and

the adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule comprises adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule at a material delivery time prior to the start time.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

determining an expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory; and

wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule includes adding the work at a start time after the expected availability of the identified material.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the determining the expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory comprises:

determining whether the available inventory of material includes the identified material;

when the available inventory includes the identified material, determining a replenishment time for the identified material and using the replenishment time to determine the expected availability of the identified material;

when the available inventory does not include the identified material, determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein

the determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available further comprises flagging an exception.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule comprises adding the work to the work schedule according to a priority of the customer order.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule comprises adding the work to the work schedule according to an order date of the customer order.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein

the item is a commodity.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein

a plurality of work schedules for one manufacturing line are generated during a manufacturing shift.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein

a plurality of material delivery schedules for one manufacturing line are generated during a manufacturing shift.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein

the available inventory includes an external inventory.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein

the external inventory includes at least one of a group consisting of the following:

a supplier inventory; and

a hub inventory.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule comprises adding the work to the work schedule at a start time;

and

the adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule comprises adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule at a material delivery time prior to the start time.

21. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

determining an expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory; and

wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule includes adding the work at a start time after the expected availability of the identified material.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the determining the expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory comprises:

determining whether the available inventory of material includes the identified material;

when the available inventory includes the identified material, determining a replenishment time for the identified material and using the replenishment time to determine the expected availability of the identified material;

when the available inventory does not include the identified material, determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein

the determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available further comprises flagging an exception.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule comprises adding the work to the work schedule according to a priority of the customer order.

25. The method of claim 15 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule comprises adding the work to the work schedule according to an order date of the customer order.

26. The method of claim 15 wherein

the available inventory comprises at least one of a group consisting of the following:

an in-house inventory; and

an external inventory.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein

the available inventory further comprises an in-transit inventory.

28. The method of claim 15 wherein

the item is a commodity.

29. The method of claim 15 wherein

the using a customer order includes using a plurality of customer orders.

30. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

assigning one of a plurality of manufacturing lines to the customer order.

31. The method of claim 15 wherein

the identified material includes a plurality of identified materials.

32. The method of claim 15 wherein

the adding the work to the work schedule includes adding a plurality of work to the work schedule.

33. The method of claim 15 wherein

the adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule includes adding a plurality of deliveries to the material delivery schedule.

34. The method of claim 15 wherein

the customer order includes a plurality of items.

36. The computer system of claim 35 wherein

the instructions to generate the material delivery schedule include instructions to generate the material delivery schedule such that the material scheduled to be delivered includes material scheduled to be delivered from an available inventory of material at a material source.

37. The computer system of claim 36 further comprising:

instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following;

an in-house inventory; and

an external inventory.

38. The computer system of claim 37 wherein

the instructions for determining the available inventory from the external inventory include instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following:

a supplier inventory; and

a hub inventory.

39. The computer system of claim 36 further comprising:

instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following;

an in-house inventory;

an external inventory; and

an in-transit inventory.

40. The computer system of claim 35 wherein

the instructions to generate a work schedule comprise instructions for adding work to the work schedule;

and

the instructions to generate a material delivery schedule comprise instructions for adding a delivery of the material from an available inventory of material to an operation of at least one operation on a manufacturing line.

41. The computer system of claim 40 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule at a start time;

and

the instructions for adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule comprise instructions for adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule at a material delivery time prior to the start time.

42. The computer system of claim 40 further comprising:

instructions for determining an expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory; and

wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule include instructions for adding the work at a start time after the expected availability of the identified material.

43. The computer system of claim 42 wherein the instructions for determining the expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory comprise:

instructions for determining whether the available inventory of material includes the identified material;

instructions for determining a replenishment time for the identified material and using the replenishment time to determine the expected availability of the identified material when the available inventory includes the identified material; and

instructions for determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available when the available inventory does not include the identified material.

44. The computer system of claim 40 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule according to a priority of the customer order.

45. The computer system of claim 40 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule according to an order date of the customer order.

48. The computer program product of claim 47 wherein

the instructions to generate the material delivery schedule include instructions to generate the material delivery schedule such that the material scheduled to be delivered includes material scheduled to be delivered from an available inventory of material at a material source.

49. The computer program product of claim 48 further comprising:

instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following;

an in-house inventory; and

an external inventory.

50. The computer program product of claim 49 wherein

the instructions for determining the available inventory from the external inventory include instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following:

a supplier inventory; and

a hub inventory.

51. The computer program product of claim 48 further comprising:

instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following;

an in-house inventory;

an external inventory; and

an in-transit inventory.

52. The computer program product of claim 47 wherein

the instructions to generate a work schedule comprise instructions for adding work to the work schedule;

and

the instructions to generate a material delivery schedule comprise instructions for adding a delivery of the identified material from an available inventory to an operation of at least one operation on a manufacturing line.

53. The computer program product of claim 52 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule at a start time;

and

the instructions for adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule comprise instructions for adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule at a material delivery time prior to the start time.

54. The computer program product of claim 52 further comprising:

instructions for determining an expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory; and

wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule include instructions for adding the work at a start time after the expected availability of the identified material.

55. The computer program product of claim 54 wherein the instructions for determining the expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory comprise:

instructions for determining whether the available inventory of material includes the identified material;

instructions for determining a replenishment time for the identified material and using the replenishment time to determine the expected availability of the identified material when the available inventory includes the identified material; and

instructions for determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available when the available inventory does not include the identified material.

56. The computer program product of claim 52 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule according to a priority of the customer order.

57. The computer program product of claim 52 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule according to an order date of the customer order.

60. The signal of claim 59 wherein

the instructions to generate the material delivery schedule includes instructions to generate the material delivery schedule such that the material scheduled to be delivered includes material scheduled to be delivered from an available inventory of material at a material source.

61. The signal of claim 60 further comprising:

instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following;

an in-house inventory; and

an external inventory.

62. The signal of claim 61 wherein

the instructions for determining the available inventory from the external inventory include instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following:

a supplier inventory; and

a hub inventory.

63. The signal of claim 60 further comprising:

instructions for determining the available inventory from at least one of a group consisting of the following;

an in-house inventory;

an external inventory; and

an in-transit inventory.

64. The signal of claim 59 wherein

the instructions to generate a work schedule comprise instructions for adding work to the work schedule;

and

the instructions to generate a material delivery schedule comprise instructions for adding a delivery of the identified material from an available inventory to an operation of at least one operation on a manufacturing line.

65. The signal of claim 65 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule at a start time;

and

the instructions for adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule comprise instructions for adding the delivery to the material delivery schedule at a material delivery time prior to the start time.

66. The signal of claim 60 further comprising:

instructions for determining an expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory; and

wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule include instructions for adding the work at a start time after the expected availability of the identified material.

67. The signal of claim 66 wherein the instructions for determining the expected availability of the identified material from the available inventory comprise:

instructions for determining whether the available inventory of material includes the identified material;

instructions for determining a replenishment time for the identified material and using the replenishment time to determine the expected availability of the identified material when the available inventory includes the identified material; and

instructions for determining that the expected availability is that the identified material is not available when the available inventory does not include the identified material.

68. The signal of claim 64 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule according to a priority of the customer order.

69. The signal of claim 64 wherein

the instructions for adding the work to the work schedule comprise instructions for adding the work to the work schedule according to an order date of the customer order.

15. A method for planning and scheduling mass production of items according to customer orders comprising:

using a customer order for an item to determine material to manufacture the item;

identifying material to manufacture the item from an available inventory of the material;

adding work to a work schedule, the work being to manufacture the item at an operation of at least one operation of a manufacturing line using the identified material;

adding a delivery to a material delivery schedule, the delivery being of the identified material from the available inventory to the operation;

providing the work schedule to the manufacturing line for manufacturing the item according to the work schedule; and

providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material according to the material delivery schedule.

35. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, the memory storing instructions to be executed by the processor, the instructions comprising;

instructions for repeating a series of steps a plurality of times during a manufacturing shift; and

instructions for each step in the series of steps comprising;

instructions for using at least one outstanding customer order to generate a work schedule and a material delivery schedule, each customer order of the at least one outstanding customer order including at least one item, the work schedule including work to manufacture each item of the at least one item, the delivery schedule including delivery of material to manufacture each item of the at least one item;

instructions for providing the work schedule to a manufacturing line substantially immediately after generating the work schedule for initiating work to mass produce each of the at least one item according to the work schedule; and

instructions for providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material to manufacture each item of the at least one item according to the material delivery schedule, wherein the material is scheduled to be delivered to an operation of at least one operation of the manufacturing line substantially immediately prior to the time the material is needed according to the work schedule.

46. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, the memory storing instructions to be executed by the processor, the instructions comprising;

instructions for using a customer order for an item to determine material to manufacture the item;

instructions for identifying material to manufacture the item from an available inventory of the material;

instructions for adding work to a work schedule, the work being to manufacture the item at an operation of at least one operation of a manufacturing line using the identified material;

instructions for adding a delivery to a material delivery schedule, the delivery being of the identified material from the available inventory to the operation;

instructions for providing the work schedule to the manufacturing line for manufacturing the item according to the work schedule; and

instructions for providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material according to the material delivery schedule.

47. A computer program product comprising:

instructions for repeating a series of steps a plurality of times during a manufacturing shift;

instructions for each step in the series of steps comprising;

instructions for using at least one outstanding customer order to generate a work schedule and a material delivery schedule, each customer order of the at least one outstanding customer order including at least one item, the work schedule including work to manufacture each item of the at least one item, the delivery schedule including delivery of material to manufacture each item of the at least one item;

instructions for providing the work schedule to a manufacturing line substantially immediately after generating the work schedule for initiating work to mass produce each of the at least one item according to the work schedule; and

instructions for providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material to manufacture each item of the at least one item according to the material delivery schedule, wherein the material is scheduled to be delivered to an operation of at least one operation of the manufacturing line substantially immediately prior to the time the material is needed according to the work schedule; and

a computer-readable medium for storing the instructions for repeating, the instructions for using, the instructions for providing the work schedule, and the instructions for providing the material delivery schedule.

58. A computer program product comprising:

instructions for using a customer order for an item to determine material to manufacture the item;

instructions for identifying material to manufacture the item from an available inventory of the material;

instructions for adding work to a work schedule, the work being to manufacture the item at an operation of at least one operation of a manufacturing line using the identified material;

instructions for adding a delivery to a material delivery schedule, the delivery being of the identified material from the available inventory to the operation;

instructions for providing the work schedule to the manufacturing line for manufacturing the item according to the work schedule;

instructions for providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material according to the material delivery schedule; and

a computer-readable medium that stores the instructions for using, the instructions for identifying, the instructions for adding work to a work schedule, the instructions for adding a delivery to a material delivery schedule, the instructions for providing the work schedule, and the instructions for providing the material delivery schedule.

59. A signal embodied in a carrier wave comprising:

instructions for repeating a series of steps a plurality of times during a manufacturing shift;

instructions for each step in the series of steps comprising;

instructions for using at least one outstanding customer order to generate a work schedule and a material delivery schedule, each customer order of the at least one outstanding customer order including at least one item, the work schedule including work to manufacture each item of the at least one item, the delivery schedule including delivery of material to manufacture each item of the at least one item;

instructions for providing the work schedule to a manufacturing line substantially immediately after generating the work schedule for initiating work to mass produce each of the at least one item according to the work schedule; and

instructions for providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material to manufacture each item of the at least one item according to the material delivery schedule, wherein the material is scheduled to be delivered to an operation of at least one operation of the manufacturing line substantially immediately prior to the time the material is needed according to the work schedule; and

a computer-readable medium for storing the instructions for repeating, the instructions for using, the instructions for providing the work schedule, and the instructions for providing the material delivery schedule.

70. A signal embodied in a carrier wave comprising:

instructions for using a customer order for an item to determine material to manufacture the item;

instructions for identifying material to manufacture the item from an available inventory of the material;

instructions for adding work to a work schedule, the work being to manufacture the item at an operation of at least one operation of a manufacturing line using the identified material;

instructions for adding a delivery to a material delivery schedule, the delivery being of the identified material from the available inventory to the operation;

instructions for providing the work schedule to the manufacturing line for manufacturing the item according to the work schedule;

instructions for providing the material delivery schedule for delivering the material according to the material delivery schedule.