MULTI-LEVEL DISTRIBUTION PLANNING
First Claim
1. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:
- identifying an inventory movement for a quantity of items from a source to a destination that includes at least one cross-dock location, where the cross-dock location has an associated cross-dock delay time and the destination has an associated destination delay time; and
determining a simplified inventory movement comprising the source and the destination with an associated lead time, where the lead time corresponds to the sum of the cross-dock delay time and the destination delay time; and
providing the simplified inventory movement to a distribution planning process, such that the distribution planning process plans inventory movements for the quantity of items in the same manner as when the inventory movement does not include the cross-dock location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are described herein that provide multi-level distribution planning utilizing simplified inventory movements to simplify the distribution planning process for inventory movements that include cross-docking while identifying cross-docked inventory to the cross-dock locations to prevent unnecessary handling. A simplified inventory movement is constructed that represents a multi-level route as a single movement from source to destination with an associated lead time that includes all time-related factors that arise in moving the inventory from the source through the cross-dock locations to the destination. The simplified inventory movement is provided to distribution planning solutions and the distribution planning solutions treat the multi-level route in the same manner as a single level route having the same source, destination, and lead time. This simplifies the distribution planning process and prevents the inventory from being re-allocated by the distribution planning solutions.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:
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identifying an inventory movement for a quantity of items from a source to a destination that includes at least one cross-dock location, where the cross-dock location has an associated cross-dock delay time and the destination has an associated destination delay time; and determining a simplified inventory movement comprising the source and the destination with an associated lead time, where the lead time corresponds to the sum of the cross-dock delay time and the destination delay time; and providing the simplified inventory movement to a distribution planning process, such that the distribution planning process plans inventory movements for the quantity of items in the same manner as when the inventory movement does not include the cross-dock location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computing system, comprising:
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a simplified inventory movement (SIM) logic configured to identify an inventory movement for a quantity of items from a source to a destination that includes at least one cross-dock location, where the cross-dock location has an associated cross-dock lead time and the destination has an associated destination lead time; and determine a simplified inventory movement comprising the source and the destination with an associated lead time, where the lead time corresponds to the sum of the cross-dock lead time and the destination lead time; and a planning logic configured to plan inventory movements for the quantity of items based on the simplified inventory movement, such that the planning logic plans the inventory movements for the quantity of items in the same manner as when the inventory movement does not include the cross-dock location. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:
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identifying an inventory movement of a quantity of items that includes a first shipment of the quantity of items from a source to a cross-dock location and a second shipment of the quantity of items from the cross-dock location to a destination; and for distribution planning purposes, releasing the quantity of items at the cross-dock location at the same time the quantity of items is released at the source. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification