Supply chain management system determining whether orders related to a family of products can be promised
First Claim
1. A method of processing orders related to a family of products in a supply chain management system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said plurality of member items having similarities in resource requirements, said method comprising:
- receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in pair with a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items of said family, wherein said TF duration associated with a member item in pair with said first member item represents an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of that member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item;
receiving in said computer system a first order specifying a first required quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said TF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first required quantity;
determining in said computer system a first available quantity of all of said plurality of member items scheduled to be available after said TF duration and as of said first required date, and a second available quantity of said first member item scheduled to be available as of end of said TF duration; and
indicating in said computer system that said first order be promised if said determining determines that said first available quantity and said second available quantity scheduled to be available as of said first required date is sufficient to fulfill said first required quantity.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A supply chain management system processing orders related to a family of products. An user may provide a parameter referred to as ‘aggregate time fence’ (ATF) duration representing an amount of advance time duration after which aggregate supply of all member items is available to satisfy the demand for any member item. For illustration, if an order for a member item is received with a required date being after the ATF duration, the order can be promised even if the required quantity of the first member item is not scheduled to be available at of the required date, provided sufficient number of units of other member items are scheduled to be available as of the requested date. Thus, orders are promised taking advantage of similarities in resource requirements of member items.
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Citations
80 Claims
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1. A method of processing orders related to a family of products in a supply chain management system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said plurality of member items having similarities in resource requirements, said method comprising:
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receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in pair with a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items of said family, wherein said TF duration associated with a member item in pair with said first member item represents an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of that member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item; receiving in said computer system a first order specifying a first required quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said TF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first required quantity; determining in said computer system a first available quantity of all of said plurality of member items scheduled to be available after said TF duration and as of said first required date, and a second available quantity of said first member item scheduled to be available as of end of said TF duration; and indicating in said computer system that said first order be promised if said determining determines that said first available quantity and said second available quantity scheduled to be available as of said first required date is sufficient to fulfill said first required quantity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a computer system to process orders related to a family of products in a supply chain management system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said plurality of member items having similarities in resource requirements, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said computer system causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:
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receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in pair with a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items of said family, wherein, said TF duration associated with a member item in pair with said first member item represents an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of that member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item; receiving a first order specifying a first required quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said ATF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first required quantity; determining a first available quantity of all of said plurality of member items scheduled to be available after said TF duration and as of said first required date, and a second available quantity of said first member item scheduled to be available as of end of said TF duration; and indicating that said first order be promised if said determining determines that said first available quantity and said second available quantity scheduled to be available as of said first required date is sufficient to fulfill said first required quantity. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computer system supporting a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system processing orders related to a family of products in said SCM system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said plurality of member items having similarities in resource requirements, said computer system being operable to:
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receive in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in pair with a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items of said family, wherein said TF duration associated with a member item in pair with said first member item represents an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of that member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item; receive in said computer system a first order specifying a first required quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said TF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first required quantity; determine in said computer system a first available quantity of all of said plurality of member items scheduled to be available after said TF duration and as of said first required date, and a second available quantity of said first member item scheduled to be available as of end of said TF duration; and indicate in said computer system that said first order be promised if said determining determines that said first available quantity and said second available quantity scheduled to be available as of said first required date is sufficient to fulfill said first required quantity. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A computer system supporting a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system processing orders related to a family of products in said SCM system, said family of products containing a plurality of member items, said plurality of member items having similarities in resource requirements, said computer system comprising:
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means for receiving in a computer system a time fence (TF) duration associated with each of said plurality of member items in pair with a first member item, wherein said first member item is also contained in said plurality of member items of said family, wherein said TF duration associated with a member item in pair with said first member item represents an amount of advance time duration after which the supply of that member item is available to satisfy the demand for said first member item; means for receiving a first order specifying a first required quantity of said first member item and a first required date, wherein said first required date is after said ATF duration from a time said first order is received, and wherein only Qavail units of said first member item are scheduled to be available as of said first required date, wherein Qavail is less than said first required quantity; means for determining a first available quantity of all of said plurality of member items scheduled to be available after said TF duration and as of said first required date, and a second available quantity of said first member item scheduled to be available as of end of said TF duration; means for indicating that said first order be promised if said means for determining determines that said first available quantity and said second available quantity scheduled to be available as of said first required date is sufficient to fulfill said first required quantity, wherein said means for said indicating further comprises means for allocating a maximum portion of said first required quantity from said first available quantity and allocating said first required quantity minus said maximum portion from said second available quantity. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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Specification