Determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain

• US 20040230829A1
• Filed: 04/29/2004
• Published: 11/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blue Yonder Group, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: i2 Technologies US Incorporated (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Dogan, Koray, Raman, Ramesh, Najmi, Adeel, Upadhyay, Praveen
• Granted Patent: US 7,523,483 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities

Abstract

Determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain includes establishing attributes of the entities of the supply chain. Attribute segments are established for each attribute, where an attribute segment includes one or more values of the corresponding attribute. Rules are formulated using the attribute segments to define policy groups, and policy parameters are assigned to each policy group. A policy group corresponding to an entity is identified in accordance with the rules. The policy parameters assigned to the identified policy group are determined and selected for the entity.

Claims

1. A method for determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain, comprising:

establishing one or more attributes of a plurality of entities of a supply chain;

establishing a plurality of attribute segments for each attribute, each attribute segment comprising one or more values of the corresponding attribute;

formulating one or more rules using one or more of the attribute segments to define one or more policy groups;

assigning one or more policy parameters of a plurality of policy parameters to each policy group;

identifying a policy group corresponding to an entity of the plurality of entities in accordance with the one or more rules;

determining the one or more policy parameters assigned to the identified policy group; and

selecting the one or more policy parameters for the entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity comprises one of an item, a location, a channel, or any combination of the preceding.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the one or more attributes comprises:

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute; and

establishing the attribute in response to the request to generate the attribute.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the plurality of attribute segments comprises:

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute segment for an attribute; and

establishing the attribute segment in response to the request to generate the attribute segment.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning a priority to each policy group, a first policy group having a higher priority, a second policy group having a lower priority;

determining that the entity corresponds to the first policy group and to the second policy group; and

selecting the one or more policy parameters of the first policy group for the entity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more policy groups comprises a default policy group, each entity of the plurality of entities corresponding to at least one policy group.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more policy groups comprise one or more criticality groups.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more policy groups comprise one or more order lead time groups.

9. A system for determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain, comprising:

a database operable to store information about a supply chain; and

a computer system coupled to the database and operable to;

establish one or more attributes of a plurality of entities of the supply chain;

establish a plurality of attribute segments for each attribute, each attribute segment comprising one or more values of the corresponding attribute;

formulate one or more rules using one or more of the attribute segments to define one or more policy groups;

assign one or more policy parameters of a plurality of policy parameters to each policy group;

identify a policy group corresponding to an entity of the plurality of entities in accordance with the one or more rules;

determine the one or more policy parameters assigned to the identified policy group; and

select the one or more policy parameters for the entity.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the entity comprises one of an item, a location, a channel, or any combination of the preceding.

11. The system of claim 9, the computer system operable to establish the one or more attributes by:

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute; and

establishing the attribute in response to the request to generate the attribute.

12. The system of claim 9, the computer system operable to establish the plurality of attribute segments by:

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute segment for an attribute; and

establishing the attribute segment in response to the request to generate the attribute segment.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the computer system is further operable to:

assign a priority to each policy group, a first policy group having a higher priority, a second policy group having a lower priority;

determine that the entity corresponds to the first policy group and to the second policy group; and

select the one or more policy parameters of the first policy group for the entity.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more policy groups comprises a default policy group, each entity of the plurality of entities corresponding to at least one policy group.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more policy groups comprise one or more criticality groups.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more policy groups comprise one or more order lead time groups.

17. Software for determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and when executed by a computer operable to:

establish one or more attributes of a plurality of entities of a supply chain;

establish a plurality of attribute segments for each attribute, each attribute segment comprising one or more values of the corresponding attribute;

formulate one or more rules using one or more of the attribute segments to define one or more policy groups;

assign one or more policy parameters of a plurality of policy parameters to each policy group;

identify a policy group corresponding to an entity of the plurality of entities in accordance with the one or more rules;

determine the one or more policy parameters assigned to the identified policy group; and

select the one or more policy parameters for the entity.

18. The software of claim 17, wherein the entity comprises one of an item, a location, a channel, or any combination of the preceding.

19. The software of claim 17, operable to establish the one or more attributes by:

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute; and

establishing the attribute in response to the request to generate the attribute.

20. The software of claim 17, operable to establish the plurality of attribute segments by:

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute segment for an attribute; and

establishing the attribute segment in response to the request to generate the attribute segment.

21. The software of claim 17, further operable to:

assign a priority to each policy group, a first policy group having a higher priority, a second policy group having a lower priority;

determine that the entity corresponds to the first policy group and to the second policy group; and

select the one or more policy parameters of the first policy group for the entity.

22. The software of claim 17, wherein the one or more policy groups comprises a default policy group, each entity of the plurality of entities corresponding to at least one policy group.

23. The software of claim 17, wherein the one or more policy groups comprise one or more criticality groups.

24. The software of claim 17, wherein the one or more policy groups comprise one or more order lead time groups.

25. A system for determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain, comprising:

means for establishing one or more attributes of a plurality of entities of a supply chain;

means for establishing a plurality of attribute segments for each attribute, each attribute segment comprising one or more values of the corresponding attribute;

means for formulating one or more rules using one or more of the attribute segments to define one or more policy groups;

means for assigning one or more policy parameters of a plurality of policy parameters to each policy group;

means for identifying a policy group corresponding to an entity of the plurality of entities in accordance with the one or more rules;

means for determining the one or more policy parameters assigned to the identified policy group; and

means for selecting the one or more policy parameters for the entity.

26. A method for determining a policy parameter for an entity of a supply chain, comprising:

establishing one or more attributes of a plurality of entities of a supply chain by;

receiving from a user a request to generate an attribute; and

establishing the attribute in response to the request to generate the attribute;

establishing a plurality of attribute segments for each attribute, each attribute segment comprising one or more values of the corresponding attribute, the attribute segments established by;

receiving from the user a request to generate an attribute segment for an attribute; and

establishing the attribute segment in response to the request to generate the attribute segment;

formulating one or more rules using one or more of the attribute segments to define one or more policy groups, the one or more policy groups comprising a default policy group, each entity of the plurality of entities corresponding to at least one policy group;

assigning one or more policy parameters of a plurality of policy parameters to each policy group;

assigning a priority to each policy group, a first policy group having a higher priority, a second policy group having a lower priority;

identifying a policy group corresponding to an entity of the plurality of entities in accordance with the one or more rules, the entity comprising one of an item, a location, a channel, or any combination of the preceding, the policy group identified by;

determining that the entity corresponds to the first policy group and to the second policy group; and

identifying the first policy group as the identified policy group corresponding to the entity; and

selecting the one or more policy parameters for the entity by selecting the one or more policy parameters of the first policy group for the entity.