SUPPLIER BUILD STATUS VISIBILITY TOOL

• US 20090319952A1
• Filed: 06/18/2008
• Published: 12/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Riegel, Christopher G.
• Application Number:
  US12/141,296
• Publication Number:
  US 20090319952A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/841
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

Embodiments of techniques for providing a supplier build status visibility tool are disclosed. In one embodiment, a technique for providing a supplier build status visibility manager includes receiving build data from a supplier, where the build data includes a supplier element having a task and a task date. The build data may be associated with a project hierarchy tree of a plurality of elements organized under one or more projects to create project hierarchy build data. A preliminary supplier report may be generated for the supplier element in the project hierarchy build data and transmitted to the supplier for review during a quarantine period. Finally, a supplier build status visibility manager may be updated with the project hierarchy build data upon termination of the quarantine period.

Claims

1. A method of providing supplier build status visibility, the method comprising:

receiving build data from a supplier including a supplier element;

associating the build data to a project hierarchy tree of a plurality of elements organized under one or more projects to create project hierarchy build data;

generating a preliminary supplier report for the supplier element in the project hierarchy build data;

transmitting the preliminary supplier report to the supplier for review during a quarantine period; and

updating a supplier build status visibility manager with the project hierarchy build data upon termination of the quarantine period.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising validating the project hierarchy build data before updating the supplier build status visibility manager by receiving updated build data from the supplier in response to the preliminary supplier report.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the termination of the quarantine period includes at least one of an approval by the supplier and an expiration of a review period.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a historical analysis from the project hierarchy build data based on a task and a task date of the supplier element.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising reallocating the supplier element from a first project to a second project based on a project priority.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reallocating the supplier element from the first project to the second project is automatic based on a prioritization.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an alert associated with the supplier element that is delayed, the alert being coded to provide a visual cue to a user.

8. One or more computer readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform acts comprising:

receiving supplier build data including tasks and task dates for an element;

combining the supplier build data with a project hierarchy tree to create a project hierarchy build data for the element of a project;

identifying the element of the project that is delayed as a delayed element; and

conducting at least one of;

generating a historical analysis of the delayed element that is delayed, and

reallocating the delayed element to a lower priority project.

9. The one or more computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the identifying the delayed element includes identifying a task that has not been completed by a predetermined deadline.

10. The one or more computer readable media of claim 9, wherein the predetermined deadline includes a scheduled start deadline and a scheduled completion deadline.

11. The one or more computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the reallocating the delayed element to the lower priority project includes referencing a prioritization schedule for the project.

12. The one or more computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the receiving supplier build data includes receiving the supplier build data in a predetermined standardized format for compilation by a project server.

13. The one or more computer readable media of claim 8, further comprising generating a preliminary supplier report from the project hierarchy build data from a supplier, the preliminary supplier report being reviewable by the supplier during a quarantine period, and the project hierarchy build data from the supplier being confidential until the termination of the quarantine period.

14. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein the quarantine period terminates with at least one of the acceptance of the supplier report or the expiration of a review period.

15. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein the supplier report is modifiable by the supplier to update the project hierarchy build data.

16. A user interface to provide visibility to supplier build data, the user interface comprising:

a build status visibility portion including;

a project hierarchy tree section having elements hierarchically arranged by a project, the elements being navigable by a user, and

an element production section to display tasks of an element selected in the project hierarchy tree section, the element production section including task unit fields populated with data received from a supplier; and

a supplier portion including a quarantine section to display preliminary supplier data to a supplier during a quarantine period.

17. The user interface of claim 16, wherein the display of tasks includes tasks which are tracked during an operation of the element.

18. The user interface of claim 16, wherein the build status visibility portion further includes a historical analysis section to provide historical data for information selected in the element production section.

19. The user interface of claim 16, wherein the project hierarchy tree section enables a user to drill up or drill down through the elements associated with a plurality of projects.

20. The user interface of claim 16, wherein the task unit fields include a start date and an end date.

21. A supplier build status visibility system, comprising:

a receiver module to receive build data from a supplier including a supplier element;

a hierarchy module to associate the build data to a project hierarchy tree of a plurality of elements organized under one or more projects to create project hierarchy build data;

a preliminary report module to generate a preliminary supplier report for the supplier element in the project hierarchy build data;

a transmitting module to transmit the preliminary supplier report to the supplier for review during a quarantine period; and

an update module to update the project hierarchy build data upon termination of the quarantine period.