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NON-INSTRUMENTED PERISHABLE PRODUCT TRACKING IN A SUPPLY CHAIN

  • US 20120303492A1
  • Filed: 05/27/2011
  • Published: 11/29/2012
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2011
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for tracking an inventory distribution of a perishable product in a supply chain, the method comprising:

  • receiving shipment data and point of sale data for the perishable product from every location in the supply chain;

    automatically creating, based on the obtained shipment data and the point of sale data, a network graph that represents a flow of the perishable product in the supply chain, the graph including a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality of arcs, a node in the graph representing a location in the supply chain, an arc representing a shipment of the perishable product from a node to another node, the arc including information of;

    a movement date of the perishable product and quantity of the perishable product moved;

    automatically identifying an age of unsold inventory of the perishable product at each node of the plurality of nodes of the graph based on one or more of;

    the arc information in the created network graph, a manufacture date of the unsold inventory of the perishable product, and a date for which the unsold inventory of the perishable product entered into the supply chain;

    comparing, at each node of the plurality of nodes of the created network graph, the identified age of the unsold inventory of the perishable product against a threshold;

    automatically providing a notification to a user at each location represented by a node of the created network graph, the provided notification including;

    the identified age of the unsold inventory of the perishable product at the location associated with the user, a recommended action to the user, and a percentage of the unsold inventory of the perishable product whose identified age is larger than the threshold at the location associated with the user.wherein a processor coupled to a memory device is configured to perform;

    the steps of the receiving, the automatically creating, the automatically identifying, the comparing, and the automatically providing.

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