Automatic ordering system and method for allowing a shop to tailor ordering needs

• US 5,168,445 A
• Filed: 02/21/1989
• Issued: 12/01/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yagi, Masao, Kawashima, Kazuhiro, Tsushima, Isao, Komoda, Norihisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, Gail O.
• Application Number:
  US07/313,614
• Time in Patent Office: 1,379 Days
• Field of Search: 364/403, 364/400, 235/385
• US Class Current: 705/7.31
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities

Abstract

An automated ordering system in a retail shop adapted to automatically order goods. In the system, a demand amount in the future is first supposed on the basis of an average of the past demands, the supposed future demand amount is corrected by the variable condition used to change the demand amount to predict a future demand amount, and the order amount is determined pursuant to a calculation formula on the basis of the predictive future demand amount and the stock volume of goods. Goods tend to be stocked in surplus or out of stock are diagnosed on the basis of the change of the past demands and the worker determines the amount of orders in respect to these goods.

Claims

1. An automatic ordering system, adapted to determine an order quantity for procuring various resources sold in mass at a supermarket or the like by generating an order command, said system comprising:

variable condition data storage means for storing condition data reflecting variable sales conditions including weather, entertainment, events at competitive shops or bargain sales;

point of sale data storage means for storing point of sale data comprising actual results of historical selling of the various resources;

correction rule table storage means for correction rules for correcting initial predicted sales volumes based on average sales conditions;

stock data storage means for storing stock data representative of on-hand resources;

ordering data storage means for storing ordering data;

sales volume predictor means operatively associated with said variable condition data storage means, said point of sale data storage means and said correction rule table storage means for predicting a future demand for the various resources on the basis of the condition data, the point of sale data, and the correction rules and storing the predicted future demand as predictive data in a predictive data storage means;

ordering amount calculating means operatively associated with said predictive data storage means and said stock data storage means for determining an order amount of the various resources based on the predictive data and the stock data, and for writing the order amount to the ordering data storage means as said ordering data; and

,

ordering processor means operatively associated with said ordering data storage means for ordering said determined order amount by generating an order command to thereby effect an inventory control.

2. The automatic ordering system according to claim 1 further comprising:

stock condition diagnostic means for a) determining whether the stock data and the order amount determined by said ordering amount calculating means are proper and b) selecting a goods item to be particularly noticed by said inventory control caretaker in charge of individual order amounts of individual goods among said various resources; and

,

display means for emphatically displaying the individual order amounts of said selected goods item.

3. The automatic ordering system according to claim 1 wherein said ordering processor means includes means for generating an order slip for use by an inventory control caretaker as said order command.

4. An automatic ordering system for generating an order command to procure sales items thereby effectuating an automatic inventory control, the system comprising:

variable condition data storage means for storing condition data reflecting variable sales conditions causing changes in demand quantity for the sales items including weather, entertainment, events at competitive shops or bargain sales;

point of sale data storage means for storing point of sale data comprising an average of past demand quantities of the sales items;

correction rule storage means for storing correction rules relating the variable condition data to the changes in demand quantity;

sales volume predictor means for generating provisional future demand quantity data for selected ones of the sales items based on said point of sale data modified by the variable condition data according to the correction rules; and

,

ordering amount calculator and processing means for ordering inventory according to the future demand quantity data generated and said stock data by generating an order command, thereby effectuating said automatic inventory control.

5. The automatic ordering system according to claim 4 further comprising:

interactive rule correction means for enabling said inventory control caretaker to manually modify said correction rules stored in said correction rule storage means; and

,

automatic rule modifier means for automatically modifying the correction rules stored in said correction rule storage means based on the past demand quantities of said sales items and said variable condition data.

6. The automatic ordering system according to claim 4 further comprising:

prioritizing means for assigning priority to preselected correction rules stored in said correction rule storage means; and

,

selecting means for selecting ones of said correction rules in accordance with the assigned priority and for predicting said provisional future demand quantity.

7. The automatic ordering system according to claim 4 wherein said ordering amount calculator and processing means includes means for generating an order slip for use by an inventory control caretaker as said order command.

10. The automatic ordering system according to claim 7 wherein said condition diagnostic unit means includes means for calculating a tendency of stock demand to increase or decrease for said various resources by performing a diagnosis calculation, said automatic ordering system further comprising:

means for storing the tendency;

diagnostic rule storage means for storing tendency rules by which the tendency of the demand amount to increase or decrease is related to the stock data and said order amount of said various resources which are to be checked for their abnormality; and

,

means for checking whether the stock data and said order amount of the various resources are proper based on said tendency rules.

11. The automatic ordering system according to claim 10 wherein said tendency rules comprise a rule such that when an individual goods item in a goods group for which the predicted future demand amount is increasing, tends to decrease in demand at said store, said individual goods item is diagnosed as being abnormal.

12. The automatic ordering system according to claim 10 wherein said tendency rules comprise a rule such that when an individual goods item in a goods group for which the predicted future demand amount is decreasing, tends to increase in demand at said store, said individual goods item is diagnosed as being abnormal.

13. The automatic ordering system according to claim 10 wherein said tendency rules comprise a rule such that an individual goods item for which the predicted future demand amount changes greatly is diagnosed as being abnormal.

14. The automatic ordering system according to claim 10 wherein said tendency rules comprise a rule such that an individual goods item for which the difference between a predictive demand amount and actual sales results is large, is diagnosed as being abnormal

15. The automatic ordering system according to claim 10 further comprising rule correction means for enabling said inventory control caretaker on said system to correct, as desired, the diagnostic rules stored in said diagnostic rule storage means.

16. The automatic ordering system according to claim 10 further comprising means for giving priority to applicable diagnostic rules stored in said diagnostic rule storage means, and means for selecting the applicable rules in accordance with the priority and performing the diagnosis.

8. An automatic ordering system adapted to determine an order quantity and procure various resources sold in quantity at a supermarket retail store or the like, the system comprising:

variable condition data storage means for storing condition data reflecting variable sales conditions including weather, entertainment, events at competitive shops or bargain sales;

point of sale data storage means for storing POS data comprising actual results of historical selling of the various resources;

correction rule table storage means for storing correction rules for correcting initial predicted sales volumes based on average sales conditions;

stock data storage means for storing stock data representative of on-hand resources;

ordering data storage means for storing ordering data;

sales volume predictor means operatively associated with said variable condition data storage means, said point of sale data storage means and said correction rule table storage means for predicting a future demand amount for the various resources on the basis of the condition data, the POS data, and the correction rules and storing the predicted future demand as predictive data in predictive data storage means;

ordering amount calculating means operatively associated with said stock data storage means and said predictive data storage means for determining an order amount of the various resources based on the predictive data and the stock data, and for writing the order amount to the ordering data storage means as said ordering data;

ordering processor means operatively associated with said ordering data storage means for ordering said determined order amount to thereby effect said inventory control;

diagnostic message storage means for storing a diagnostic message;

means for describing a diagnosis knowledge for relating whether said stock data and said order amount are at predetermined proper values; and

,

condition diagnostic unit means operatively associated with said stock data storage means and said ordering data storage means for diagnosing whether said stock data and said order amount are at first predetermined appropriate levels based on said described diagnosis knowledge and for retrieving said diagnostic message when the stock data and the order amount are not at the first predetermined appropriate levels.

9. The automatic ordering system according to claim 8, further comprising:

means for displaying the diagnostic message stored in said diagnostic message storage means; and

,

manual correcting means for enabling said inventory control caretaker on said system to correct the order amount determined by said ordering amount calculating means as a corrected order amount.

17. The automatic ordering system according to claim 8, further comprising:

diagnosing means for diagnosing the validity of said stock data and said order amount.

18. The automatic ordering system according to claim 8 wherein said ordering processor means includes means for generating an order slip for use by an inventory control caretaker.

19. A method of operating an inventory control apparatus for inventory control by automatically determining and ordering an amount of goods necessary to replenish an inventory to effectuate the inventory control, the method comprising the steps of:

building a historical data base of historical data, said historical data base based on past sales of the goods;

storing said historical data base in a central processing unit of said inventory control apparatus;

building a modifier data base of modifiers, said modifier data base including factors affecting demand over long periods of time, comprising seasonal or holiday demand, and factors influencing demand over very short-term events including a sale at a competing shop and weather conditions;

storing said modifier data base in the central processing unit of said inventory control apparatus;

building a stock data storage table of stock data representative of on-hand sales goods;

storing said stock data storage table in the central processing unit of said inventory control apparatus;

modifying an order amount suggested by the historical data base by information stored in the modifier data base;

calculating an actual order amount based on the modified order amount and the stock data; and

,

ordering said actual order amount to thereby effectuate said inventory control.

20. The method according to claim 19 further comprising the step of, after modifying the order amount, printing an order slip of the actual order amount of sales goods needed to replenish inventory.

21. An automatic ordering system for replenishing inventories of goods a demand for which rapidly changes to effect an inventory control, said automatic ordering system comprising:

diagnostic means for describing diagnostic knowledge for diagnosing whether an inventory of an individual good and an order amount for the individual good are within a predetermined proper range, said diagnostic means including means for calculating a tendency of said demand to increase or decrease for said individual good;

tendency data storage means for storing tendency data representative of said tendency within the system;

diagnostic rule storage means for storing diagnostic rules by which said tendency is related to the inventory and the order amount of the individual good and which is to be checked for its abnormality;

means for checking whether the inventory and the order amount are proper on the basis of said diagnostic rules;

means for displaying a diagnostic message and the order amount then the inventory and the order amount are checked as being improper;

means for updating the order amount by an inventory control caretaker as a corrected order amount; and

,

means for ordering said corrected order amount to effect said inventory control.

22. The automatic ordering system according to claim 21 wherein said means for ordering the corrected order amount includes means for generating an order slip for use by an inventory control caretaker.

23. An automatic ordering method for use with an inventory control apparatus to procure various resources sold in mass at a supermarket or the like by generating an order command, said method comprising the steps of:

storing condition data reflecting variable sales conditions including weather, entertainment, events at competitive shops or bargain sales in a variable condition data storage means of said inventory control apparatus;

storing point of sale data comprising actual results of historical selling of the various resources in a point of sale data storage means of said inventory control apparatus;

storing, in a correction rule table storage means of said inventory control apparatus, correction rules for correcting initial predicted sales volumes based on average sales conditions;

storing stock data representative of on-hand resources in a stock data storage means of said inventory control apparatus;

storing ordering data in an ordering data storage means of said inventory control apparatus;

predicting, in a sales volume predictor means operatively associated with said variable condition data storage means, said point of sale data storage means and said correction rule table storage means, a future demand for the various resources on the basis of the condition data, the point of sale data, and the correction rules and storing the predicted future demand as predictive data in a predictive data storage means of said inventory control apparatus;

determining, in an ordering amount calculating means operatively associated with said predictive data storage means and said stock data storage means, an order amount of the various resources based on the predictive data and the stock data, and writing the order amount to the ordering data storage means as said ordering data; and

,

ordering, in an ordering processor means operatively associated with said ordering data storage means, said determined order amount by generating an order command to thereby effect an inventory control.

24. The automatic ordering method according to claim 23 further comprising the steps of:

determining in a stock condition diagnostic means of the inventory control apparatus whether the stock data and the order amount determined by said ordering amount calculating means are proper and selecting a goods item to be particularly noticed by said inventory control caretaker in charge of individual order amounts of individual goods among said various resources; and

,

emphatically displaying the individual order amounts of said selected goods item on display means of said inventory control apparatus.

25. An automatic ordering method for use with an inventory control apparatus to procure sales items thereby effectuating an automatic inventory control, the method comprising the steps of:

storing, in a variable condition data storage means of the apparatus, condition data reflecting variable sales conditions causing changes in demand quantity for the sales items including weather, entertainment, events at competitive ships or bargain sales;

storing, in a point of sale data storage means of the apparatus, point of sale data comprising an average of past demand quantities of the sales items;

storing, in a correction rule storage means of the apparatus, correction rules relating the variable condition data to the changes in demand quantity;

generating, in a sales volume predictor means of the apparatus, provisional future demand quantity data for selected ones of the sales items based on said point of sale data modified by the variable condition data according to the correction rules; and

,

ordering, in an ordering amount calculator and processing means of the apparatus, inventory according to the future demand quantity data generated and said stock data by generating an order command, thereby effectuating said automatic inventory control.

26. The automatic ordering method according to claim 25 further comprising the steps of:

modifying, through an interactive rule correction means of said apparatus, said correction rules stored in said correction rule storage means; and

,

automatically modifying, by an automatic rule modifier means of said apparatus, the correction rules stored in said correction rule storage means based on the past demand quantities of said sales items and said variable condition data.

27. The automatic ordering method according to claim 25 further comprising the steps of:

assigning priority, by a prioritizing means of the apparatus, to preselected correction rules stored in said correction rule storage means; and

,

selecting, in a selecting means of the apparatus, ones of aid correction rules in accordance with the assigned priority and predicting said provisional future demand quantity.

28. An automatic inventory ordering method for use with an inventory control apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

describing diagnostic knowledge for diagnosing whether an inventory of an individual good and an order amount for the individual good are within a predetermined proper range;

calculating a tendency of a demand for said individual good to increase or decrease;

storing tendency data representative of said calculated tendency in a tendency data storage of the apparatus;

storing, in a diagnostic rule storage of the apparatus, diagnostic rules by which said tendency is related to the inventory and the order amount of the individual good and which is to be checked for its abnormality;

checking whether the inventory and the order amount are proper on the basis of said diagnostic rules;

displaying a diagnostic message when the inventory and the order amount are checked as being improper;

updating the order amount as a corrected order amount; and

,

ordering said corrected order amount to effect said inventory control.