Computer-readable medium, program product, and system for providing a schedule bar with event dates to monitor procurement of a product

• US 8,050,956 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2005
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Abo-Hasna, Ziad, Ullrich, Chantal
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett; Scott L
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOY, PAN G
• Application Number:
  US11/074,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20050216325A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,430 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.24, 705/7.22, 705/7.15, 705/7.12
• US Class Current: 705/7.24
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource

Abstract

The successful monitoring of procurement processes requires that dates in the supply chain be calculated exactly and tracked accordingly. The central calculation of dates ensures that different applications arrive at the same results, optimizing their accuracy. Monitoring the dates will allow a user to quickly gain an overview of the current procurement situation and react on time to potential delays. Dates from a purchase order are transferred to the event management system and used to calculate base dates. A schedule bar is provided in the event management system, and includes dates received or calculated by the event management system. An activity is triggered based upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event by a purchaser order date or a calculated date.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising program code stored therein executable by one or more machines to perform an automated process for monitoring procurement of a product via an event management system in a computerized business system, the automated process comprising the steps of:

generating, by a purchase order program module via one or more processors, a purchase order, the purchase order comprising a purchase order generation date and a product delivery date;

transferring the purchase order generation date and the product delivery date to the event management system;

calculating, by a calculation program module via one or more processors, a purchase order trigger date, a distribution center delivery date, and a store receipt date based on the product delivery date, the calculation program module configured to calculate dates based on product data;

calculating, by the calculation program module via one or more processors, a first set of dates based on the product delivery date and a second set of dates based on the product delivery date, the first set of dates comprising a material staging date, an issue date, an arrival date, a handover date, and a distribution center storage date, the second set of dates comprising an order confirmation date, a quotation sample date, a sample photo date, a sample size date, a sample date, and a labeling date;

generating, by a scheduling program module, a schedule bar based the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date via one or more processors;

providing, by the schedule program module via one or more processors, the schedule bar in the event management system, the schedule bar comprising the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, the product delivery date, and the store receipt date;

triggering, by a procurement program module via one or more processors, an activity based on at least one of the distribution center delivery date, the product delivery date, and the store receipt date exceeding an actual date;

wherein the second set of dates exceeding the actual date has no effect on the first set of dates;

assigning an identification number to each respective purchase order;

storing the activity in a business warehouse;

merging dates generated at the item level prior to purchase order generation with the purchase order dates when the individual purchase order items correspond and creating a data record in the schedule bar for individual purchase order items which do not correspond; and

providing a schedule bar for each respective purchase order generated;

wherein the calculation of the purchase order generation date, the product delivery date, the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date are based on data from a vendor calendar, a logistics calendar, a distribution center logistics calendar, a store logistics calendar, an order cycle of an ordering retail site, and a delivery cycle of a recipient retail site; and

wherein the vendor calendar includes information regarding a work schedule of a vendor of the product, the logistics calendar includes information regarding transportation routings, the distribution center logistics calendar includes information regarding a schedule of a distribution center to which the product is to be delivered, the store logistics calendar includes information regarding a schedule of a store in which the product is to be sold, and the delivery cycle indicates days on which the product is delivered to the recipient retail site.

2. The one or more computer-readable storage media for procurement monitoring of claim 1, wherein the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date are calculated using a scheduling module.

3. The one or more computer-readable storage media for procurement monitoring of claim 2, wherein the scheduling module is configured to calculate the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date based on the purchase order generation date.

4. The one or more computer-readable storage media for procurement monitoring of claim 1, further comprising calculating a store presentation date.

5. The one or more computer-readable storage media for procurement monitoring of claim 1, further comprising the step of performing a task in response to a triggered activity.

6. The one or more computer-readable storage media for procurement monitoring of claim 5, wherein the task is at least one of a reminder, a date shift, a cancellation, and a correspondence.

7. The one or more computer-readable storage media for procurement monitoring of claim 1, further comprising calculating a distribution center issue date.

8. A computerized event management system for monitoring and managing procurement dates within a business enterprise, comprising:

a purchase order module comprising a purchase order processing device, the purchase order module configured to generate a purchase order via one or more processors, the purchase order comprising a purchase order generation date and a product delivery date, the purchase order module configured to transfer the purchase order generation date and the product delivery date to the computerized event management system;

the computerized event management system configured to generate a purchase order trigger date, a distribution center delivery date, and a store receipt date via one or more processors based on the product delivery date, the computerized event management system further configured to generate a first set of dates based on the product delivery date and a second set of dates based on the product delivery date, the first set of dates comprising a material staging date, an issue date, an arrival date, a handover date, and a distribution center storage date, the second set of dates comprising an order confirmation date, a quotation sample date, a sample photo date, a sample size date, a sample date, and a labeling date; and

a scheduling module comprising a scheduling processing device, the scheduling module configured to generate a schedule bar based on at least the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date via one or more processors, the scheduling module configured to transfer the scheduling bar to the computerized event management system via one or more processors;

the computerized event management system is configured to trigger an activity based on at least one of the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date exceeding an actual date via one or more processors;

wherein the second set of dates exceeding the actual date has no effect on the first set of dates;

the computerized event management system is configured to assign an identification number to each respective purchase order;

the computerized management system is configured to store the activity in a business warehouse;

the scheduling module is configured to merge dates generated at the item level prior to purchase order generation with the purchase order dates when the individual purchase order items correspond and create a data record in the schedule bar for individual purchase order items which do not correspond;

the scheduling module is configured to provide a schedule bar for each respective purchase order generated;

wherein a calculation of the purchase order generation date, the product delivery date, the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date are based on data from a vendor calendar, a logistics calendar, a distribution center logistics calendar, a store logistics calendar, an order cycle of an ordering retail site, and a delivery cycle of a recipient retail site; and

wherein the vendor calendar includes information regarding a work schedule of a vendor of a product to which the purchase order is related, the logistics calendar includes information regarding transportation routings, the distribution center logistics calendar includes information regarding a schedule of a distribution center to which the product is to be delivered, the store logistics calendar includes information regarding a schedule of a store in which the product is to be sold, and the delivery cycle indicates days on which the product is delivered to the recipient retail site.

9. The computerized event management system of claim 8, wherein the scheduling module is configured to utilize a main transportation time, a lead transportation time, and a post transportation time.

10. The computerized event management system of claim 8, further comprising a transportation module configured to calculate a transportation time, a lead transportation time, and a post transportation time of the transportation chain.

11. The computerized event management system of claim 8, further comprising a calendar module configured to be utilized by the scheduling module.

12. The computerized event management system of claim 8, further comprising a forecasting module configured to calculate an impact of a first date change on the other dates.

13. A program product for monitoring and managing procurement dates within a business enterprise, the program product comprising at least one machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon for causing, when executed, one or more machines to perform the following method steps:

generating, by a purchase order program module via one or more processors, at least one purchase order, the purchase order comprising a purchase order generation date and a product delivery date;

transferring the purchase order generation date and the product delivery date to the event management system;

calculating, by a calculation program module via one or more processors, a purchase order trigger date, a distribution center delivery date, and a store receipt date based on the product delivery date, the calculation program module configured to calculate dates based on product data;

calculating, by the calculation program module via one or more processors, a first set of dates based on the product delivery date and a second set of dates based on the product delivery date, the first set of dates comprising a material staging date, an issue date, an arrival date, a handover date, and a distribution center storage date, the second set of dates comprising an order confirmation date, a quotation sample date, a sample photo date, a sample size date, a sample date, and a labeling date;

generating, by a scheduling program module, a schedule bar based the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date via one or more processors;

providing by the schedule program module via one or more processors, the schedule bar in the event management system, the schedule bar comprising the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, the product delivery date, and the store receipt date;

triggering, by a procurement program module via one or more processors, an activity based on at least one of the distribution center delivery date, the product delivery date, and the store receipt date exceeding an actual date;

wherein the second set of dates exceeding the actual date has no effect on the first set of dates;

assigning an identification number to each respective purchase order;

storing the identification number in a business warehouse;

merging dates generated at the item level prior to purchase order generation with the purchase order dates when the individual purchase order items correspond and creating a data record in the schedule bar for individual purchase order items which do not correspond; and

providing a schedule bar for each respective purchase order generated;

wherein the calculation of the purchase order generation date, the product delivery date, the purchase order trigger date, the distribution center delivery date, and the store receipt date are based on data from a vendor calendar, a logistics calendar, a distribution center logistics calendar, a store logistics calendar, an order cycle of an ordering retail site, and a delivery cycle of a recipient retail site;

wherein the vendor calendar includes information regarding a work schedule of a vendor of a product to which the purchase order is related, the logistics calendar includes information regarding transportation routings, the distribution center logistics calendar includes information regarding a schedule of a distribution center to which the product is to be delivered, the store logistics calendar includes information regarding a schedule of a store in which the product is to be sold, and the delivery cycle indicates days on which the product is delivered to the recipient retail site.

14. The program product for monitoring and managing procurement dates of claim 13, further comprising changing a date.

15. The program product for monitoring and managing procurement dates of claim 13, further comprising the step of setting a reminder for at least one date.