Forecasting supply chain components

• US 9,721,295 B1
• Filed: 03/26/2012
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Miller, Kevin C., Eakle, Jeffrey S., Armato, Steven S., Norwood, Jonathan B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Glass, Shay S
• Application Number:
  US13/430,231
• Time in Patent Office: 1,954 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for generating an interface for communication of at least one supply chain associated with an order that comprises forecast completion times for components of the at least one supply chain. The interface includes nodes that are associated with components of the at least one supply chain. The nodes within the interface are linked, wherein each link connects two of the nodes and indicates a relationship between the corresponding components of the at least one supply chain. The nodes and the links are arranged into a rooted tree within the interface, wherein the rooted tree represents the organization of the components of the at least one supply chain.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein, when executed, the program causes the at least one computing device to perform a method comprising:

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, order data that expresses an order for an item and comprises at least one supply chain identifier associated with the order;

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, supply chain data corresponding to the at least one supply chain identifier, wherein the supply chain data comprises an organization of a plurality of components of at least one supply chain and a proposed completion time for at least one of the components;

generating, by the at least one computing device, a forecast completion time for the at least one of the components of the at least one supply chain associated with the order of the item based at least upon historical completion time performance data on a plurality of prior orders associated with the at least one of the components;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a graphical user-interface (GUI) for display via a network page of the at least one supply chain;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of nodes within the GUI, wherein individual ones of the nodes are associated with a respective one of the components of the at least one supply chain and the individual ones of the nodes

display the proposed completion time and the forecast completion time of the respective one of the components;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of links within the GUI, wherein at least one of the links indicates a relationship between two of the nodes;

arranging, by the at least one computing device, the nodes and the links into a tree within the GUI, wherein the tree represents the organization of the components of the at least one supply chain; and

adjusting, by the at least one computing device, the tree dynamically in the GUI to display a detailed view of the individual ones of the nodes in response to receiving data from a client device that indicates a location of a pointer on the GUI being near at least one of the nodes, the detailed view comprising additional components associated with the individual ones of the nodes, the additional components comprising at least one of a lower-tier component or a raw material component.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the order data comprises a plurality of supply chain identifiers.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises modifying, by the at least one computing device, a color of the individual ones of the nodes corresponding to the components having the forecast completion time subsequent to the proposed completion time.

4. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein, when executed, the program causes the at least one computing device to perform a method comprising;

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, order data that expresses an order for an item and comprises at least one supply chain identifier associated with the order;

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, supply chain data corresponding to the at least one supply chain identifier, wherein the supply chain data comprises an organization of a plurality of components of at least one supply chain and a proposed completion time for at least one of the components;

generating, by the at least one computing device, a forecast completion time for the at least one of the components of the at least one supply chain associated with the order of the item based at least upon historical completion time performance data on a plurality of prior orders associated with the at least one of the components;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a graphical user-interface (GUI) for display via a network page of the at least one supply chain;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of nodes within the GUI, wherein individual ones of the nodes are associated with a respective one of the components of the at least one supply chain and the individual ones of the nodes

display the proposed completion time and the forecast completion time of the respective one of the components;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of links within the GUI, wherein at least one of the links indicates a relationship between two of the nodes;

arranging, by the at least one computing device, the nodes and the links into a tree within the GUI, wherein the tree represents the organization of the components of the at least one supply chain; and

adjusting, by the at least one computing device, the tree dynamically in the GUI to display a detailed view of the individual ones of the nodes in response to receiving data from a client device that indicates a location of a pointer on the GUI being near at least one of the nodes, the detailed view comprising additional components associated with the individual ones of the nodes, the additional components comprising at least one of a lower-tier component or a raw material component.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the attributes comprise the forecast completion time for the respective one of the components.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the attributes further comprise a proposed completion time for the respective one of the components.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein individual ones of the nodes have assigned one of a plurality of indicators corresponding to a differential between the forecast completion time and the proposed completion time.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

responding, by the at least one computing device, to client device data requesting replacement of one of the components of the at least one supply chain with a substitute component based at least upon the client device data being received from the user interface; and

calculating, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of modifications to the forecast completion time for individual ones of the components of the at least one supply chain located subsequent to the substitute component.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the historical completion time performance data further comprises a failure rate.

10. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

responding, by the at least one computing device, to client device data obtained from the user interface requesting additional ones of the attributes of a selected one of the nodes; and

generating, by the at least one computing device, via the user interface, a remaining portion of the attributes of the selected one of the nodes.

11. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

responding, by the at least one computing device, to client device data obtained from the user interface requesting a change in a level of detail of the at least one supply chain;

determining, by the at least one computing device, an adjustment to the nodes and the links, wherein the adjustment is based at least upon the change requested in the level of detail of the at least one supply chain; and

generating, by the at least one computing device, via the user interface, an update to the nodes and the links, wherein the update is based at least upon the adjustment.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, via the user interface, an actual completion time for a respective one of the components of the at least one supply chain associated with the order; and

storing, by the at least one computing device, an update to the historical completion time performance data based at least upon the actual completion time.

13. A method, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein, when executed, the program causes the at least one computing device to perform a method comprising;

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, order data that expresses an order for an item and comprises at least one supply chain identifier associated with the order;

obtaining, by the at least one computing device, supply chain data corresponding to the at least one supply chain identifier, wherein the supply chain data comprises an organization of a plurality of components of at least one supply chain and a proposed completion time for at least one of the components;

generating, by the at least one computing device, a forecast completion time for the at least one of the components of the at least one supply chain associated with the order of the item based at least upon historical completion time performance data on a plurality of prior orders associated with the at least one of the components;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a graphical user-interface (GUI) for display via a network page of the at least one supply chain;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of nodes within the GUI, wherein individual ones of the nodes are associated with a respective one of the components of the at least one supply chain and the individual ones of the nodes

display the proposed completion time and the forecast completion time of the respective one of the components;

encoding, by the at least one computing device, a plurality of links within the GUI, wherein at least one of the links indicates a relationship between two of the nodes;

arranging, by the at least one computing device, the nodes and the links into a tree within the GUI, wherein the tree represents the organization of the components of the at least one supply chain; and

adjusting, by the at least one computing device, the tree dynamically in the GUI to display a detailed view of the individual ones of the nodes in response to receiving data from a client device that indicates a location of a pointer on the GUI being near at least one of the nodes, the detailed view comprising additional components associated with the individual ones of the nodes, the additional components comprising at least one of a lower-tier component or a raw material component.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the historical completion time performance data further comprises a late completion rate for the at least one of the components.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein an inventory of the at least one of the components reduces a statistical weight of the respective late completion rate used in calculating the respective forecast completion time.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

obtaining, via the user interface in the at least one computing device, input

requesting a change in a level of detail displayed of the at least one supply chain;

determining, in the at least one computing device, an adjustment to the nodes and the links, wherein the adjustment is based at least upon the change requested in the level of detail of the at least one supply chain; and

generating, in the at least one computing device, an update to the nodes and the links via the user interface, wherein the update is based at least upon the adjustment.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein individual ones of the nodes are associated with a proposed completion time.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the proposed completion time is modified to approximate the forecast completion time.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the individual ones of the nodes have assigned one of a plurality of indicators corresponding to a differential between the forecast completion time and the proposed completion time.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

obtaining, via the user interface in the at least one computing device, an

actual completion time for a respective one of the components of the at least one supply chain associated with the order; and

storing, in a memory accessible to the at least one computing device, an update to the historical completion time performance data based at least upon the actual completion time.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one supply chain is associated with a plurality of permissions, wherein the permissions restrict communication of a supplier name associated with a portion of the components.

22. The method of claim 13, further comprising responding, in the at least one computing device, to client device data requesting replacement of one of the components of the at least one supply chain with a substitute component.