GEOSPATIALLY RELEVANT SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION THROUGH A NETWORKED MOBILE DEVICE THAT LEVERAGES A DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT

• US 20150120367A1
• Filed: 10/29/2013
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Steelwedge Software Incorporated (E2open Parent Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Steelwedge Software Incorporated (E2open Parent Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Agrawal, Chandra P., Margolis, Glen William
• Application Number:
  US14/065,444
• Publication Number:
  US 20150120367A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and systems of geospatially relevant supply chain optimization through a networked mobile device that leverages a distributed computing environment. In one embodiment, a method of a mobile includes accessing an inventory database remotely stored in a distributed computing environment through a network in which the mobile device operates based on a present geospatial location of the mobile device, automatically submitting a query to the inventory database from the mobile device requesting a stock keeping unit information, an inventory count information, an inventory type information, and/or a min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device using a processor and/or a memory of the mobile device, analyzing a response to the query through a massively parallel computing system accessed by the mobile device through the network, and presenting to a user of the mobile device an expected value of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information, the inventory type information, and the min/max level of an item based on the analysis.

Claims

1. A method of a mobile device, comprising:

accessing an inventory database remotely stored in a distributed computing environment through a network in which the mobile device operates based on a present geospatial location of the mobile device;

automatically submitting a query to the inventory database from the mobile device requesting at least one of a stock keeping unit information, an inventory count information, an inventory type information, and a min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device using a processor and a memory of the mobile device, wherein the present geospatial vicinity is based on the present geospatial location of the mobile device, the angle, and directional compass of the mobile device;

analyzing a response to the query through a massively parallel computing system accessed by the mobile device through the network; and

presenting to a user of the mobile device an expected value of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information, the inventory type information, and the min/max level of an item in the present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device based on the analysis.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a geospatial location of the mobile device; and

communicating the geospatial location to the massively parallel computing system when submitting the query to the inventory database from the mobile device requesting at least one of a stock keeping unit information, an inventory count information, the inventory type information, and a min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

populating the inventory database through the mobile device when the user updates at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the method is a machine-implemented method of advanced planning and forecasting of at least one of a computer supply chain, an electronics supply chain, a chemical industry supply chain, an automotive supply chain, and a retail distribution supply chain through massively parallel processing of data using the distributed computing environment.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

aggregating an advanced planning and forecasting raw data by one or more database management systems (DBMS) communicatively coupled to an extensible computation engine;

performing an advanced planning simulation, by one or more processing nodes of the extensible computation engine, using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

caching a result of the advanced planning simulation in an extensible memory cache communicatively coupled to the extensible computation engine; and

edge caching the result of the advanced planning simulation in an edge cache server near a geographical point of origin of the advanced planning and forecasting raw data,

wherein the advanced planning and forecasting raw data is a historical or forward-looking data input from at least one of an enterprise resource planning (ERP)

displaying the result of the advanced planning simulation cached in the edge cache server through a plug-in interface of an off-the-shelf spreadsheet program operating through the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying the result of the advanced planning simulation cached in the edge cache server through a web based spreadsheet program operating through the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the edge caching of the result of the advanced planning simulation is accelerated by a toll route of data transmission.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

collecting the advanced planning and forecasting raw data by the one or more storage devices of the extensible computation engine and the one or more DBMS and storing the advanced planning and forecasting raw data in a columnar database table distributed across;

one or more memory storage devices of the extensible computation engine, the one or more DBMS, or the extensible memory cache.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the advanced planning simulation comprises:

modeling a historical or forward-looking profitability of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

modeling a demand and supply plan of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

modeling a capacity constraint of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

modeling a new product introduction by the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data; and

extrapolating at least one of a weekly, a multi-week, a monthly, a multi-month, a yearly, and a multi-year financial forecast of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the advanced planning simulation further comprises balancing a demand criteria, a supply criteria, and a finance criteria of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the advanced planning simulation further comprises:

modeling a what-if scenario at a demand forecasting stage and a supply forecasting stage of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data; and

modeling a financial scenario at a demand forecasting stage and a supply forecasting stage of the business enterprise using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data.

4. The method of claim 4 wherein a user utilizes an audio recording capability of the mobile device to append an audio note to the updates at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the user accesses and plays the audio note from a notes library remotely stored in a notes library automatically associated with at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

authenticating the user of at least one of the inventory database, the massively parallel computing system, and the notes library through a biometric identification module that compares at least one of a visual image, an auditory sample, a haptic gesture, a fingerprint, a password, and an iris scan of the user captured with the mobile device with an authentication database prior to granting the user access to the at least one of the inventory database, the massively parallel computing system, and the notes library.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising

determining an access level of the user using the authentication database;

and

granting the user access to a portion of the database based on the access level.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

capturing a visual image of a location of a plurality of the item through them mobile device;

storing the visual image of the location of the plurality of the item in the visual database; and

automatically estimating a count of the item when an inventory estimation algorithm is applied to the visual image based on the inventory type information.

17. A system of advanced planning and forecasting through massively parallel processing of data using a distributed computing environment, comprising:

one or more database management systems (DBMS) to aggregate an advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

an extensible computation engine communicatively coupled to the one or more DBMS;

one or more processing nodes of the extensible computation engine to perform an advanced planning simulation using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

an extensible memory cache, communicatively coupled to the extensible computation engine, to cache a result of the advanced planning simulation;

an edge cache server near a geographical point of origin of the advanced planning and forecasting raw data to edge cache the result of the advanced planning simulation,

wherein the advanced planning and forecasting raw data is a historical or forward-looking data input from at least one of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) program, a customer relationship management (CRM) program, a supplier relationship management (SRM) program, a material resource planning (MRP) program, a stock-keeping unit (SKU) database, and a user client device;

a mobile device having a present geospatial location;

to automatically submit a query to an inventory database of the DBMS that is communicatively coupled with the mobile device through the extensible computing engine that requests at least one of a stock keeping unit information, an inventory count information, an inventory type information, and a min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device using a processor and a memory of the mobile device, wherein the present geospatial vicinity is based on the present geospatial location of the mobile device, the angle, and directional compass of the mobile device,

to analyze a response to the query through a massively parallel computing system accessed by the mobile device through the network, and

to present to a user of the mobile device an expected value of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information, the inventory type information, and the min/max level of an item in the present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device based on the analysis.

18. The system of claim 17,

wherein the result of the advanced planning simulation cached in the edge cache server is displayed through a plug-in interface of an off-the-shelf spreadsheet program operating on the mobile device,

wherein a user utilizes an audio recording capability of the mobile device to append an audio note to the updates at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device, and

wherein the user accesses and plays the audio note from a notes library remotely stored in a notes library of the DBMS that is communicatively coupled with the mobile device through the extensible computing engine automatically associated with at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device.

20. The non-transitory medium of claim 17, further comprising:

instructions to display the result of the advanced planning simulation cached in the edge cache server through a plug-in interface of an off-the-shelf spreadsheet program operating on the mobile device,

wherein a user utilizes an audio recording capability of the mobile device to append an audio note to the updates at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device, and

wherein the user accesses and plays the audio note from a notes library remotely stored in a notes library of the DBMS that is communicatively coupled with the mobile device through the extensible computing engine automatically associated with at least one of the stock keeping unit information, the inventory count information, the inventory type information and the min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device.

19. A non-transitory medium, readable through one or more processing nodes of an extensible computation engine and including instructions embodied therein that are executable through the one or more processing nodes, comprising:

instructions to aggregate an advanced planning and forecasting raw data by one or more database management systems (DBMS) communicatively coupled to the extensible computation engine;

instructions to perform an advanced planning simulation, by the one or more processing nodes of the extensible computation engine, using the advanced planning and forecasting raw data;

instructions to cache a result of the advanced planning simulation in an extensible memory cache communicatively coupled to the extensible computation engine; and

instructions to edge cache the result of the advanced planning simulation in an edge cache server near a geographical point of origin of the advanced planning and forecasting raw data,

wherein the advanced planning and forecasting raw data is a historical or forward-looking data input from at least one of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) program, a customer relationship management (CRM) program, a supplier relationship management (SRM) program, a material resource planning (MRP) program, a stock-keeping unit (SKU) database, and a user client device; and

instructions to automatically respond to a query from a mobile device having a present geospatial location communicatively coupled to an inventory database of the DBMS that is communicatively coupled with the mobile device through the extensible computing engine that requests at least one of a stock keeping unit information, an inventory count information, an inventory type information, and a min/max level of an item in a present geospatial vicinity of the mobile device, wherein the present geospatial vicinity is based on the present geospatial location of the mobile device, the angle, and directional compass of the mobile device.