ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN FOR PHYSICAL INVENTORY APPLICATION SOFTWARE
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising application software encoded on a tangible machine-readable information carrier, the application software being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the software comprising:
- a plurality of process components, each of the process components being a package of software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the plurality of process components including;
an inventory processing process component that manages inventory and the recording of inventory changes;
a physical inventory processing process component that manages a process for preparing and executing a physical inventory count, from the preparation, through the actual counting and gathering of count results, to the approval of those results;
a supply and demand matching process component that combines the tasks for ensuring that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account for ad-hoc goods movement and for inventory reconciliation; and
an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and
a plurality of service operations, each service operation being implemented for a respective process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the passing of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;
the inventory processing process component and the accounting process component;
the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component;
the physical inventory processing process component and the inventory processing process component; and
the physical inventory processing process component and the physical inventory processing component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing physical inventory. The application is structured as process components such as Accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; a Financial Accounting Master Data Management process component that manages financial accounting master data that is used both for accounting and costing purposes; a Physical Inventory Processing process component that manages a process for preparing and executing a physical inventory count, from the preparation, through the actual counting and gathering of count results, to the approval of those results; an Inventory Processing process component that manages inventory and the recording of inventory changes; and a Supply and Demand Matching process component that combines the tasks for ensuring that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising application software encoded on a tangible machine-readable information carrier, the application software being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the software comprising:
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a plurality of process components, each of the process components being a package of software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the plurality of process components including; an inventory processing process component that manages inventory and the recording of inventory changes; a physical inventory processing process component that manages a process for preparing and executing a physical inventory count, from the preparation, through the actual counting and gathering of count results, to the approval of those results; a supply and demand matching process component that combines the tasks for ensuring that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account for ad-hoc goods movement and for inventory reconciliation; and an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and a plurality of service operations, each service operation being implemented for a respective process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the passing of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between; the inventory processing process component and the accounting process component; the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component; the physical inventory processing process component and the inventory processing process component; and the physical inventory processing process component and the physical inventory processing component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system, comprising:
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a computer system comprising one or more hardware platforms for executing a computer software application; a plurality of process components, each of the process components being a package of software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the plurality of process components including; an inventory processing process component that manages inventory and the recording of inventory changes; a physical inventory processing process component that manages a process for preparing and executing a physical inventory count, from the preparation, through the actual counting and gathering of count results, to the approval of those results; a supply and demand matching process component that combines the tasks for ensuring that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account for ad-hoc goods movement and for inventory reconciliation; and an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and a plurality of service operations, each service operation being implemented for a respective process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the passing of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between; the inventory processing process component and the accounting process component; the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component; the physical inventory processing process component and the inventory processing process component; and the physical inventory processing process component and the physical inventory processing component. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for developing a computer software application, comprising:
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obtaining in a computer system digital data representing an architectural design for a set of processes implementing an end-to-end application process, the design specifying a process component for each process in the set of processes, the design specifying further specifying a set of process component interactions, wherein; the specified process components include; an inventory processing process component that manages inventory and the recording of inventory changes; a physical inventory processing process component that manages a process for preparing and executing a physical inventory count, from the preparation, through the actual counting and gathering of count results, to the approval of those results; a supply and demand matching process component that combines the tasks for ensuring that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account for ad-hoc goods movement and for inventory reconciliation; and an accounting process component that records relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis; and the process component interactions include interactions between; the inventory processing process component and the accounting process component; the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component; the physical inventory processing process component and the physical inventory processing component; and the physical inventory processing process component and the inventory processing process component; and using the design including the specified process components and the specified process component interactions to develop a computer software application to perform the set of processes. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification