SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT USING MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20120005105A1
• Filed: 06/30/2010
• Published: 01/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhagwan, Varun, Ormont, Justin, Beier, Steve, Funk, James, Kaufmann, Arthur F., Khatchatrian, Suzanna, Liu, Timothy T., Underwood, Heather M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,715,666 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/303
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/01 Customer relationship services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/014 Providing recall services for goods or products
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A method for supply chain management using mobile devices with a server on an electronic data network includes receiving identifying information for a product transmitted from a mobile device via the network, the server being periodically updated with product recall data. The server queries a traceability server via the network for master data and event data related to the product using the identifying information. The server processes the recall data, master data, and event data to produce product data which is output to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for supply chain management using mobile devices comprising:

receiving information by a server from a mobile device via an electronic data network, the information identifying a product;

querying a traceability server via the network for master data and event data related to the product using the identifying information;

processing the recall data, master data, and event data to produce product data; and

outputting the product data to the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the identifying information for a product comprises:

a color barcode image acquired using a color camera on the mobile device, in which the weighting of at least one color channel of the barcode is reduced to reduce noise in the color barcode image.

3. The method of claim 1, in which the server is a web server, the web server using cron jobs to periodically update recall data issued by oversight organizations.

4. The method of claim 3, in which the cron jobs are configured to access FDA and USDA databases to retrieve textual recall information, the textual recall information being parsed to extract recall data which is recall data being stored in the external server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the identifying information to the recall data; and

if the identifying information matches the recall data, outputting a recall notification to the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, in which the identifying information is a serialized number which uniquely identifies an individual end user product.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a history of user purchases on the mobile device, the history of user purchases being used to provide a budget and diet analysis.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording a location at which the identifying information is acquired by the mobile device and comparing this location with shipping and location records in the master data and event data to determine if the product is in an expected location.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing social networking data to give relevance and context to the product data displayed on the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 1, in which the product data identifies mislabeled products.

11. The method of claim 1, in which the product data identifies expired products.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the master data and event data to determine if the product is properly labeled “

organic” and

assigning the product an organic score.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the master data and event data to assign the product an environmental score.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving shipment information listing the product as part of a shipment;

receiving scanned information from the product;

reconciling the received products with the shipment information; and

reporting any shortages and irregularities in the shipment.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

customizing filters for screening product data; and

filtering the product data using the filters so that the product data is displayed on the mobile device according to user preferences.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing and displaying a chain of custody of the product to verify authenticity of the product.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing a barcode database to determine if the identifying information is valid and properly associated with the product.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a price index for the product, the price index comparing the price of the product to other comparable products available to the user.

19. A system for supply chain management using mobile devices comprising:

a server configured to receive product identifying information from a mobile device and run cron jobs to periodically retrieve recall information from oversight agencies;

an electronic data network configured to connect a mobile device to the server; and

a traceability server containing product records which comprise master data and event data for a product;

in which the server receives product identifying information from the mobile device and retrieves master data and event data from the traceability server and outputs the recall information, master data and event data for the product to the mobile device.

20. A computer program product for supply chain management using mobile devices, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to receive product identifying information transmitted from a mobile device via a network;

computer readable program code configured to update a database with product recall data;

computer readable program code configured to query a traceability server for master data and event data related to a product using the product identifying information;

computer readable program code configured to process the recall data, master data, and event data to produce product data; and

computer readable program code configured to output at least a portion of the product data on the mobile device.