Inventory management

• US 9,129,276 B1
• Filed: 11/02/2011
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Fasoli, Jonathan David, Kerman, Amy M., Gador, Brandon, Dorsch, William Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, Ryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): BUCHANAN, CHRISTOPHER R
• Application Number:
  US13/287,926
• Time in Patent Office: 1,406 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring

Abstract

A method for inventory management. The method includes: obtaining a first invoice sent from a supplier to a first merchant; capturing, by a computer processor, a first set of inventory data from fields on the first invoice; updating a template for the supplier based on capturing the first set of inventory data, where the template includes locations of the fields on the first invoice; obtaining a second invoice sent from the supplier to a second merchant, where the second invoice includes the fields; and capturing, after updating the template and by the computer processor, a second set of inventory data from the fields on the second invoice using the template, where the second set of inventory data includes a quantity of a product purchased from the supplier, and where an inventory database of the second merchant is updated with the quantity of the product.

Claims

1. A method for inventory management, comprising:

obtaining a first invoice sent from a supplier to a first merchant;

capturing, by the computer processor, a plurality of labels and a plurality of fields on the first invoice,

wherein the plurality of labels describe a plurality of attributes of a first product purchased from the supplier, and

wherein the plurality of fields on the first invoice comprise a plurality of attributes values of the first product;

defining, by the computer processor, a plurality of field location coordinates of the plurality of fields on the first invoice;

defining, by the computer processor, a plurality of region location coordinates of a region on the first invoice,

wherein the region corresponds to a grouping of a subset of the plurality of fields, and

wherein the region location coordinates specify the edges of the region of the first invoice;

storing, using the plurality of labels, in a template for the supplier, the plurality of region location coordinates and the plurality of field location coordinates;

obtaining a second invoice sent from the supplier to a second merchant, wherein the second invoice comprises the plurality of fields;

capturing, from the plurality of fields on the second invoice, after storing in the template, and by the computer processor, a plurality of attribute values of a second product purchased from the supplier using the template; and

updating an entry, for the second product, in an inventory database of the second merchant with the plurality of attribute values of the second product captured using the template.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the second invoice comprises:

receiving, from a representative of the second merchant, an email message comprising the second invoice; and

extracting the second invoice from the email message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the plurality of fields to the user; and

receiving a confirmation of the plurality of fields from the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the second invoice comprises receiving an image of the second invoice taken by a mobile device, and wherein capturing the plurality of attribute values of the second product comprises performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the image.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving, after obtaining the second invoice, the template from an inventory management database.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device, an image of a barcode corresponding to the product;

extracting a product identifier of the product from the barcode;

mapping the product identifier to the product;

identifying, by the inventory database, a current inventory of the product using the product identifier; and

adding the quantity of the product to the current inventory.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, for the second merchant, an average time period between periodic orders from the supplier;

detecting that the average time period has elapsed since a latest order from the supplier; and

sending a notification to the user that the time period has elapsed, wherein the notification comprises an option to submit a new order to the supplier.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying a current inventory of the product in the inventory database; and

determining that the current inventory is below a predefined inventory threshold, wherein sending the notification is in response to determining that the current inventory is below the predefined inventory threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

aggregating, prior to obtaining the second invoice, a plurality of invoices from a plurality of suppliers into an inventory management database, wherein the plurality of suppliers comprises the supplier;

identifying, after receiving the second invoice, a list of competing suppliers from the plurality of suppliers; and

sending the list of competing suppliers to the second merchant.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

calculating an average cost of the product based on the plurality of invoices; and

sending the average cost to the second merchant with the list of competing suppliers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first invoice is received from a mobile device of a representative of the first merchant.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the inventory database is part of a point of sale (POS) system used by the second merchant.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second invoice is obtained by a web interface of a web application.

14. A system for inventory management, comprising:

a processor;

an inventory management database comprising a template for a supplier; and

an inventory management server executing on the processor and configured to;

obtain a first invoice sent from supplier to a first merchant;

capture a plurality of labels and a plurality of fields on the first invoice,

wherein the plurality of labels describe a plurality of attributes of a first product purchased from the supplier, and

wherein the plurality of fields on the first invoice comprise a plurality of attribute values of the first product;

define a plurality of field location coordinates of the plurality of fields on the first invoice;

define a plurality of region location coordinates of a region on the first invoice,

wherein the region corresponds to a grouping of a subset of the plurality of fields, and

wherein the region location coordinates specify the edges of the region of the first invoice;

storing, using the plurality of labels, in the template for the supplier, the plurality of region location coordinates and the plurality of field location coordinates;

obtain a second invoice sent from the supplier to a second merchant, wherein the second invoice comprises the plurality of fields;

capture, from the plurality of fields on the second invoice and after storing in the template, a plurality of attribute values of a second product purchased from the supplier using the template; and

update an entry, for the second product, in an inventory database of the second merchant with the plurality of attribute values of the second product captured using the template.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

an analytics engine executing on the processor and configured to;

aggregate, prior to obtaining the second invoice, a plurality of invoices from a plurality of suppliers into an inventory management database, wherein the plurality of suppliers comprises the supplier;

identify, after receiving the second invoice, a list of competing suppliers from the plurality of suppliers; and

send the list of competing suppliers to the second merchant.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the analytics engine is further configured to:

calculate an average cost of the product based on the plurality of invoices; and

send the average cost to the second merchant with the list of competing suppliers.

17. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

the inventory database comprising a current inventory of the product and configured to;

identify the current inventory of the product using a product identifier; and

add the quantity of the product to the current inventory.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the inventory management server is further configured to:

send the plurality of fields to the user; and

receive a confirmation of the plurality of fields from the user.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the inventory management server is further configured to:

receive, from a mobile device, an image of a barcode corresponding to the product;

extract the product identifier of the product from the barcode; and

map the product identifier to the product.

20. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a mobile device configured to obtain an image of the second invoice, wherein capturing the plurality of attribute values of the second product comprises performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the image.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein obtaining the second invoice comprises:

receiving, from a representative of the second merchant, an email message comprising the second invoice; and

extracting the second invoice from the email message.

22. The system of claim 14, wherein the inventory management server is further configured to:

retrieve, after obtaining the second invoice, the template from the inventory management database;

update the template for the supplier based on capturing the second plurality of inventory data; and

store the template in the inventory management database after updating the template based on the second plurality of inventory data.

23. The system of claim 14, wherein the inventory management server is further configured to:

identify, for the second merchant, an average time period between periodic orders from the supplier;

detect that the average time period has elapsed since a latest order from the supplier; and

send a notification to the user that the time period has elapsed, wherein the notification comprises an option to submit a new order to the supplier.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the inventory management server is further configured to:

identify a current inventory of the product in the inventory database; and

determine that the current inventory is below a predefined inventory threshold, wherein sending the notification is in response to determining that the current inventory is below the predefined inventory threshold.

25. The system of claim 14, wherein the first invoice is received from a mobile device of a representative of the first merchant.

26. The system of claim 14, wherein the inventory database is part of a point of sale (POS) system used by the second merchant.

27. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a web application comprising a web interface configured to upload the first invoice and the second invoice to the inventory management server.

28. The system of claim 14, wherein the inventory management server comprises the inventory management database.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for inventory management, the plurality of instructions when executed by a computer processor cause the computer processor to:

obtain a first invoice sent from a supplier to a first merchant, wherein the first invoice has a plurality of edges;

capture, by the computer processor, a plurality of labels and a plurality of fields on the first invoice,

wherein the plurality of labels describe a plurality of attributes of a first product purchased from the supplier, and

wherein the plurality of fields on the first invoice comprise a plurality of attribute values of the first product;

define a plurality of field location coordinates of the plurality of fields on the first invoice;

define a plurality of region location coordinates of a region on the first invoice,

wherein the region corresponds to a grouping of a subset of the plurality of fields, and

wherein the region location coordinates specify the edges of the region of the first invoice;

storing, using the plurality of labels, in a template for the supplier, the plurality of region location coordinates and the plurality of field location coordinates;

obtain a second invoice sent from the supplier to a second merchant, wherein the second invoice comprises the plurality of fields;

capture, from the plurality of fields on the second invoice and after storing in the template and by the computer processor, a plurality of attribute values of a second product purchased from the supplier using the template; and

update an entry, for the second product, in an inventory database of the second merchant with the plurality of attribute values of the second product captured using the template.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein obtaining the second invoice comprises:

receiving, from a representative of the second merchant, an email message comprising the second invoice; and

extracting the second invoice from the email message.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

displaying the plurality of fields to the user; and

receiving a confirmation of the plurality of fields from the user.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein obtaining the second invoice comprises receiving an image of the second invoice taken by a mobile device, and wherein capturing the plurality of attribute values of the second product comprises performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the image.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

retrieve, after obtaining the second invoice, the template from an inventory management database.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

receive, from a mobile device, an image of a barcode corresponding to the product;

extract a product identifier of the product from the barcode;

map the product identifier to the product;

identify, by the inventory database, a current inventory of the product using the product identifier; and

add the quantity of the product to the current inventory.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

identify, for the second merchant, an average time period between periodic orders from the supplier;

detect that the average time period has elapsed since a latest order from the supplier; and

send a notification to the user that the time period has elapsed, wherein the notification comprises an option to submit a new order to the supplier.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 35, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

identify a current inventory of the product in the inventory database; and

determine that the current inventory is below a predefined inventory threshold, wherein sending the notification is in response to determining that the current inventory is below the predefined inventory threshold.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

aggregate, prior to obtaining the second invoice, a plurality of invoices from a plurality of suppliers into an inventory management database, wherein the plurality of suppliers comprises the supplier;

identify, after receiving the second invoice, a list of competing suppliers from the plurality of suppliers; and

send the list of competing suppliers to the second merchant.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 37, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

calculate an average cost of the product based on the plurality of invoices; and

send the average cost to the second merchant with the list of competing suppliers.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the first invoice is received from a mobile device of a representative of the first merchant.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the inventory database is part of a point of sale (POS) system used by the second merchant.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the second invoice is obtained by a web interface of a web application.