System and method for planning and ordering components for a configure-to-order manufacturing process
First Claim
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1. A system for planning ordering of components for a plurality of products comprising:
- communication means for communicating over a computer network;
data storage storing a demand forecast data structure storing data describing volumes of components for products within said plurality thereof expected to be required during time periods within a plurality of time periods, a customer order log data structure storing data describing orders placed by customers over said computer network for products within said plurality thereof for said time periods, a supplier order log data structure storing data describing orders placed with suppliers for components of said products, a net demand forecast data structure describing volumes of said components remaining to be ordered for said time periods, a committed parts data structure storing data describing volumes of said components committed over said computer network by suppliers of said components to be supplied for said time periods, and a committed volumes data structure storing data describing volumes of said products which can be built with volumes of said components within said committed parts data structure; and
processor means programmed to determine volumes of said components to be stored in said net demand forecast data structure for said time periods by subtracting volumes of components from said supplier order backlog data structure from volumes of components within said demand forecast data structure, prepare data from said net demand data structure for said time periods for transmission to suppliers of said components, and determine, for storage of data in said committed volumes data structure, volumes of said products to be built for said time periods with components for which data is stored in said committed parts data structure.
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Abstract
A computer-implemented method for planning and implementing the ordering of component parts provides for inputs customers ordering products and from suppliers, indicating whether they can supply component parts to meet net demand levels during specified time periods. The planning method is performed on an ongoing basis, such as on a weekly basis with data being prepared for the current week and for the next twelve weeks. The method is particularly adapted to be used for a number of fixed configuration products and additionally for a number of configure-to-order products, the configuration of which is specified in customer orders.
156 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A system for planning ordering of components for a plurality of products comprising:
communication means for communicating over a computer network;
data storage storinga demand forecast data structure storing data describing volumes of components for products within said plurality thereof expected to be required during time periods within a plurality of time periods, a customer order log data structure storing data describing orders placed by customers over said computer network for products within said plurality thereof for said time periods, a supplier order log data structure storing data describing orders placed with suppliers for components of said products, a net demand forecast data structure describing volumes of said components remaining to be ordered for said time periods, a committed parts data structure storing data describing volumes of said components committed over said computer network by suppliers of said components to be supplied for said time periods, and a committed volumes data structure storing data describing volumes of said products which can be built with volumes of said components within said committed parts data structure; and
processor means programmed todetermine volumes of said components to be stored in said net demand forecast data structure for said time periods by subtracting volumes of components from said supplier order backlog data structure from volumes of components within said demand forecast data structure, prepare data from said net demand data structure for said time periods for transmission to suppliers of said components, and determine, for storage of data in said committed volumes data structure, volumes of said products to be built for said time periods with components for which data is stored in said committed parts data structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Data storage having recorded thereon computer readable data for use in a process ordering component parts for fixed configuration products and for configure-to-order products, wherein
said computer readable data comprises a plurality of product data structures, a plurality of building block data structures, and a planning data structure for storing data used in planning, wherein each product data structure in said plurality of product data structures includes entries listing each component part within a fixed configuration product associated with said product data structure and a quantity of said component part within said fixed configuration product associated with said product data structure, each building block data structure in said plurality of building block data structures includes entries describing component parts associated with said building block data structure forming a portion of a configure-to-order product and a quantity of said component part within said portion of said configure-to-order part, each of said configure-to-order products includes component parts within a number of building block data structures in said plurality of building block data structures, and said planning data structure includes: -
a plurality of fixed-configuration product entries identifying a product data structure in said plurality of product data structures;
a plurality of configure-to-order entries identifying a configure-to-order product; and
a plurality of building bock entries associated with each of said configure-to-order entries, wherein each of said building block entries identifies a building block data structure in said plurality of building block data structures, and wherein said component parts described in said building block data structure are used within a version of said configure-to-order product. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for determining a net demand volume of component parts to be ordered to build a planned volume of each product within a plurality of products and for each time period within a plurality of time periods, wherein said method comprises performing the following steps for each time period within said plurality of time periods:
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(a) determining whether a volume of component parts on order is greater than a volume of component parts required to build said planned volume of said product, (b) in response to a determination in step (a) that said volume of component parts on order is less than said volume of component parts required to build said planned volume of said product, setting a net demand variable to a difference between said volume of component parts required to build said planned volume of said product and said volume of component parts on order to a data structure, (c) in response to a determination in step (a) that said volume of component parts on order is greater than said volume of component parts required to build said planned volume of said product, setting said net demand variable to a value of zero and determining whether a first flag is set to configure said method, (d) in response to a determination in step (c) that said first flag is set, setting a planning volume variable to a volume equal to said volume of component parts on order to said data structure, and (e) in response to a determination in step (c) that said first flag is not set, setting a planning volume variable to said volume of component parts required to build said planned volume of said product to said data structure. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A method for determining a net demand volume of component parts to be ordered to build a planned volume of each configure-to-order product within a plurality of configure to order products and for each time period within a plurality of time periods, wherein
said component parts to build each said configure-to-order product are described within entries within a plurality of building block data structures, each of said building block data structures is associated with an attach rate representing a planned portion of said configure-to-order products including component parts described in said building block data structure identified within said building block entry, and said method comprises, for each time period within a plurality of time periods, for each configure-to-order product within said plurality of configure to order products, and for each building block data structure describing component parts (a) determining whether a second flag is set to configure said method, (b) in response to a determination in step (a) that said second flag has not been set, setting a volume of component parts described in said building block data structure for all of said configure-to-order product to be built during said time period to a level holding said attach rate associated with said building block data structure at a planned level of said attach rate, (c) in response to a determination in step (a) that said second flag has been set, setting said volume of component parts described in said building block data structure to a sum of a first level determined by existing customer orders for said configure-to-order product having said component parts described in said building block data structure and a second level determined by applying said planned level of said attach rate associated with said building block data structure to a portion of a planned volume of said configure-to-order product for which customer orders have not been received, (d) determining whether a volume of said component parts described in said building block data structure on order is greater than said volume of component parts described in said building block set in steps (b) and (c), (e) in response to determining in step (d) that said volume of said component parts described in said building block data structure on order is not greater than said volume of component parts described in said building block set in steps (b) and (c), setting a net demand volume variable to a difference between said volume of component parts described in said building block set in steps (b) and (c), (f) in response to determining in step (d) that said volume of component parts described in said building block data structure on order is greater than said volume of component parts described in said building block set in steps (b) and (c), setting said net demand volume variable to a level of zero and determining whether a first flag is set to configure said method, (g) in response to determining in step (f) that said first flag is set, setting a planning volume variable to a volume equal to said volume of said component parts described in said building block data structure on order, and (h) in response to determining in step (f) that said first flag is not set, setting said planning volume variable to a volume equal to said volume of component parts described in said building block set in steps (b) and (c),
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28. A method for determining volumes of groups of component parts to order within constraints of a planned demand for products built with said component parts and within constraints of an available supply of said component parts, during a plurality of time periods, wherein said method comprises:
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(a) for each time period within said plurality of time periods, and for each of said groups, determining a supplier of each component part, and for each supplier of component parts within said groups of component parts, generating a parts demand data structure describing each of said component parts supplied by said supplier in a volume required to meet said planned demand for products built with said component parts;
(b) transmitting data from said parts demand data structure for each said supplier to said supplier;
(c) for each said supplier, receiving data describing a volume of said component parts described within said data from said parts demand data structure that can be supplied during said each said time period, and writing said data received from said supplier to a committed parts data structure; and
(d) for each of said component parts, determinating a cumulative supply volume from said data received from said suppliers and a cumulative demand volume from said planned demand for products built with said component parts for each time period within said plurality of time periods;
(e) for each of said groups, and for each time period within said plurality of time periods, determining a maximum volume of said group that can be built within said time period, wherein a volume of each component part in said maximum volume of said group is not greater than said cumulative supply volume of said component part, and wherein said volume of each component part in said maximum volume of said group is not greater than said cumulative demand volume of said component part, and writing said maximum volume of each said group to a committed group volumes data structure. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for planning ordering of component parts for products within a plurality of products over a number of time periods in accordance with customer orders for said products, wherein
said method comprises sequentially performing a planning process during sequentially occurring time periods, said planning process is performed for a plurality of time periods, and said planning process includes: -
determining demand volumes of groups of said component parts needed for planning volumes of said products in each time period within said plurality of time periods;
determining net volumes of said groups of said component parts by subtracting volumes of said groups on order from said demand volumes;
deriving volumes of said component parts from said net volumes of said groups;
transmitting volumes of said component parts to suppliers of said component parts;
receiving committed volumes of said component parts from said suppliers of said component parts;
deriving committed volumes of said groups of said component parts from said committed volumes of said committed parts;
deriving committed volumes of said products from said committed volumes of said groups;
receiving orders from customers for said products;
deriving committed customer ordered volumes of said products from orders from customers for volumes of said products within said committed volumes of said products;
transmitting committed status information to said customers in response to deriving committed customer ordered volumes of said products, and ordering volumes of said component parts from said suppliers. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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Specification