Method and apparatus for reducing supply orders in inventory management
First Claim
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1. An inventory management system for at least one piece of equipment requiring routine maintenance for a plurality of items, each of said items being associated with a respective parameter that provides an estimate of servicing needs for said item, said system comprising:
- an inventory of replacements for said items;
a computational element operatively coupled to said at least one piece of equipment and to each of said parameters;
a tracking device operatively coupled to said computational element to derive a criteria to generate at least one order form that details current and future requirements of said items for said piece of equipment that are stocked within said inventory; and
wherein said computational element includes a dormancy feature for at least one of said plurality of items, said dormancy feature being activated so that an associated parameter for one or more of the plurality of items is placed in a dormant state so that such associated parameters do not become a trigger point for the tracking device to generate an order for said one or more items.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for managing replenishing of an inventory for serviceable equipment that requires fewer orders of replacement parts and resulting shipments from the provider of the parts to the inventory location by tracking parts in accordance with a predefined parameter to estimate current and future needs of the serviceable equipment.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An inventory management system for at least one piece of equipment requiring routine maintenance for a plurality of items, each of said items being associated with a respective parameter that provides an estimate of servicing needs for said item, said system comprising:
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an inventory of replacements for said items; a computational element operatively coupled to said at least one piece of equipment and to each of said parameters; a tracking device operatively coupled to said computational element to derive a criteria to generate at least one order form that details current and future requirements of said items for said piece of equipment that are stocked within said inventory; and wherein said computational element includes a dormancy feature for at least one of said plurality of items, said dormancy feature being activated so that an associated parameter for one or more of the plurality of items is placed in a dormant state so that such associated parameters do not become a trigger point for the tracking device to generate an order for said one or more items. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer implemented method of managing an inventory for serviceable equipment requiring routine maintenance for a plurality of items comprising the steps of:
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providing an inventory of replacement parts for said items; associating each of said items using a processor with a parameter that provides an estimate of servicing needs for said item; tracking said parameters using a processor to identify replenishment needs for said inventory; generating an order form for replacement parts of said items for said inventory based on estimated needs using a processor; and providing a dormancy feature for at least one of said plurality of items, the dormancy feature being activated so that an associated parameter for one or more of the plurality of items is placed in a dormant state so that such associated parameters do not become a trigger point for the tracking device to generate an order for said one or more items. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification