Integrated inventory management system

• US 6,567,824 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2001
• Issued: 05/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: iHeartMedia Management Services, Inc. (iHeartMedia, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Grantley Patent Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Fox, Billy Shane
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US09/884,979
• Publication Number:
  US 20020002517A1
• Time in Patent Office: 699 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/103, 707/104, 707/2, 707/5, 707/6, 707/501, 707/513, 705/10, 705/28, 705/29, 705/30, 705/34, 705/35, 705/40, 705/2, 705/26
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A method is provided for inventory management which includes an initial step of receiving a customer request for an inventory item and then generating a table or menu of one or more inventory items that most closely correspond to the customer request using a price forecasting system. Based on negotiations concerning price, timing and other typical concerns, an item is selected from the table and a price quotation associated with the selected inventory item is generated using the price forecasting system, which price quotation has been predetermined by a yield management system using a pricing strategy. The customer information associated with the customer request is input into a traffic billing system. Information needed for price recalculation associated with the customer request is input into the yield management system. The yield management system recalculates pricing data with in a manner consistent with a pricing strategy implemented by the yield management system, so that price changes caused by a reduction in available inventory due to the customer request are taken into account, and the pricing data accessed by the price forecasting system when a price quotation is generated is updated prior to repeating the process for a subsequent customer request. This method provides more accurate pricing than known systems where order information must be entered manually before a price recalculation can take place, and the yield management system overestimates the amount of available inventory. If the customer request comprises a reservation having an associated probability of later becoming an order, the reservation is taken into account when recalculating prices based on available inventory. Such a process may be integrated for an enterprise made up of a number of member stations each having associated inventory for sale.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of inventory management for a number of stations, each station being a separate business entity having a geographic location and a market area, and having associated advertising inventory for sale, wherein the inventory comprises segments of advertising time associated with future time periods, comprising:

generating a visually viewable table of one or more advertising time segments that meet specified customer request criteria using price forecasting program logic;

generating advertising time segment inventory pricing information with yield management program logic for use by the price forecasting logic in accordance with a pricing strategy;

generating a confirmation of an order for inventory and maintaining scheduling, processing and accounting information in data files relating to such orders using traffic billing program logic;

accessing time segment inventory pricing information of multiple member stations; and

providing access to inventory information of multiple stations in response to a customer request so that the table of inventory time segments generated by the price forecasting program logic that meets the specified customer criteria can include inventory items from some or all member stations which meet such criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stations are media properties.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each station has a name and an associated geographic area in which it delivers media programming to consumers, which programming has associated advertising time segments.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the system for accessing inventory information of multiple stations in response to a customer request further includes program logic for generating a table of available time slots and dates, and includes a price quotation for each time slot on each date.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the member stations includes radio stations.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the member stations include television stations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the table of inventory that meets the specified customer criteria comprises a computer printout or screen display that lists a time slot having available advertising time and the name of the member station offering the advertising time.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing access at each station to inventory data for other member stations.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising providing access at each station to a master database of inventory data for all member stations.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing access to inventory information of multiple stations in response to a customer request including stand-alone inventory management systems and associated data files at each station.

11. The mehtod of claim 8, further comprising accessing traffic billing information in order to generate a revenue projection for some or all member stations.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the network connects each station to a headquarters location at which the revenue projection is requested.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of accessing traffic billing information includes determining projected future revenues for each selected station based on orders for advertising time recorded in traffic billing system data files.