Product offering management and tracking system
First Claim
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1. A method of managing one or more product offerings, the method comprising the steps of:
- defining one or more parameters for the one or more product offerings;
defining one or more receivers of the one or more product offerings;
defining one or more identified products of the one or more product offerings;
defining a forecast of the one or more identified products projected to be allocated to the one or more receivers;
defining one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
shipping the one or more identified products to the one or more receivers from one or more distributors based at least in part upon the forecast;
tracking sales or dispensation of the one or more identified products to generate sales or dispensation data of the identified products;
identifying one or more imbalances between the forecast and the sales or dispensation data; and
adjusting subsequent shipments of the one or more identified products based at least in part upon the one or more imbalances.
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Abstract
Disclosed is a system for product tracking and management of merchandise and a method of accomplishing the same. The disclosed system can also be used to forecast and adjust projected allocations of merchandise based upon the product tracking information collected and managed. There is also provided a method for substantially optimizing logistics for loading vehicles and transporting goods which is capable of being utilized with the disclosed tracking and management system.
164 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of managing one or more product offerings, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining one or more parameters for the one or more product offerings;
defining one or more receivers of the one or more product offerings;
defining one or more identified products of the one or more product offerings;
defining a forecast of the one or more identified products projected to be allocated to the one or more receivers;
defining one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
shipping the one or more identified products to the one or more receivers from one or more distributors based at least in part upon the forecast;
tracking sales or dispensation of the one or more identified products to generate sales or dispensation data of the identified products;
identifying one or more imbalances between the forecast and the sales or dispensation data; and
adjusting subsequent shipments of the one or more identified products based at least in part upon the one or more imbalances. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of managing a product offering, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining a product offering having an identified product;
defining one or more receivers of the product offering;
defining a forecast of the identified product projected to be allocated to the one or more receivers;
defining one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
adjusting the forecast based at least in part upon the one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
shipping the identified product to the one or more receivers from one or more distributors based upon the adjusted forecast;
tracking sales or dispensation of the identified product to generate sales or dispensation data;
identifying one or more imbalances between the adjusted forecast and the sales or dispensation data; and
adjusting subsequent shipments of the identified product based at least in part upon the one or more imbalances. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer program embodied on a tangible medium for managing a product offering comprising:
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a first set of instructions to define a product offering;
a second set of instructions to define one or more receivers of the product offering;
a third set of instructions to define one or more parameters of an identified product of the product offering;
a fourth set of instructions to define a forecast of the identified product projected to be allocated to the one or more receivers;
a fifth set of instructions to define one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
a sixth set of instructions to substantially optimize shipping of the identified product to the one or more receivers from one or more distributors based at least in part upon the forecast;
a seventh set of instructions to track sales or dispensation of the identified product to generate sales or dispensation data;
an eighth set of instructions to identify one or more imbalances between the forecast and the sales or dispensation data; and
a ninth set of instructions to adjust subsequent shipments of the identified product based at least in part upon the one or more imbalances. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. An on-line method of providing and replenishing one or more products of a product offering to one or more receivers by shipments from one or more distributors, comprising the steps of:
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defining a product offering;
defining one or more receivers of the product offering;
defining one or more parameters of an identified product of the product offering;
defining a forecast of the identified product projected to be allocated to the one or more receivers;
defining one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
shipping the identified product to the one or more receivers from one or more distributors based at least in part upon the forecast;
tracking sales or dispensation of the identified product to generate sales or dispensation data;
identifying one or more imbalances between the forecast and the sales or dispensation data; and
adjusting subsequent shipments of the identified product based at least in part upon the one or more imbalances. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A signal-bearing medium having encoded machine-readable instructions for managing a product offering comprising:
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a first set of instructions to define a product offering;
a second set of instructions to define one or more receivers of the product offering;
a third set of instructions to define one or more parameters of an identified product of the product offering;
a fourth set of instructions to define a forecast of the identified product projected to be allocated to the one or more receivers;
a fifth set of instructions to define one or more product offering commitments of the one or more receivers;
a sixth set of instructions to substantially optimize shipping of the identified product to the one or more receivers from one or more distributors based at least in part upon the forecast;
a seventh set of instructions to track sales of the identified product to generate sales or dispensation data;
an eighth set of instructions to identify one or more imbalances between the forecast and the sales or dispensation data; and
a ninth set of instructions to adjust subsequent shipments of the identified product based at least in part upon the one or more imbalances. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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Specification