Method and system for monitoring a supply-chain
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method of monitoring supply chain activity, comprising:
- scanning for changed supply-related data at independent supply chain sites within the supply chain;
extracting the supply-related data at the independent supply chain, the data being maintained in plural formats at the supply chain sites, where each of the supply chain sites represents an independent entity in the supply chain;
translating the extracted data into a common format;
uploading the extracted data from each supply chain site to a data collection site, the data collection site collecting the extracted data; and
upon a request from a user associated with one of the supply chain sites,formatting, at the data collection site, a portion of the collected data, retrieved from one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user, into one of a plurality of views, responsive to criteria selected by the user, for presentation to the user, the portion of formatted data being dependent on access rights granted to the user'"'"'s supply chain site, andpublishing the formatted data view to the user'"'"'s supply chain site;
at the data collection site, monitoring inbound data from multiple supply chain sites;
detecting a problem condition if there is a surplus or shortage in the collected data retrieved from at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user; and
responding to the problem condition by asserting an alert to the user, where the alert indicates a problem condition associated with at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user.
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Abstract
A method of monitoring supply chain activity throughout a plurality of supply chain sites includes extracting, at each supply chain site, supply-related data to be monitored. The data is maintained in plural formats at the supply chain sites, and translated the data to a common format. The extracted data is then uploaded to and collected, from each supply chain site, to a data collection center or site. Upon a user request, a portion of the collected data is formatted, at the data collection site, into one of a plurality of views, responsive to criteria selected by the user, for presentation to the user, the portion of formatted data being dependent on access rights granted to the user'"'"'s supply chain site. Finally, the formatted data view is published to the user'"'"'s supply chain site. The data collection center comprises a data collector in which the uploaded data is stored, and a publisher for publishing data from the data collector upon request. Each supply chain site has a data storage device for maintaining its own supply-chain data, a data transfer engine (DTE), for transferring the supply-chain data to the data collection center, input means for allowing a user to query the data collector, and a display for displaying data published by the publisher in response to a query. The inbound data received from the multiple supply chain sites is monitored at the data collection site. If a problem condition is detected, such as a forecasted or present shortage or surplus, an alert is asserted, for example, by highlighting an Alert indicator, such as an Alert tab, on a user screen. Upon selection of the highlighted Alert indicator by a user, details of the detected problem condition are displayed.
100 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring supply chain activity, comprising:
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scanning for changed supply-related data at independent supply chain sites within the supply chain; extracting the supply-related data at the independent supply chain, the data being maintained in plural formats at the supply chain sites, where each of the supply chain sites represents an independent entity in the supply chain; translating the extracted data into a common format; uploading the extracted data from each supply chain site to a data collection site, the data collection site collecting the extracted data; and upon a request from a user associated with one of the supply chain sites, formatting, at the data collection site, a portion of the collected data, retrieved from one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user, into one of a plurality of views, responsive to criteria selected by the user, for presentation to the user, the portion of formatted data being dependent on access rights granted to the user'"'"'s supply chain site, and publishing the formatted data view to the user'"'"'s supply chain site;
at the data collection site, monitoring inbound data from multiple supply chain sites;detecting a problem condition if there is a surplus or shortage in the collected data retrieved from at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user; and responding to the problem condition by asserting an alert to the user, where the alert indicates a problem condition associated with at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for monitoring supply chain activity, comprising:
a data collection center, comprising a data collector; and a publisher for publishing data from the data collector upon request; and a plurality of independent supply chain sites within the supply chain, each supply chain site representing an independent entity in the supply chain, comprising; a data storage device for maintaining supply-related data; a data transfer engine (DTE) which detects changed supply-related data at the data storage device, extracts the supply-related data from the data storage device and transfers the extracted data to the data collection center; input means for allowing a user associated with a supply chain site to query the data collector for supply-related data retrieved from one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user; a display for displaying data published by the publisher in response to a query; and an alert indicator which indicates an alert condition if there is a surplus or shortage associated with one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user in the supply chain. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A system for monitoring supply chain activity comprising a plurality of supply chain sites, comprising:
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means for monitoring changed supply-related data at independent supply chain sites within the supply chain; means for extracting, at each supply chain site, the supply-related data to be monitored, wherein the data is maintained in plural formats located among the supply chain sites, at least one of the supply chain sites corresponding to an independent entity in the supply chain, being independent of another supply chain site; means for translating the data to a common format; means for uploading and collecting, from each supply chain site, the extracted data to a data collection site; means for formatting, at the data collection site, a portion of the collected data, retrieved from at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user, into one of a plurality of views, responsive to criteria selected by a user associated with a supply chain site, for presentation to the user, the portion of formatted data being dependent on access rights granted to the user'"'"'s supply chain site; means for publishing the formatted data view to the user'"'"'s supply chain site; means for monitoring, at the data collection site, inbound data from multiple supply chain sites; means for detecting a problem condition if there is a supply chain surplus or shortage detected in the collected data retrieved from at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user; and means for responding to the problem condition by asserting an alert, where the alert indicates a problem condition associated with at least one of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user.
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38. A method of monitoring supply chain activity, the supply chain having a plurality of supply chain sites, the method comprising:
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establishing a communications link between a first supply chain site and a data collection center; installing a data transfer engine (DTE) in the first supply chain site, the first supply chain site being independent of a second supply chain site in the supply chain, the first supply chain site maintaining proprietary supply chain information in a format that is different from a format in which the second supply chain site maintains proprietary supply chain information, the DTE; in response to detecting changes in the respective proprietary information at the first supply chain site, triggering an event by; extracting the respective proprietary supply-related information from the first supply chain site, and forwarding, over the communications link, the extracted proprietary information to a data collection center; monitoring the proprietary information for problem condition, the problem condition resulting from a surplus or shortage in the extracted proprietary information from the first supply chain site; and responding to a problem condition by asserting an alert to the second supply chain site. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method of monitoring, at a data collection center, supply chain activity, the supply chain including a plurality of supply chain sites, the method comprising:
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scanning for changed supply-related information at independent supply chain sites within the supply chain; receiving, from at least two of the independent supply chain sites corresponding to independent entities in the supply chain, supply-related information, said information being extracted from said supply chain site and being proprietary as to that supply chain site, the supply chain sites maintaining their respective proprietary information in different formats; storing the received information in a database, in a common format; receiving, from a user at a first supply chain site of the plurality of supply chain sites, a request for information from one or more of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user; and in response to the request, formatting requested information into one of a plurality of views, the information provided being dependent on access rights granted to the user'"'"'s supply chain site, performing an analysis of the supply chain based on the information received from the plural supply chain sites to determine if there is a surplus or shortage in the supply chain associated with one or more of the supply chain sites other than the site of the user, asserting an alarm condition resulting from the analysis, and forwarding the formatted view to the user. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52)
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53. A method of monitoring supply chain activity, the supply chain comprising a plurality of supply chain sites, at least two supply chain sites being independent of each other representing independent participants in the supply chain, the method comprising:
at each supply chain site; maintaining proprietary supply chain information in a format that is different from a format in which at least one other supply chain site maintains its proprietary supply chain information, extracting selected proprietary supply-related information, and upon a triggering event in response to detecting changes in the proprietary supply-related information, forwarding the extracted proprietary information to a data collection center that operates independently of the supply chain site; and
at the data collection center;receiving, from each supply chain site, the respective forwarded proprietary supply chain information, storing the received information in a database, in a common format, receiving, from a user at a first supply chain site of the plurality of supply chain sites, a request for information concerning a supply chain site other than the site of the user, and in response to the request, formatting requested information into one of a plurality of views, the information provided being dependent on access rights granted to the user'"'"'s supply chain site, performing an analysis of the supply chain based on the information received from the plural supply chain sites to determine if there is a surplus or shortage in the supply chain asserting an alarm condition resulting from the analysis, where the alarm condition indicates a problem concerning the supply chain site other than the site of the user; and forwarding the formatted view to the user.
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54. A method of monitoring supply chain activity, the method comprising:
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from a plurality of independent supply chain sites, extracting proprietary supply-related information into a common format, where at least one of supply chain sites corresponds to a vendor and at least one of supply chain site corresponds to a distributor; at the supply chain sites, monitoring the proprietary information to detect any changes; receiving a request, from the vendor supply chain site, for supply chain information concerning the distributor supply chain site; in response to the request, providing a portion of the proprietary information extracted from the distributor supply chain site, where the provided portion is based on access rights granted to the vendor supply chain site; and responding to a change detected in the proprietary supply chain information extracted from the distributor supply chain site by asserting an alert at the vendor supply chain site. - View Dependent Claims (55)
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Specification