ADVANCED MATERIAL TRACKING SYSTEM (AMTS)

• US 20090261165A1
• Filed: 04/17/2008
• Published: 10/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Original Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: Lim, Ai Lee, Goh, Hack Meng
• Granted Patent: US 9,047,579 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• 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 tracking and reporting material movements and responding to material movements. Tracked-components are assigned a component identifier which can be associated with a location. The identifier is associated with a first location, and in response to a movement trigger, the location associated with the identifier is updated to a second location. A component can be comprised of multiple sub-components, each of which itself is a tracked component. When the location of the component is updated, the location of each sub-component is similarly updated. Each update of the location of a component can trigger reports or other actions within the system.

Claims

1. A method of tracking and reporting material movements, comprising the steps of:

assigning a plurality of component identifier with a plurality of respective tracked-components, each of the plurality of component identifiers being associated with a location;

associating a particular component identifier with a first location;

updating the location of the particular component identifier to a second location in response to a movement trigger.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of tracked-components comprises an assembly having multiple sub-components, each sub-component being a tracked-component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of updating the location of the particular component comprises the step of updating the location of the component identifier of each of the sub-components of the assembly.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing an interface for a user to view the inventory status of a user-specified component or a user-specified sub-assembly.

5. The method of claim 1 updating of the location comprises the steps of:

modifying a database associated with the first location to indicate the component is not located at the first location; and

modifying a database associated with the second location to indicate the component is located at the second location.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of recording a timestamp associated with the updating step.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a location log, the location log recording the first location and the second location associated with the particular component identifier; and

analyzing component usage based on the location log.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of analyzing the movement of the particular component based on the location log.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the component identifiers comprise a scannable identifier.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of scanning the identifier of the particular component when the particular component passes by a sensor, wherein the updating step is performed in response to the scanning step.

11. A system for tracking and reporting material component movements, comprising:

a plurality of tracked-components, each of the plurality of tracked-components being at a location;

a computer having a database, processor, and computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program configured to

associate a component identifier with each of the plurality of tracked components and a location;

store in the database the plurality of component identifiers and the associated location,

associate a particular one of the plurality of component identifiers with a first location;

update the location of the particular component identifier to a second location in response to a movement trigger.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising an assembly, the assembly being a tracked component and having a plurality of sub-components, each sub-component being a tracked-component.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer program is further configured to update the location of the assembly and, in response to updating the location of the assembly update the location of the component identifier of each of the sub-components of the assembly.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer program is further configured to verify the tracked-component identifiers against a resource database.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the movement trigger includes automated scanning of component identifier associated with the particular component.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising an interface configured to present to a user a view of the inventory status of at least one of a user-specified component and a user-specified sub-assembly.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer program is configured to update the location includes modifying a database associated with the first location to indicate the component is not located at the first location, and modifying a database associated with the second location to indicate the component is located at the second location.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer program is further configured to record a timestamp associated with the updated location.

19. The system of claim 11, further comprising a location log, the location log recording the first location and the second location associated with the particular component identifier, wherein the computer program is further configured to generate the location log.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer program is further configured to analyze component usage based on the location log and analyze the movement of the particular component based on the location log.

21. The system of claim 11, wherein the component identifiers comprise a scannable identifier.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a plurality of sensors, each sensor configured to scan component identifiers, wherein the computer program is further configured to update the location in response to one of the plurality of sensors scanning one of the plurality of component identifiers passing by a sensor.