Continuous flow execution

• US 8,725,594 B1
• Filed: 11/30/2001
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PTC Inc.
• Original Assignee: PTC Inc.
• Inventors: Davies, John Merrow, Bringle, Michael Paul, Flon, Lawrence, Smith, Talbot T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thein, M.
• Application Number:
  US09/998,698
• Time in Patent Office: 4,547 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• 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: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system that facilitates continuous flow execution of orders is provided. The system includes a supply chain data store that stores supply chain data (e.g., inventory, supply, demand) and a data acceptor operable to receive the supply chain data from supply chain members, to conform the supply chain data to supply chain schema and to validate the supply chain data. The system also includes an inventory deployment analyzer that analyzes a user defined inventory network and accounts for the stored supply chain data to produce inventory transfer recommendations, transfer orders, alerts and/or a diversion order.

Claims

1. A method for providing continuous flow execution of orders, the method comprising:

accepting, by a computing device, a cycle comprising a distribution network, an active product set, a category set and a plurality of sharing rules, wherein

the distribution network comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein the plurality of nodes represent a set of facilities that are linked to one another in a directed acyclic graph;

the active product set comprises a plurality of active products,

the category set comprises a plurality of supply categories and a plurality of demand categories wherein

each of the plurality of supply categories is associated with a respective one of a plurality of supply chain members and a respective one of the plurality of nodes and comprises a supply formula for calculating a quantity of supply of the active product set available from the respective one of the plurality of nodes, each of the supply categories being conformed to a common schema from multiple different supply chain data, and

each of the plurality of demand categories is associated with a respective one of the plurality of supply chain members and a respective one of the plurality of nodes and comprises a demand formula for calculating a quantity of demand for the active product set from the respective one of the plurality of nodes;

transforming the demand categories to a common format associated with one or more supply chain common schema;

matching the plurality of supply categories to the plurality of demand categories to produce a plurality of matched pairs, each matched pair comprising a respective one of the plurality of supply categories and a respective matching one of the plurality of demand categories, wherein the node associated with the one of the plurality of supply categories is adjacent within the directed acyclic graph to the node associated with the respective matching one of the plurality of demand categories;

prioritizing the plurality of matched pairs;

determining, using the computing device, for each matching pair, the quantity of supply for the node associated with the respective supply category using the respective supply formula and the quantity of demand for the node associated with the respective demand category using the respective demand formula;

balancing, using the computing device, the supply and demand for the plurality of nodes in the inventory network;

generating one or more inventory transfer recommendations; and

transmitting, over at least one network, the transfer recommendations to one or more of the plurality of the plurality of supply chain members affected by the transfer recommendations, wherein the transfer recommendations result in the automatic transfer of items to substantially match the balanced supply and demand for the plurality of nodes.

2. The method of claim 1 where balancing the supply and demand in the inventory network comprises:

for each of at least a first subset of the plurality of nodes;

determining a total supply of a product at the respective node;

determining a total demand for the product at the respective node;

determining a balancing multiplier, where the balancing multiplier is related to the ratio between the total supply of the product at the respective node and the total demand for the product at the respective node;

accepting one or more demand requests from a second subset of the plurality of nodes asking a third subset of the plurality of nodes for a first quantity of a product;

the third subset of the plurality of nodes offering a fair share of the product to the one or more demand nodes; and

the second subset of the plurality of nodes ordering a second quantity of the product, where the second quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity and where the second quantity is related to the first quantity by the balancing multiplier.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in a linked list.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in a heap.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in a stack.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in an array.

7. A method for providing continuous flow execution of orders, the method comprising:

accepting, over at least one network, one or more supply categories conformed to supply chain data with one or more common schema received from a plurality of supply chain members, wherein each of the one or more supply categories is associated with a respective one of the plurality of supply chain members and a respective one of a plurality of nodes and comprises a supply formula for calculating a quantity of supply of an active product set available from the respective one of the plurality of nodes;

permitting access to the conformed supply chain data by a plurality of the multiple supply chain members via at least one network;

establishing one or more relationships between a first supply chain member and one or more second supply chain members of the multiple supply chain members, such that the respective nodes associated with the first supply member and the second supply member wherein the first supply chain member and one or more second supply chain members represent a set of facilities that are linked in a directed acyclic graph;

accepting, over at least one network, one or more demand categories from a plurality of the multiple supply chain members, wherein each of the one or more demand categories is associated with a respective one of the plurality of supply chain members and a respective one of a plurality of nodes and comprises a demand formula for calculating a quantity of demand for the active product set from the respective one of the plurality of nodes;

transforming the demand categories to a common format associated with one or more supply chain common schema;

matching the one or more supply categories to the one or more demand categories to produce one or more matched pairs, each matched pair comprising a respective one of the one or more supply categories and a respective matching one of one or more demand categories, wherein the node associated with the one of the plurality of supply categories is adjacent within the directed acyclic graph to the node associated with the respective matching one of the plurality of demand categories;

prioritizing the one or more matched pairs;

determining, using the computing device, for each matching pair, the quantity of supply for the node associated with the respective supply category using the respective supply formula and the quantity of demand for the node associated with the respective demand category using the respective demand formula;

balancing, using a processor, the supply and demand in the inventory network;

generating one or more inventory transfer recommendations; and

reporting over at least one network the one or more inventory transfer recommendations to supply chain members of the multiple supply chain members with access to the conformed supply chain data, wherein the transfer recommendations result in the automatic transfer of items to substantially match the balanced supply and demand for the plurality of nodes.

8. The method of claim 7 where balancing the supply and demand in the inventory network comprises:

for each of at least a first subset of the plurality of nodes;

determining a total supply of a product at the respective node;

determining a total demand for the product at the respective node;

determining a balancing multiplier, where the balancing multiplier is related to the ratio between the total supply of the product at the respective node and the total demand for the product at the respective node;

accepting one or more demand requests from a second subset of the plurality of nodes asking a third subset of the plurality of nodes for a first quantity of a product;

the third subset of the plurality of nodes offering a fair share of the product to the one or more demand nodes; and

the second subset of the plurality of nodes ordering a second quantity of the product, where the second quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity and where the second quantity is related to the first quantity by the balancing multiplier.

9. The method of claim 8 where balancing further comprises reporting wherein the one or more inventory transfer recommendations to one or more supply chain members configures the sourcing facilitating optimization as between the supply chain members via access to the conformed supply chain data to ask at least one of the supply chain members to accept a purchase order.

10. The method of claim 8 where balancing further comprises reporting wherein the one or more inventory transfer recommendations to one or more supply chain members configures the sourcing facilitating optimization as between the supply chain members via access to the conformed supply chain data to ask at least one of the supply chain members for an inventory hold for a supplier configurable amount by at least one of the supply chain members of time before the inventory is released.

11. The method of claim 7 where balancing further comprises reporting wherein the one or more inventory transfer recommendations to one or more supply chain members configures the sourcing facilitating optimization as between the supply chain members via access to the conformed supply chain data to ask at least one of the supply chain members to accept a purchase order.

12. The method of claim 7 where balancing further comprises reporting wherein the one or more inventory transfer recommendations to one or more supply chain members configures the sourcing facilitating optimization as between the supply chain members via access to the conformed supply chain data to ask at least one of the supply chain members for an inventory hold for a supplier configurable amount by at least one of the supply chain members of time before the inventory is released.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in a linked list.

14. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in a heap.

15. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in a stack.

16. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of nodes are linked to one another in an array.