Supply chain management system determining whether orders related to a family of products can be promised
First Claim
1. A method of processing orders related to a family of products in a supply chain management system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said method comprising:
- receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in relation to a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items, said TF duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of the corresponding member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item;
receiving in said computer system a first order specifying a first quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said TF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first quantity;
determining in said computer system whether at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date; and
promising in said computer system said first order if said determining determines that at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A supply chain management system processing orders related to a family of products. An user may provide a parameter referred to as ‘aggregate time fence’ (ATF) duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which aggregate supply of all member items is available to satisfy the demand for any member item. For illustration, if an order for a member item is received with a required date being after the ATF duration, the order can be promised even if the required quantity of the first member item is not scheduled to be available at of the required date, provided sufficient number of units of other member items are scheduled to be available as of the requested date. Thus, orders are promised taking advantage of similarities in resource requirements of member items.
22 Citations
80 Claims
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1. A method of processing orders related to a family of products in a supply chain management system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said method comprising:
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receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in relation to a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items, said TF duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of the corresponding member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item;
receiving in said computer system a first order specifying a first quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said TF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first quantity;
determining in said computer system whether at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date; and
promising in said computer system said first order if said determining determines that at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a computer system to process orders related to a family of products in a supply chain management system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said computer system causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:
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receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in relation to a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items, said TF duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of the corresponding member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item;
receiving a first order specifying a first quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said ATF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first quantity;
determining whether at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date; and
promising said first order if said determining determines that at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computer system supporting a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system processing orders related to a family of products in said SCM system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said computer system being operable to:
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receive in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in relation to a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items, said TF duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of the corresponding member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item;
receive a first order specifying a first quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said ATF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first quantity;
determine whether at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date; and
promise said first order if said determining determines that at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A computer system supporting a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system processing orders related to a family of products in said SCM system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said computer system comprising:
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means for receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in relation to a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items, said TF duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of the corresponding member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item;
means for receiving a first order specifying a first quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said ATF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first quantity;
means for determining whether at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date; and
means for promising said first order if said means for determining determines that at least said first quantity of all of said plurality of member items is scheduled to be available as of said first required date. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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Specification