On-time delivery, tracking, and reporting
First Claim
1. A method of maintaining customer order and delivery information, the method comprising:
- storing ship/dock information for respective customers to indicate whether the customers consider delivery dates for particular products to be ship dates or dock dates;
storing desired advance delivery times for individual customers;
creating a customer order entry for a particular customer, the customer order entry including a customer-requested delivery date supplied by the particular customer;
calculating a customer-preferred ship date for t he customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date and the desired advance delivery time for the customer;
communicating the calculated customer-preferred ship date to a human order scheduler;
obtaining a targeted ship date for the customer order entry from the order scheduler; and
calculating a customer expected delivery date by adding data representing anticipated shipping delay to the targeted ship date, taking into consideration whether the customer defines delivery dates to be ship dates or dock dates, and by also adding the customer'"'"'s desired advance delivery time to the targeted ship date.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system is programmed for setting and reporting product delivery dates. The invention includes a step of maintaining a customer preferences database having delivery and reporting preferences for individual customers. The preferences include preferred early and late delivery limits, preferred performance measurement species, and desired advance delivery times. The invention further includes a step of creating a customer order entry for a particular customer. The customer order entry includes a customer-requested delivery date supplied by the customer. A customer-preferred ship date is calculated for the customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date and at least in part upon the particular customer'"'"'s specified desired advance delivery time. The customer order entry is then routed to an order scheduler. The computer system shows the order scheduler the calculated customer-preferred ship date and obtains a targeted ship date for the customer order entry from the order scheduler. The system is programmed to then calculate a targeted ship date window based upon the targeted ship date and the particular customer'"'"'s preferred early and late delivery limits. On-time product delivery statistics are generated for individual customers in accordance with the individual customers'"'"' specified preferred performance measurement species.
111 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of maintaining customer order and delivery information, the method comprising:
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storing ship/dock information for respective customers to indicate whether the customers consider delivery dates for particular products to be ship dates or dock dates;
storing desired advance delivery times for individual customers;
creating a customer order entry for a particular customer, the customer order entry including a customer-requested delivery date supplied by the particular customer;
calculating a customer-preferred ship date for t he customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date and the desired advance delivery time for the customer;
communicating the calculated customer-preferred ship date to a human order scheduler;
obtaining a targeted ship date for the customer order entry from the order scheduler; and
calculating a customer expected delivery date by adding data representing anticipated shipping delay to the targeted ship date, taking into consideration whether the customer defines delivery dates to be ship dates or dock dates, and by also adding the customer'"'"'s desired advance delivery time to the targeted ship date. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of setting and reporting product delivery dates, the method comprising:
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storing, in a computer usable medium, preferences for an individual customer, said preferences including preferred early and late delivery limits, and data indicating whether the customer defines delivery dates to be ship dates or dock dates;
creating a customer order entry for the customer, said customer order entry including a customer-requested delivery date supplied by the customer;
calculating a customer-preferred ship date for the customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date;
routing the customer order entry and the calculated customer-preferred ship date to a human order scheduler;
obtaining a targeted ship date for the customer order entry from the order scheduler;
calculating a targeted ship date window based upon the targeted ship date and the particular customer'"'"'s preferred early and late delivery limits; and
calculating a customer expected delivery date by adding data representing anticipated shipping delay to the targeted ship date, and taking into consideration whether the customer defines delivery dates to be ship dates or dock dates. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of maintaining customer order and delivery information, the method comprising:
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storing preferences for a customer in a database, the preferences including preferred early and late delivery limits, and data to indicate whether the customer considers delivery dates for products to be ship dates or dock dates;
creating a customer order entry for the customer, the customer order entry including a customer-requested delivery date supplied by the customer;
calculating a customer-preferred ship date for the customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date and at least in part upon the customer preferences for the particular customer;
forwarding the calculated customer-preferred ship date to a human order scheduler;
receiving a targeted ship date for the customer order entry from the order scheduler;
calculating a customer expected delivery date by adding data representing anticipated shipping delay to the targeted ship date, taking into consideration whether the customer defines delivery dates to be ship dates or dock dates; and
determining whether a particular product delivery is on time, based upon the particular customer'"'"'s preferred early and late delivery limits. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of maintaining customer order and delivery information, the method comprising:
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defining a customer preferences database having delivery and reporting preferences for individual customers, said preferences including preferred early and late delivery limits, preferred performance measurement species, and desired advance delivery times;
creating a customer order entry for a particular customer, said customer order entry including a customer-requested delivery date supplied by said particular customer; and
calculating a customer-preferred ship date for the customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date and at least in part upon the particular customer'"'"'s specified desired advance delivery time from the customer preferences database. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An article of manufacture including a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein to:
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define a customer preferences database having delivery and reporting preferences for individual customers, said preferences including preferred early and late delivery limits, preferred performance measurement species, and desired advance delivery times;
create a customer order entry for a particular customer, said customer order entry including a customer-requested delivery date supplier by said particular customer; and
calculate a customer-preferred ship date for the customer order entry based at least in part upon the customer-requested delivery date and at least in part upon the particular customer'"'"'s specified desired advance delivery time from the customer preferences database. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification