Method of and apparatus for generating a demand forecast

• US 20060200376A1
• Filed: 03/07/2005
• Published: 09/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: United Technologies Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: United Technologies Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Kirkpatrick, Kevin J., Gannon, Thomas W., Wang, Weitao, McGarry, Matthew J., Efremov, Rumen
• Application Number:
  US11/074,175
• Publication Number:
  US 20060200376A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation

Abstract

A method of forecasting demand comprises the steps of providing a database containing information regarding a plurality of parts, accessing the database to create a first demand forecast for at least one of the plurality of parts, identifying a group from the plurality of parts, and accessing the database to create a second demand forecast for the group.

Claims

1. A method of forecasting demand, comprising the steps of:

providing a database containing information regarding a plurality of parts;

accessing the database to create a first demand forecast for at least one of the plurality of parts;

identifying a group from the plurality of parts; and

accessing the database to create a second demand forecast for the group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first demand forecast is a short-term demand forecast.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second demand forecast is a long-term demand forecast.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

cleansing the information contained in the database.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of cleansing comprises eliminating excess records.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

utilizing future shop visit data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a group from a plurality of parts includes the step of creating a profile for the group.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the group represents customers.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the group represents parts having similar workscopes.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the group represents parts having functional similarities.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the group is a part family.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

allowing human intervention.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the forecasts are accessed via the Internet.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the forecasts are spare parts forecasts.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the forecasts are forecasts for the repair of the parts.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

providing at least one of the forecasts to at least one vendor.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the parts are aerospace parts.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the aerospace parts are gas turbine engine parts.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the database contains historical information of services performed on the parts and scheduled information of services to be performed on the parts.

20. A computer assisted system for forecasting demand, the system comprising:

means for providing a database containing information regarding a plurality of parts;

means for accessing the database to create a first demand forecast for at least one of the plurality of parts;

means for identifying a group from the plurality of parts having similar characteristics; and

means for accessing the database to create a second demand forecast for the group.

21. The computer assisted system of claim 20, further comprising means for cleansing the information contained in the database.

22. The computer assisted system of claim 20, further comprising means for utilizing future shop visit data.

23. The computer assisted system of claim 20, further comprising means for allowing human intervention.

24. The computer assisted system of claim 20, further comprising means for providing at least one of the forecasts to at least one vendor.

25. A method of forecasting demand, comprising the steps of:

providing a database containing information regarding a plurality of parts, at least two of the parts having a common attribute;

accessing the database to create a first demand forecast for at least one of the plurality of parts;

accessing the database to create a second demand forecast for the parts having the common attribute.

26. A method of forecasting demand, comprising the steps of:

providing a database containing information regarding a plurality of parts;

accessing the database to create a first demand forecast at a part number level; and

accessing the database to create a second demand forecast at a part family level.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the parts comprise aerospace parts.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the parts comprise gas turbine engine parts.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the database contains historical information of services performed on gas turbine engines and scheduled information of services to be performed on gas turbine engines.