Supply chain reservation

• US 8,170,899 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2002
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Chorley, Jon S., Bhatia, Milan
• Primary Examiner(s): LOFTIS, JOHNNA RONEE
• Application Number:
  US10/158,175
• Publication Number:
  US 20030233262A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,625 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8, 705/7, 705/1, 705/7.22
• US Class Current: 705/7.22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A method for managing a supply chain which provides for mapping each demand and its respective source of supply. The method entails attaching a reservation between a demand and a supply. The reservation is updated as the status of the source of supply changes. As a result, the user has complete visibility for modeling the entire supply chain as material moves from one location to another.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for managing a supply chain, comprising:

receiving a first demand at a computer system;

determining, by a processor of the computer system, a first source of a first supply for satisfying the first demand;

creating, by the processor of the computer system, a first reservation linking the first supply from the first source to the first demand, the first reservation reserving the first supply to the first demand;

responsive to the first supply being unavailable;

setting, by the processor of the computer system, a status of the first reservation to indicate that the first demand is unsatisfied;

creating, by the processor of the computer system, a second reservation linking a second demand to a requisition for the second supply;

identifying, by the processor of the computer system, a second source of a second supply that satisfies the second demand;

responsive to identifying the second source that satisfies the second demand, setting, by the processor of the computer system, a status of the second reservation to indicate that the second source satisfies the second demand; and

responsive to the status of the second reservation indicating that the second source satisfies the second demand, setting, by the processor of the computer system, the status of the first reservation to indicate that the first source satisfies the first demand.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first demand requires more than one supply, further performing each of said steps of creating, identifying, and setting for each additional supply required by the first demand.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein there are one or more competing demands, further comprising prioritizing, by the processor of the computer system, the competing demands.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein there are one or more sources of the first supply, further comprising preferencing, by the processor of the computer system, the sources.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor of the computer system, information concerning the status of the supply chain transaction; and

updating, by the processor of the computer system, the first reservation based upon the status of the supply chain transaction.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first reservation and the second reservation provide traceability of the supply chain.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first supply comprises a first item or a first service; and

the second supply comprises a second item or a second service.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first reservation contains information concerning the first demand.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising updating, by the processor of the computer system, the information contained in the first reservation in response to a change of status of the first demand.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the first reservation contains information concerning the first supply.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising updating, by the processor of the computer system, the information contained in the first reservation in response to a change of status of the first supply.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first demand and second demand are not parts of the same demand.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein sequentially the second source of the second supply satisfies the second demand making the first source of the first supply available so that the first source of the first supply satisfies the first demand.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first source of the first supply comprises a work order.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first source of the first supply comprises a requisition.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second source of the second supply comprises a work order.

17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first demand comprises a work order.

18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the status of the first reservation is set to indicate that the first demand is unsatisfied based upon the first source being an intangible source of supply.

19. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining that the second source satisfies the second demand further comprises determining, by the processor of the computer system, that the second source is an actual source of supply.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for a computer system, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a series of instructions executable by a processor to manage allocation in a supply chain, the series of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to receive a first demand;

instructions that cause the processor to determine a first source of a first supply for satisfying the first demand;

instructions that cause the processor to create a first reservation linking the first demand and the first supply from the first source, the first reservation reserving the first supply to the first demand;

instructions that, responsive to the first supply being unavailable;

cause the processor to set a status of the first reservation to indicate that the first demand is unsatisfied;

cause the processor to create a second reservation linking a second demand to a requisition for the second supply from the second source;

cause the processor to identify a second source of a second supply that satisfies the second demand;

cause the processor to, responsive to identifying the second source that satisfies the second demand, set a status of the second reservation to indicate that the second source satisfies the second demand; and

cause the processor to, responsive to the status of the second reservation indicating that the second source satisfies the second demand, set the status of the first reservation to indicate that the first source satisfies the first demand.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to receive information concerning the status of the supply chain transaction; and

instructions that cause the processor to update the first reservation based upon the status of the supply chain transaction.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to provide traceability of the supply chain transaction.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein:

the first supply comprises a first item or a first service; and

the second supply comprises a second item or a second service.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the first reservation contains information concerning the first demand.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 24, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to update the information contained in the first reservation in response to a change of status of the first demand.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the first reservation contains information concerning the first supply.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 26, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to update the information contained in the first reservation in response to a change of status of the first supply.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein said first reservation reduces contention for the first supply from the first source.

29. A computer implemented method of modeling a supply chain, the method comprising:

by a computer system, determining each demand;

by the computer system, determining each source of supply for each demand, wherein a source of supply is also a second demand when the source of supply is not available and satisfaction of each second demand causes the corresponding source of supply to be available to satisfy the corresponding demand;

creating, by the computer system, a reservation between each source of supply and each corresponding demand and storing said reservation in a memory of the computer, each reservation including a status that indicates whether the source of supply linked by the reservation satisfies the demand linked by the reservation;

responsive to the status of each demand linked by one or more reservations to a prior demand indicating that the demand is satisfied, setting, by the computer system, the status of a reservation linked directly to the prior demand to indicate that the prior demand is satisfied.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the reservations transfer along the model of supply chain as corresponding supplies are allocated to corresponding demands.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein information contained in the reservations is updated in response to changes in the demands and supplies.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the reservations are saved as a transaction history.

33. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the reservations provide an end-to-end mapping of the supply chain.

34. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the reservation comprises a business object stored in the memory of the computer system.