US 2001/0034673 A1 · Electronic marketplace providing service parts inventory planning and management

Abstract

Service parts inventory planning and management are provided for one or more entities in a supply chain (12), preferably within the context of an electronic marketplace (14). Status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at stocking locations within the supply chain (12) is accessed, these inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more stocking locations. A substantially current service parts inventory plan is generated according to the status data, a service parts demand forecast, and a supply chain model, the inventory plan including target stocking levels for service parts at stocking locations. According to the inventory plan, one or more services are initiated to attempt to resolve service parts excesses or needs at stocking locations through interaction with one or more

Claims34

Dependent claims

A system for providing service parts inventory planning and management for one or more entities in a supply chain, comprising:

one or more planner applications collectively operable to:
receive status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at one or more stocking locations in a supply chain, the inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations;
access a service parts demand forecast for at least a portion of the supply chain;
access a model of at least a portion of the supply chain;
and
generate a substantially current service parts inventory plan according to the status data, the demand forecast, and the model, the inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for service parts at one or more stocking locations in the supply chain;
and
a manager application operable to receive the inventory plan and, according to the inventory plan, initiate one or more services in an attempt to resolve at least a portion of the service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities.

5 more elements

A system for providing service parts inventory planning and management for one or more entities in a supply chain, comprising:

one or more planner applications collectively operable to:
receive status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at one or more stocking locations in a supply chain, the inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations;
access a service parts demand forecast for at least a portion of the supply chain;
access a model of at least a portion of the supply chain;
access reverse logistics data comprising a forecast of service parts returns flow into at least a portion of a returns supply chain, an estimate of repairable service parts returns as a percentage of all service parts returns, an estimate of repair times for the repairable service parts returns, and a model of the returns supply chain;
generate a service parts inventory plan according to the status data, the demand forecast, the model, the reverse logistics data, and one or more customer service target levels, the inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for service parts at one or more stocking locations in the supply chain;
and
generate updated inventory plans according to fluctuations in service parts demand and supply within the supply chain, consistent with the target customer service levels;
and
a manager application operable to receive the inventory plan and, according to the inventory plan, initiate one or more services to attempt to resolve at least a portion of the service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities.

7 more elements

A method of providing service parts inventory planning and management for one or more entities in a supply chain, comprising:

receiving status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at one or more stocking locations within a supply chain, the inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations;
accessing a service parts demand forecast for at least a portion of the supply chain;
accessing a model of at least a portion of the supply chain;
accessing reverse logistics data comprising a forecast of service parts returns flow into at least a portion of a returns supply chain, an estimate of repairable service parts returns as a percentage of all service parts returns, an estimate of repair times for the repairable service parts returns, and a model of the returns supply chain;
generating a service parts inventory plan according to the status data, the demand forecast, the model, the reverse logistics data, and one or more customer service target levels, the inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for service parts at one or more stocking locations in the supply chain;
and
generating updated inventory plans based on fluctuations in service parts demand and supply within the supply chain, consistent with the target customer service levels;
and
according to the inventory plan, initiating one or more services in an attempt to resolve at least a portion of the service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Electronic marketplace providing service parts inventory planning and management

Life of this patent

Electronic marketplace providing service parts inventory planning and management

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims34