System and method for allocating manufactured products to sellers using profitable order promising

• US 9,916,550 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2013
• Issued: 03/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blue Yonder Group, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: JDA Software Group Incorporated (RedPrairie Holding Incorporated)
• Inventors: Murugan, Arvindh
• Primary Examiner(s): Iwarere, Oluseye
• Application Number:
  US13/735,658
• Publication Number:
  US 20130124252A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,891 Days
• Field of Search: 705 28
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for allocating products to one or more sellers. The system includes a database operable to store data associated with one or more enterprises. The system further includes an order promising system coupled with the database and operable to model the flow of the products through the one or more enterprises and allocate resources to the one or more sellers based on the modeled flow of the products.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a supply chain network comprising one or more supply chain entities and one or more seller systems;

a database comprising enterprise data and a seller hierarchy model representing the one or more seller systems;

a graphical user interface;

an order promising system tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and coupled with the database, the order promising system configured to;

determine a priority of one or more seller systems based on the seller hierarchy model;

receive data over a computer network from the one or more supply chain entities comprising the amount of available-to-promise buckets over a time horizon;

allocate to each seller system of the one or more seller systems in the hierarchy, an allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon, the allocation comprising a retained allocation and a local pool allocation, wherein one or more parameters is coupled to the local pool allocation, and each of the one or more parameters comprises a threshold for releasing the local pool allocation;

display the allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon on the graphical user interface;

constantly monitor the supply chain network for a customer demand received over the computer network by one of the one or more seller systems comprising a due date;

adjust the one or more parameters based on one or more of a change in demand; and

responsive to the customer demand, release the customer demand over the computer network to the one of the one or more seller systems by;

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the available-to-promise buckets;

updating the allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon;

displaying the updated allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon on the graphical user interface; and

communicating the released customer demand over the computer network to at least one of the one or more seller systems; and

at least one of the one or more seller systems satisfies the customer demand, based at least in part, on the released customer demand.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the order promising system releases the customer demand to the one of the one or more seller systems by:

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems for a period of the time horizon less than the due date;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems for a period of the time horizon less than the due date; and

releasing the available-to-promise buckets for a period of the time horizon less than the due date.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more parameters is coupled to the local pool allocation, and each of the one or more parameters comprises a threshold for releasing the local pool allocation.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the order promising system further:

receives a customer demand comprising a value for one of the one or more parameters; and

releases the customer demand to the one of the one or more seller systems by;

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems when the customer demand parameter value is at least equal to the threshold for releasing the local pool allocation; and

releasing the available-to-promise buckets.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more parameters comprises one or more of cost point, profit, margin, and carbon footprint resource.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the order promising system further:

adjusts the one or more parameters based on one or more of a change in demand and a change in supply.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the available-to-promise buckets comprise one or more of a finished product, an intermediate product, and a resource.

8. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

modeling, by a computer, a hierarchy of one or more seller systems;

determining, by the computer, a priority of one or more seller systems based on the hierarchy of the one or more seller systems;

receiving, by the computer, data over a computer network from one or more supply chain entities comprising the amount of available-to-promise buckets over a time horizon;

allocating, by the computer, to each seller system of the one or more seller systems in the hierarchy, an allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon, the allocation comprising a retained allocation and a local pool allocation, wherein one or more parameters is coupled to the local pool allocation, and each of the one or more parameters comprises a threshold for releasing the local pool allocation;

displaying, by a graphical user interface, the allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon;

constantly monitoring, by the computer, the supply chain network for a customer demand received over the computer network by one of the one or more seller systems comprising a due date;

adjusting, by the computer, the one or more parameters based on one or more of a change in demand;

responsive to the customer demand, releasing, by the computer, the customer demand over the computer network to the one of the one or more seller systems by;

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the available-to-promise buckets;

updating the allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon;

displaying the updated allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon on the graphical user interface; and

communicating the released customer demand over the computer network to at least one of the one or more seller systems; and

satisfying, by at least one of the one or more seller systems, the customer demand, based at least in part, on the released customer demand.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the customer demand is released to the one of the one or more seller systems by:

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems for a period of the time horizon less than the due date;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems for a period of the time horizon less than the due date; and

releasing the available-to-promise buckets for a period of the time horizon less than the due date.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein one or more parameters is coupled to the local pool allocation, and each of the one or more parameters comprises a threshold for releasing the local pool allocation.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the computer, a customer demand comprising a value for one of the one or more parameters; and

releasing the customer demand to the one of the one or more seller systems by;

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems when the customer demand parameter value is at least equal to the threshold for releasing the local pool allocation; and

releasing the available-to-promise buckets.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the one or more parameters comprises one or more of cost point, profit, margin, and carbon footprint resource.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

adjusting the one or more parameters based on one or more of a change in demand and a change in supply.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the available-to-promise buckets comprise one or more of a finished product, an intermediate product, and a resource.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodied with software, the software when executed using one or more computers:

models a hierarchy of one or more seller systems;

determines a priority of one or more seller systems based on the hierarchy of the one or more seller systems;

receives data over a computer network from one or more supply chain entities comprising the amount of available-to-promise buckets over a time horizon;

allocates to each seller system of the one or more seller systems in the hierarchy, an allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon, the allocation comprising a retained allocation and a local pool allocation, wherein one or more parameters is coupled to the local pool allocation, and each of the one or more parameters comprises a threshold for releasing the local pool allocation;

displays the allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon on a graphical user interface;

constantly monitors the supply chain network for a customer demand received over the computer network by one of the one or more seller systems comprising a due date;

adjusts the one or more parameters based on one or more of a change in demand;

responsive to the customer demand, releases the customer demand over the computer network to the one of the one or more seller systems by;

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the available-to-promise buckets;

updating the allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon;

displaying the updated allocation of the available-to-promise buckets over the time horizon on the graphical user interface; and

communicating the released customer demand over the computer network to at least one of the one or more seller systems; and

satisfy, by at least one of the one or more seller systems, the customer demand, based at least in part, on the released customer demand.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the software further releases the customer demand to the one of the one or more seller systems by:

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems for a period of the time horizon less than the due date;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems for a period of the time horizon less than the due date; and

releasing the available-to-promise buckets for a period of the time horizon less than the due date.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein one or more parameters is coupled to the local pool allocation, and each of the one or more parameters comprises a threshold for releasing the local pool allocation.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the software further:

receives a customer demand comprising a value for one of the one or more parameters; and

releases the customer demand to the one of the one or more seller systems by;

releasing the retained allocation at the same priority of the one of the one or more seller systems;

releasing the local pool allocation at the same or higher priority of the one of the one or more seller systems when the customer demand parameter value is at least equal to the threshold for releasing the local pool allocation; and

releasing the available-to-promise buckets.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more parameters comprises one or more of cost point, profit, margin, and carbon footprint resource.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the software further:

adjusts the one or more parameters based on one or more of a change in demand and a change in supply.