Internal material system for facilitating material and asset movement within organizational infrastructures

• US 8,650,101 B1
• Filed: 10/03/2011
• Issued: 02/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TSN LLC
• Original Assignee: TSN LLC
• Inventors: Glustrom, Robert, Schafer, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Champagne, Luna
• Application Number:
  US13/252,086
• Time in Patent Office: 862 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Utilities that allow organizations to implement “best practices” life-cycle management, asset disposition and asset tracking with enhanced visibility and accountability. In one aspect, a utility for use with managing inventory within the infrastructure of a technology service provider includes receiving a first bill of materials (BOM) from a first physical location, accessing an asset inventory listing for the technology service provider, first allocating assets in the asset inventory listing associated with the first physical location to the quantity of the first requested part of the first line item, and second allocating assets in the asset inventory listing associated with one or more additional physical locations within the first market to the quantity of the first requested part responsive to the first using failing to result in fulfillment of the quantity of the first requested part of the first line item.

Claims

1. A method for managing inventory within the infrastructure of a technology service provider, the method comprising:

providing a database comprising a prioritized listing of bills of material (BOMs), wherein each BOM includes a plurality of line items, and wherein each line item represents a quantity of a part requested for at least one project within the infrastructure;

determining, by a processor, an estimated issue date (EID) for asset quantities of the infrastructure that are assigned to each line item of each BOM, wherein each EID represents the soonest that the assigned infrastructure asset quantities can fulfill the quantity of parts of the line item, wherein the prioritized listing of BOMs comprises first and second BOMs, wherein the first and second BOMs comprise first line items representing a first common part, wherein an infrastructure asset quantity assigned to the first line item of the first BOM has a sooner EID than does an infrastructure asset quantity assigned to the first line item of the second BOM;

positioning the second BOM in a new position above the first BOM in the prioritized listing of BOMs;

reassigning, in response to the positioning, infrastructure asset quantities of the common part that were previously assigned to line items of BOMs below the new position to the first line items of the second BOM, wherein after the reassigning, an infrastructure asset quantity allocated to the first line item of the second BOM has a sooner EID than does an infrastructure asset quantity allocated to the first line item of the first BOM.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second BOMs occupy the first two positions of priority in the prioritized listing of BOMs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second BOMs occupy other than the first two positions of priority in the prioritized listing of BOMs.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second BOMs comprise second line items representing a second common part;

wherein before the positioning, an infrastructure asset quantity allocated to the second line item of the first BOM has a sooner EID than does an infrastructure asset quantity allocated to the second line item of the second BOM; and

wherein after the assigning, an infrastructure asset quantity allocated to the second line item of the second BOM has a sooner EID than does an infrastructure asset quantity allocated to the second line item of the first BOM.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

binding an infrastructure asset quantity of a line item of a BOM of the prioritized listing of BOMs to the BOM to create a bound asset quantity, wherein the bound asset quantity is free from assignment to line items of other BOMs during the assigning.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein BOMs are prioritized in the prioritized listing of BOMs according to date of entry into the prioritized listing of BOMs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a position within the prioritized listing of BOMs occupied by the second BOM before the positioning comprises a former position, and wherein the reassigning further comprises reassigning, in response to the positioning, infrastructure asset quantities of the common part that were previously assigned to line items of BOMs above the former position to the first line items of the second BOM.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the prioritized listing of BOMs comprises one or more BOMs at one or more respective new positions between the former and new positions of the second BOM, and wherein the method further comprises:

reassigning, in response to the positioning, infrastructure asset quantities among the BOMs at the one or more respective new positions based on the new positions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the infrastructure asset quantities comprise at least one of available inventory, inventory that is in process to be delivered to a BOM originating location, and internal shipments between warehouses of the infrastructure.