Automated data warehouse for demand fulfillment system

• US 7,379,905 B2
• Filed: 05/01/2001
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dell Products (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Beebe, Melissa D., Fenner, Heather L., Jones, Kevin T.
• Primary Examiner(s): GORT, ELAINE L
• Application Number:
  US09/847,244
• Publication Number:
  US 20020165804A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,583 Days
• Field of Search: 703/22, 703/7
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31387 If resources, material, pieces under tolerance level, renew them until upper level
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32035 Compose, configure article and order
• 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: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 80/40 Minimising material used in manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

An automated data warehouse for a demand fulfillment system to provide current supply and demand for generating a work schedule and a material delivery schedule for manufacturing items built to customer order. The automated data warehouse includes outstanding customer orders for items as an accurate measure of current demand, and a current state of an available inventory of material for producing the items as an accurate measure of current supply. The automated data warehouse includes a continuously updated location of a quantity of material from the time the material is accepted into available inventory, during movements from one material source to another, throughout work-in-progress, until the time that the material is consumed. A work schedule and a material delivery schedule are generated periodically to keep up with consumption of materials and fulfillment of customer orders using the automated data warehouse as the source of current supply and demand.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling work and delivery of material for mass-producing items in a factory comprising:

obtaining at least one outstanding customer order, wherein each outstanding customer of the at least one outstanding customer order includes an item ordered by a customer, and producing the item requires a required quantity of a required material;

determining a current state of an available inventory of at least one material from a plurality of material sources; and

periodically generating a work schedule and a material delivery schedule on a tangible medium for producing the item using the at least one outstanding customer order and the current state of the available inventory, wherein

the periodically generating occurs at fixed time intervals;

the periodically generating occurs more than once during a manufacturing shift;

the determining the current state of the available inventory is performed such that the determining the current state of the available inventory is completed immediately prior to the generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule; and

the obtaining the at least one outstanding customer order is performed such that the obtaining the customer order is completed immediately prior to the generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein

the at least one outstanding customer order and the current state of the available inventory are posted continuously for the generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein

the at least one outstanding customer order and the current state of the available inventory are posted continuously to an automated data warehouse.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining the current state of the available inventory includes determining for each material of the at least one material of the available inventory:

a material source of the plurality of material sources from which the material can be obtained, wherein the material source is updated continuously;

an available quantity of the available material at the material source, wherein the available quantity is updated continuously; and

an availability time of the available quantity of the material at the material source to each operation of at least one operation of each manufacturing line of at least one manufacturing line of the factory, wherein the availability time is updated continuously.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein

the obtaining the at least one outstanding customer order includes using a status for each customer order of at least one customer order, wherein the status for each customer order is updated continuously;

and

the status for each outstanding customer order corresponds to an outstanding status.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein

the available inventory comprises external inventory.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein

the available inventory comprises work-in-progress inventory.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein

the available inventory comprises in-transit inventory.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein

the available inventory comprises in-house inventory.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein

the periodically generating the work schedule and the material schedule includes generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule every two hours.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein

the manufacturing shift comprises a number of hours less than or equal to eight;

and

the periodically generating the work schedule and the material schedule includes generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule a plurality of times during the manufacturing shift.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein

the plurality of material sources comprises an external material source, the external material source providing an external inventory of a first material of the at least one material of the available inventory;

and

the determining the available inventory of the material includes using an external visibility interface module to determine the available inventory of the first material in the external inventory.

13. A method for scheduling work and delivery of material for mass-producing information handling systems in a factory comprising:

obtaining a plurality of customer orders, each customer order of the plurality of customer orders including an ordered information handling system, each customer order specifying components for the a corresponding ordered information handling system, producing the information handling system ordered by the customer requiring a plurality of components, and at least one of the plurality of components varying from one ordered information handling system and another ordered information handling system based upon components specified by the customer order;

determining a current state of an available inventory of at least one component from a plurality of component sources; and

periodically generating a work schedule and a material delivery schedule on a tangile medium for producing the ordered information handling system using the customer order and the current state of the available inventory, wherein

the determining the current state of the available inventory is performed such that the determining the current state of the available inventory is completed immediately prior to the generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule; and

the obtaining each of the plurality of customer orders is performed such that the obtaining the plurality of customer orders is completed immediately prior to the generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein

the customer order and the current state of the available inventory are posted continuously for the generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein

the customer order and the current state of the available inventory are posted continuously to an automated data warehouse.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the determining the current state of the available inventory includes

determining a current state of the available inventory for each component of the plurality of components;

a component source of the plurality of component sources from which the component can be obtained, wherein the component source is updated continuously;

an available quantity of the available component at the component source, wherein the available quantity is updated continuously; and

an availability time of the available quantity of the component at the component source to each operation of at least one operation of each manufacturing line of at least one manufacturing line of the factory, wherein the availability time is updated continuously.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein

the obtaining the customer order includes using a status for each customer order, wherein the status for each customer order is updated continuously;

and

the status for each customer order corresponds to an outstanding status.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein

the available inventory comprises external inventory.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein

the available inventory comprises work-in-progress inventory.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein

the available inventory comprises in-transit inventory.

21. The method of claim 13 wherein

the available inventory comprises in-house inventory.

22. The method of claim 13 wherein

the periodically generating the work schedule and the material schedule includes generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule every two hours.

23. The method of claim 13 wherein

a manufacturing shift comprises a number of hours less than or equal to eight;

and

the periodically generating the work schedule and the material schedule includes generating the work schedule and the material delivery schedule a plurality of times during the manufacturing shift.

24. The method of claim 13 wherein

the plurality of component sources comprises an external component source, the external component source providing an external inventory of the a first component;

and

the determining the available inventory of the component includes using an external visibility interface module to determine the available inventory of the first component in the external inventory.