Extreme capacity management in an electronic marketplace environment

• US 7,370,009 B1
• Filed: 04/23/2001
• Issued: 05/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Blue Yonder Group, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: i2 Technologies US Incorporated (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Notani, Ranjit N, Chaturvedi, Vinatha, Ghaisas, Vinayak S, Chaturvedi, Harsha
• Primary Examiner(s): ELISCA, PIERRE E
• Application Number:
  US09/841,320
• Time in Patent Office: 2,570 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 705/29, 705/36
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• 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 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A system (10) for managing a capacity extreme at a first entity (12) in a supply chain includes a planning application (36) that receives status data for at least the first entity (12) reflecting the capacity extreme at the first entity (12) and generates a plan (34) according to the status data. A manager application (44) receives the plan (34) and, according to the plan (34), automatically initiates at least one service in an attempt to resolve at least a portion of the capacity extreme through interaction with one or more other entities (12). The manager application (44) selects the service from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity (12) of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for managing an excess or under capacity at a first entity in a supply chain, the system comprising:

at least one computer system comprising;

a planning application, the planning application receives status data for at least the first entity reflecting the excess or under capacity at the first entity and generates a plan according to the status data; and

a manager application, the manager application receives the plan and, according to the plan, automatically initiates at least one service in an attempt to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity through interaction with one or more other entities and selects the service from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services, an action selected from the group consisting of;

sell items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first entity and the one or more other entity;

purchase items from one or more other entities according to the previously existing contract between the first entity and the one or more other entity;

sell items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchase items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

post items in a catalog of the first entity for sale to one or more other entities;

purchase items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

post items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchase items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the planning application is a supply chain planning engine, the first entity is a first enterprise, and the plan is a supply chain plan for at least a portion of the supply chain containing the first enterprise.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the status data comprises data selected from the group consisting of:

demand data;

supply data;

inventory data; and

capacity data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the planning application is operable to receive status data from one or more other entities in the supply chain, the plan being generated according to all of the status data for the supply chain.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the planning application generates the plan further according to a model incorporating at least the first entity.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the manager application is operable to initiate multiple services to attempt to resolve the excess or under capacity, a first service is initiated to attempt to resolve a first portion of the excess or under capacity, and a second service is initiated to attempt to resolve a second portion of the excess or under capacity.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the manager application is operable to interact with the other entities automatically to resolve the excess or under capacity according to the plan.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising an electronic marketplace that supports the planning application and the manager application.

9. A computer-implemented system for resolving excess or under capacity at one or more enterprises in a supply chain, the system comprising:

at least one computer system comprising;

a supply chain planning application, the supply chain planning application receives status data for a plurality of enterprises in the supply chain, the status data reflecting excess or under capacity at a first enterprise in the supply chain, accesses a supply chain model incorporating at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain and generates a supply chain plan according to the status data for at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain; and

a manager application, the manager application receives the generated supply chain plan, automatically initiates at least one service according to the generated supply chain plan, and automatically performs an action, in response to initiating the at least one service, to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity at the first enterprise through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain, the service being selected from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services, the action being selected from the group consisting of;

sell items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

purchase items from one or more other entities according to the previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

sell items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchase items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

post items in a catalog of the first enterprise for sale to one or more other entities;

purchase items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

post items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchase items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities.

10. A computer-implemented electronic marketplace, using one or more computer systems at one or more locations, for resolving excess or under capacity at one or more enterprises in a supply chain, comprising:

at least one of the one or more computer systems comprising;

a supply chain planning application, the supply chain planning engine receives status data for a plurality of enterprises in the supply chain, the status data reflecting excess or under capacity at a first enterprise in the supply chain, accesses a supply chain model incorporating at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain, and generates a supply chain plan according to the status data for at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain; and

a manager application, the manager application receives the generated supply chain plan, automatically initiates at least one service according to the generated supply chain plan, and automatically performs an action, in response to initiating the at least one service, to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity at the first enterprise through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain, the services being selected from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services, the action being selected from the group consisting of;

sell items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

purchase items from one or more other entities according to a the previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

sell items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchase items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

post items in a catalog of the first enterprise for sale to one or more other entities;

purchase items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

post items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchase items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities.

11. A computer-implemented method for resolving excess or under capacity at one or more enterprises in a supply chain, the method comprising:

receiving status data for a plurality of enterprises in the supply chain, the status data reflecting excess or under capacity at a first enterprise in the supply chain;

accessing a supply chain model incorporating at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain;

generating a supply chain plan according to the status data for at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain;

automatically initiating at least one service according to the plan; and

automatically performing an action, in response to initiating the at least one service, to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity at the first enterprise through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain, the service being selected from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services, the action being selected from the group consisting of;

sell items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

purchase items from one or more other entities according to the previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

sell items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchase items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

post items in a catalog of the first enterprise for sale to one or more other entities;

purchase items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

post items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchase items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities.

12. A computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software for resolving excess or under capacity at one or more enterprises in a supply chain, the software comprising instructions for:

receiving status data for a plurality of enterprises in the supply chain, the status data reflecting excess or under capacity at a first enterprise in the supply chain;

accessing a supply chain model incorporating at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain;

generating a supply chain plan according to the status data for at least the plurality of enterprises in the supply chain;

automatically initiating at least one service according to the generated supply chain plan, the service being selected from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services; and

services, an action being selected from the group consisting of;

sell items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

purchase items from one or more other entities according to the previously existing contract between the first enterprise and the one or more other entity;

sell items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchase items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

post items in a catalog of the first enterprise for sale to one or more other entities;

purchase items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

post items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchase items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities;

automatically performing the action, in response to initiating the at least one service, to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity at the first enterprise through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain.

13. A computer-implemented method for resolving excess or under capacity at a first entity in a supply chain, the method comprising:

receiving status data for at least the first entity in the supply chain, the status data reflecting the excess or under capacity at the first entity in the supply chain;

generating a plan according to the status data for at least the first entity in the supply chain;

automatically initiating at least one service according to the plan; and

automatically performing an action, in response to initiating the at least one service, to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity at the first entity through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain, the service being selected from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services, the action being selected from the group consisting of;

selling items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first entity and the one or more other entities;

purchasing items from one or more other entities according to the previously existing contract between the first entity and the one or more other entities;

selling items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchasing items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

posting items in a catalog of the first entity for sale to one or more other entities;

purchasing items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

posting items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchasing items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first entity is a first enterprise and the plan is a supply chain plan for at least a portion of the supply chain containing the first enterprise.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the status data comprises data selected from the group consisting of:

demand data;

supply data;

inventory data; and

capacity data.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving status data from one or more other entities in the supply chain, the plan being generated according to all of the status data for the supply chain.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

generating the plan further according to a model incorporating at least the first entity.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

initiating multiple services to attempt to resolve the excess or under capacity, a first service is initiated to attempt to resolve a first portion of the excess or under capacity, and a second service is initiated to attempt to resolve a second portion of the excess or under capacity.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

automatically interacting with the other entities to resolve the excess or under capacity according to the plan.

20. A computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software for resolving excess or under capacity at one or more enterprises in a supply chain, the software comprising instructions for:

receiving status data for at least the first entity in the supply chain, the status data reflecting the excess or under capacity at the first entity in the supply chain;

generating a plan according to the status data for at least the first entity in the supply chain;

automatically initiating at least one service according to the plan; and

automatically performing an action, in response to initiating the at least one service, to resolve at least a portion of the excess or under capacity at the first entity through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain, the service being selected from among a plurality of available services based on a monetary value to the first entity of a resolution expected to be available using the selected service relative to other services, the action being selected from the group consisting of;

selling items to one or more other entities according to a previously existing contract between the first entity and the one or more other entities;

purchasing items from one or more other entities according to the previously existing contract between the first entity and the one or more other entities;

selling items to one or more other entities in an auction;

purchasing items from one or more other entities in a reverse auction;

posting items in a catalog of the first entity for sale to one or more other entities;

purchasing items posted in a catalog of one or more other entities;

posting items in an inventory listing service for sale to one or more other entities; and

purchasing items posted in an inventory listing service by one or more other entities.

21. The software of claim 20, wherein the first entity is a first enterprise and the plan is a supply chain plan for at least a portion of the supply chain containing the first enterprise.

22. The software of claim 20, wherein the status data comprises data selected from the group consisting of:

demand data;

supply data;

inventory data; and

capacity data.

23. The software of claim 20, further comprising instructions for:

receiving status data from one or more other entities in the supply chain, the plan being generated according to all of the status data for the supply chain.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising instructions for:

generating the plan further according to a model incorporating at least the first entity.

25. The software of claim 20, further comprising instructions for:

initiating multiple services to attempt to resolve the excess or under capacity, a first service is initiated to attempt to resolve a first portion of the excess or under capacity, and a second service is initiated to attempt to resolve a second portion of the excess or under capacity.

26. The software of claim 20, further comprising instructions for:

automatically interacting with the other entities to resolve the excess or under capacity according to the plan.