Computer-implemented method for managing commodity consumption within an industrial production facility

• US 20110251938A1
• Filed: 12/16/2010
• Published: 10/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Air Liquide Large Industries U S LP (L'Air Liquide SA)
• Original Assignee: Air Liquide Large Industries U S LP (L'Air Liquide SA)
• Inventors: Harper, Charles Neely, Margonis, Elias
• Granted Patent: US 9,202,198 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for managing certain aspects of a large industrial operation (such as a pipeline). A commodity materials invoice system may allow a user to model a commodity invoice as a template and subsequently use that template to model commodity usage for different periods of time. Costs for a given billing period may be estimated based on actual commodity consumption. For example, data from a SCADA system monitoring different aspects of a pipeline may be used to estimate invoice costs for retail commodity consumption. The commodity materials invoice system may be configured to present both estimated and actualized invoice data side-by-side, allowing users to make a direct comparison of the estimated and actualized invoice data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing commodity consumption within an industrial production facility, comprising:

receiving a definition of a billing template for each of a plurality of commodity suppliers, wherein each commodity supplier provides a commodity material consumed by the industrial production facility, and wherein the billing templates each specify a set of line-items modeling an invoice received from a respective one of the commodity suppliers;

receiving a request to view an invoice, for a specified billing period, for a selected one of the commodity suppliers;

generating a view of the requested invoice, wherein the view includes a first display area for rendering one or more of the set of line items as estimated invoice data and a second display area for rendering one or more of the set of line items as actualized invoice data; and

displaying, in response to the request to view the invoice, the generated view, including the first display area and the second display area.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, populating at least one of the set of line items in the first display area with an estimate of commodity consumption for the billing period.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the estimate of commodity consumption is obtained from a SCADA system configured to monitor commodity consumption within the industrial production facility.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the estimate of commodity consumption is obtained in response to user input specifying a value for the at least one line item.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, populating at least one of the set of line items in the second display area with an actualized value of commodity consumption for the billing period.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, storing, with the requested invoice, an electronic copy of an actual invoice received form the selected commodity supplier, for the billing period.

7. The method of claim 1, storing the view of the requested invoice in a database, wherein the database is accessed by at least one of an accounting system, a billing system, and an optimizing system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the industrial production facility includes one or more air separation units used to generate product delivered through a pipeline.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the commodity material is electrical power.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a retail commodity manger, which when executed on a processor is configured to perform an operation for managing commodity consumption within an industrial production facility, the operation comprising:

receiving a definition of a billing template for each of a plurality of commodity suppliers, wherein each commodity supplier provides a commodity material consumed by the industrial production facility, and wherein the billing templates each specify a set of line-items modeling an invoice received from a respective one of the commodity suppliers;

receiving a request to view an invoice, for a specified billing period, for a selected one of the commodity suppliers;

generating a view of the requested invoice, wherein the view includes a first display area for rendering one or more of the set of line items as estimated invoice data and a second display area for rendering one or more of the set of line items as actualized invoice data; and

displaying, in response to the request to view the invoice, the generated view, including the first display area and the second display area.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operation further comprises, populating at least one of the set of line items in the first display area with an estimate of commodity consumption for the billing period.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the estimate of commodity consumption is obtained from a SCADA system configured to monitor commodity consumption within the industrial production facility.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the estimate of commodity consumption is obtained in response to user input specifying a value for the at least one line item.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operation further comprises, populating at least one of the set of line items in the second display area with an actualized value of commodity consumption for the billing period.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the operation further comprises, storing, with the requested invoice, an electronic copy of an actual invoice received form the selected commodity supplier, for the billing period.

16. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing a retail commodity manger, which when executed on the processor performs an operation for managing commodity consumption within an industrial production facility, the operation comprising;

identifying one or more volumetric accumulation splits for a process flow receiving a definition of a billing template for each of a plurality of commodity suppliers, wherein each commodity supplier provides a commodity material consumed by the industrial production facility, and wherein the billing templates each specify a set of line-items modeling an invoice received from a respective one of the commodity suppliers,

receiving a request to view an invoice, for a specified billing period, for a selected one of the commodity suppliers,

generating a view of the requested invoice, wherein the view includes a first display area for rendering one or more of the set of line items as estimated invoice data and a second display area for rendering one or more of the set of line items as actualized invoice data, and

displaying, in response to the request to view the invoice, the generated view, including the first display area and the second display area.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the operation further comprises, populating at least one of the set of line items in the first display area with an estimate of commodity consumption for the billing period.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the estimate of commodity consumption is obtained from a SCADA system configured to monitor commodity consumption within the industrial production facility.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the estimate of commodity consumption is obtained in response to user input specifying a value for the at least one line item.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the operation further comprises, populating at least one of the set of line items in the second display area with an actualized value of commodity consumption for the billing period.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the operation further comprises, storing, with the requested invoice, an electronic copy of an actual invoice received form the selected commodity supplier, for the billing period.