System and Method for Managing a Plurality of Tires

• US 20110153459A1
• Filed: 11/15/2010
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tire Centers LLC (Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin SCA)
• Original Assignee: Tire Centers LLC (Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin SCA)
• Inventors: Stokes, Christopher Michael, Kirian, Nathan J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,112,318 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.82
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0637 Approvals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/04 Manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/30 Computing systems specially adapted for manufacturing

Abstract

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided for managing a plurality of tires from their procurement through their disposal. An embodiment may include a method for determining all the costs of a tire over its total service life including procurement costs, repair costs, retread costs and disposal costs. An embodiment may include managing an inventory by automatically replenishing the inventory by following a set of stored inventory management rules. An embodiment may include helping to ensure that an impermissible tire is not mounted on a vehicle. A stored set of tire mounting rules automatically check the tire being mounted against requirements for the tire set by the rules, the requirements set as to by vehicle type and wheel position.

Claims

1. A method in a distributed data processing system for managing each of a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal, the method comprising:

creating a plurality of individual tire records, wherein one each of the plurality of individual tire records is associated with one each of the plurality of tires;

storing a procurement notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire being procured, the procurement notification comprising a tire size, a tire make, a tire series and a unique tire identifier, wherein the unique tire identifier provides a unit of identification for the tire;

storing a mount notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire being mounted on a vehicle, the mount notification comprising the unique tire identifier, a unique vehicle identifier that provides a unit identification for the vehicle, a mounting position on the vehicle and a vehicle service indicator, wherein the vehicle service indicator is based upon a reading from at least one of an odometer or an hour meter;

storing a dismount notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire being dismounted from the vehicle, the dismount notification comprising the unique tire identifier, the unique vehicle identifier and the vehicle service indicator;

storing a repair notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire being repaired, the repair notification comprising the unique tire identifier and a description of a tire repair;

storing a retread notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire being retreaded, the retread notification comprising the unique tire identifier and a description of a tire retread; and

storing a tire disposal notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire being scrapped, the tire disposal notification comprising the unique tire identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the procurement notification further comprises a tire procurement cost, the repair notification further comprises a cost of the tire repair and the retread notification further comprises a cost of the retread operation, the method further comprising:

determining a total service cost for the tire, wherein the total service cost comprises a sum of the procurement cost, the repair cost, and the retread cost stored in the associated individual tire record of the tire.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a service segment for each of the tires is a period between the mount notification and the dismount notification stored in the associated individual tire record.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the procurement notification further comprises a tire condition selected from new, used, retreaded, wheel-mounted and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein if the selected tire condition includes wheel-mounted, the procurement notification further comprises a unique wheel identifier, wherein the unique wheel identifier provides a unit identification for the wheel upon which the tire is mounted.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

creating an individual wheel record for the wheel upon which the tire is mounted, the wheel record comprising the unique wheel identifier, a wheel type, a wheel size and a wheel condition.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the wheel condition is selected from age, a purchase date, a scrap date, a number of times the wheel has been refurbished and combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating an individual vehicle record for the vehicle, wherein the individual vehicle record is associated with the unique vehicle identifier for the vehicle; and

storing vehicle information in the individual vehicle record, the vehicle information comprising each mounting location on the vehicle, wherein each mounting location is defined by an axle and a wheel position on the axle.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an authorization for a tire purchase of one or more tires, the authorization comprising a customer identification and a tire description, wherein the tire description comprises a tire size, a tire make, a tire series and a tire condition for each of the one or more tires and wherein the tire condition is selected from new, used, retreaded, repaired, wheel-mounted and combinations thereof; and

providing a delivery instruction for the one or more tires, the delivery instruction comprising a shipping address and the unique tire identifier for each of the one or more tires.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

invoicing the customer for the tire purchase.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an inventory change notification for the one or more tires, wherein the inventory change notification comprises the unique tire identifier for each of the one or more tires and a notice that the one or more tires entered an available tire inventory; and

storing the inventory change notification for the one or more tires in the associated individual tire records.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a set of tire inventory management rules, wherein the set comprises instructions for automatically replenishing an available tire inventory if certain criteria are met;

determining whether the certain criteria are met;

determining from the set of tire inventory management rules whether an authorization is provided to automatically procure a replenishment tire if the certain criteria are met; and

if the authorization is provided, automatically procuring the replenishment tire.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing a delivery instruction for the replenishment tires, the delivery instruction comprising a shipping address and a unique tire identifier for the replenishment tire.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining if the set of tire inventory management rules identifies an equivalent tire group, the equivalent tire group comprising characterizations of equivalent tires, the characterizations selected from a tire size, a tire make, a tire series, a tire condition and combinations thereof;

determining if the replenishment tire is a member of the equivalent tire group; and

if the replenishment tire is a member of the equivalent tire group, then the step of automatically procuring the replenishment tire further comprises automatically procuring the replenishment tire with a tire selected from the equivalent tire group.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

if the authorization is not provided, sending a request for authorization to procure the replenishment tire, wherein the request for authorization comprises a description of the replenishment tire, the description selected from a tire size, a tire make, a tire series, a tire condition or combinations thereof; and

if the replenishment tire is a member of the equivalent tire group, then the request further comprises a description of an equivalent tire selected from the equivalent tire group, the description selected from a tire size, a tire make, a tire series, a tire condition or combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the certain criteria is a predetermined minimum total available tire inventory level, the method further comprises:

storing a location notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire entering an available tire inventory, the location notification comprising the unique tire identifier and a tire location, the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

searching the plurality of individual tire records for a location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

determining a total number of found individual tire records, wherein the found individual tire records comprise the location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

determining if the total number of found individual tire records is less than the predetermined minimum total available tire inventory level;

determining from the set of inventory management rules a predetermined full available tire inventory level; and

automatically procuring the replenishment tires in an amount that brings the available tire inventory to the predetermined full level.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the certain criteria is a predetermined minimum inventory of specifically characterized tires in the available tire inventory, the method further comprising:

storing a location notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire entering an available tire inventory, the location notification comprising the unique tire identifier and a tire location, the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

determining from the set of tire inventory management rules a specific set of tire characterizations for which the minimum inventory is be maintained, wherein the specific characterizations are selected from a tire size, a tire make, a tire series, a tire condition and combinations thereof;

searching the plurality of individual tire records for those that include the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory and the specific set of tire characterizations;

determining a total number of found individual tire records, wherein the found individual tire records include the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory and the specific set of tire characterizations;

determining if the total number of found individual tire records is less than the predetermined minimum inventory of the specifically characterized tires in the available tire inventory;

determining from the set of inventory management rules a predetermined full inventory level for the specifically characterized tires; and

automatically procuring the replenishment tires in an amount that brings the available tire inventory of the specifically characterized tires to the predetermined full level.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the certain criteria is replenishment on a one-for-one basis for each tire removed from the available tire inventory, the method further comprises:

storing a location notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire entering an available tire inventory, the location notification comprising the unique tire identifier and a tire location, the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

receiving a location notification for a tire, wherein the location notification comprises the unique tire identifier, the tire size, the tire make, the tire series and one or more tire conditions and further comprises a location record indicating that the tire has been removed from the available tire inventory; and

determining from the tire inventory management rules that for each tire removed from the available tire inventory, authorization is provided to automatically procure a replenishment tire of the same tire size, tire make, tire series and one or more tire conditions as the tire removed from the available tire inventory.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of automatically procuring the replenishment tires comprises:

providing a delivery instruction for the replenishment tire, the delivery instruction comprising a shipping address and a unique tire identifier for the replenishment tire;

invoicing the customer for the tire purchase;

receiving a location notification for the replenishment tire, wherein the location notification comprises the unique tire identifier and a tire location, the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory; and

storing the location notification in the associated individual tire record.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a location notification for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record upon the tire entering an available tire inventory, the location notification comprising the unique tire identifier and a tire location, the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

searching the plurality of individual tire records for a location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory;

recording the unique tire identifier from each of the found individual tire records, the found individual tire records having the location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory, wherein the unique tire identifier from each of the found individual tire records identifies each found tire in the available tire inventory; and

providing a description of each found tire, wherein the description comprises the tire size, the tire make, the tire series and one or more tire conditions as stored in the found associated individual tire records.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

generating a list of the found tires, the list comprising the tire size, the tire make, the tire series and the one or more tire conditions for each of the found tires;

sorting the list into groups of found tires, wherein the sorting is by tire size, tire make, tire series, one or more tire conditions or combinations thereof; and

determining a number of found tires in each of the one or more groups.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

storing a set of tire inventory management rules, wherein the set comprises instructions for automatically replenishing an available tire inventory when the number of found tires is less than a predetermined number;

determining from the set of inventory management rules whether authorization is provided to automatically procure replenishment tires when the number of found tires is less than a predetermined number; and

automatically procuring the replenishment tires.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing one or more tire conditions for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record, the tire conditions selected from new, used, retreaded, regrooved, repaired, a casing age, a number of times the tire has been retreaded, a number of nail hole repairs, a number of section repairs, a number of bead repairs, a number of inner liner repairs, a number of spot repairs, a tread depth, wheel-mounted and combinations thereof.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a tire location record for each of the tires in the associated individual tire record, wherein the tire location record comprises a location of the tire.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the location of the tire is selected from an available tire inventory, a repair shop, a retread shop or the mount position on the vehicle.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a set of tire mounting rules, wherein the set identifies a permissible tire criteria for each mounting location of a given vehicle, wherein the permissible tire criteria comprise a permissible tire size, a permissible tire make, a permissible tire series and a permissible tire condition;

retrieving data from the individual tire record associated with the unique tire identifier for the tire being mounted on the vehicle, the mount notification providing the unique tire identifier of the tire, the unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle and the mounting position, the retrieved data comprising a tire size, a tire make, a tire series and a tire condition; and

comparing the permissible tire criteria for the mounting position of the vehicle with the retrieved data.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the set of permissible tire conditions are selected from a maximum casing age, a maximum number of retread operations, a maximum number of nail hole repairs, a maximum number of section repairs, a maximum number of bead repairs, a maximum number of inner liner repairs, a maximum number of spot repairs, a minimum tread depth and combinations thereof.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

sending a notice of permission to mount the tire if the retrieved data is in compliance with the permissible tire criteria.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

sending a notice of non-compliance if the retrieved data is not in compliance with the permissible tire criteria.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

searching the plurality of individual tire records for those that include a tire location record indicating that the tire is located in an available tire inventory and the permissible tire criteria for the mounting position of the vehicle;

identifying as found tires those having individual tire records that include the tire location record indicating that the tire is located in the available tire inventory and having the permissible tire criteria for the mounting position of the vehicle; and

including in the notice of non-compliance a list of the found tires, the list comprising the unique tire identifier of each of the found tires.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

storing the set of tire mounting rules, wherein the set further identifies a permissible wheel criteria for each mounting location of a given vehicle, wherein the permissible wheel criteria comprise a permissible type, a permissible size and a permissible condition;

retrieving data from the individual tire record associated with the unique tire identifier for the tire being mounted on the vehicle, the retrieved data further comprising a unique wheel identifier upon which the tire is mounted;

retrieving data from an individual wheel record associated with the unique wheel identifier, the retrieved data comprising the wheel type, a wheel size and a wheel condition; and

comparing the permissible wheel criteria for the mounting position of the vehicle with the retrieved wheel data.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the permissible wheel condition is selected from a maximum wheel age, a maximum number of refurbishments, a minimum thickness of the wheel-mounting hub and combinations thereof.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

sending a notice of permission to mount the tire if the retrieved tire data is in compliance with the permissible tire criteria and the retrieved wheel data is in compliance with the permissible wheel criteria.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique tire identifier is permanently affixed to the tire.

38. A distributed data processing system for managing each of a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal, the data processing system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory contains instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising;

the method of claim 1.

39. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

the method of claim 1.

35. A method in a data processing system for managing each of a plurality of tires from procurement through disposal, the method comprising:

recording a unique tire identifier for each of the plurality of tires, wherein the unique tire identifier provides a singular unit identification for each of the plurality of tires;

maintaining an individual tire record for each of the tires, wherein the individual tire record comprises the unique tire identifier, a tire description record, a tire location record and a tire usage record;

maintaining a set of tire mounting rules for a vehicle type, the vehicle mounting rules providing permissible tire criteria for each mounting position for the vehicle type, wherein the permissible tire criteria comprises a permissible tire size, a permissible tire make, a permissible tire series and a permissible set of tire conditions;

receiving a mount notification for one of the tires, the mount notification comprising the unique tire identifier for the tire being mounted on a vehicle, a unique vehicle identifier for the vehicle and a mounting position on the vehicle, the mounting position defined by an axle and a wheel location on the axle;

retrieving the tire size, the tire make, the tire series and a set of tire mounting conditions from the individual tire record associated with the unique tire indicator of the tire being mounted;

retrieving the vehicle type from an individual vehicle record associated with the unique vehicle identifier;

retrieving the tire mounting rules for the vehicle type associated with the unique vehicle identifier;

determining if the retrieved tire size, the tire make, the tire series and a set of tire mounting conditions from the individual tire record comply with the retrieved mounting rules;

sending a notice of permission if the retrieved tire size, the tire make, the tire series and a set of tire mounting conditions from the individual tire record comply with the retrieved mounting rules.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the individual tire record further comprises a tire cost record.

37. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

maintaining a set of customer instructions for automatically filling an available tire inventory with replenishment tires if the available tire inventory falls below a predetermined number of available tires;

searching the individual tire records for tires located in the available tire inventory;

comparing a number of tires located in the available tire inventory with the predetermined number of available tires;

providing a delivery instruction for the replenishment tires, the delivery instruction comprising a shipping address and a unique tire identifier for each of the replenishment tires.