Method and apparatus for reporting the status of work in progress
First Claim
1. A method for reporting status of work in progress, comprising the steps of:
- periodically querying a database that contains data indicating an order number, a promise date, a request date, a shipment date, and a product category for a plurality of products/services offered;
comparing the promise dates and the request dates;
setting a proactive promise alert if a promise date is later than a request date for a given order; and
displaying the proactive promise alerts with the order number by product category and type of alert.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for electronically reporting in real-time the status of work in progress by a computerized system. The invention provides alert notification when a customer requested shipment date falls before the date that a shipment was promised or is scheduled to be fulfilled. The invention further includes notification when the request date for shipment is near, thereby providing a highlighted alert notification to managers. The system is designed to update its data when a request is made, or automatically in real-time or on a regular basis. A proactive alert is provided to alert managers of a correctable problem for that order and a reactive alert is provided to track late shipments to prevent future late shipments.
23 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A method for reporting status of work in progress, comprising the steps of:
-
periodically querying a database that contains data indicating an order number, a promise date, a request date, a shipment date, and a product category for a plurality of products/services offered;
comparing the promise dates and the request dates;
setting a proactive promise alert if a promise date is later than a request date for a given order; and
displaying the proactive promise alerts with the order number by product category and type of alert. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon one or more computer programs that, when executed by one or more computers, causes the one or more computers to:
-
populate a database with data to include an order number, a promise date, a request date, a shipment date, and a product category for a plurality of orders;
periodically query the database and compare promise dates to request dates;
set a proactive alert if the promise date is later than a request date;
set a reactive alert if the shipment date exists and the request date is less than a user-defined number of days prior to a current date; and
display any promise and shipment alerts by product category and type of alert. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
16. A computer data signal representing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by one of more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
-
populate a database with an order date indicating a date an order is initially made, a request date indicating a date when a customer requests delivery of the order, a shipment date, when available, indicating a date when actual shipment will occur and a product/service category for each order for a product/service;
query the database and compare promise dates to request dates for each order and check for the entry of a shipment date for each order;
set a proactive alert if any promise date is later than a request date;
set a reactive alert if a shipment date exists for an order and the request date is less than a user-defined number of days prior to a current date; and
display all proactive and reactive alerts by product/service category and type of alert.
-
Specification