Method for rolling salable inventory control and system therefor

#The present invention relates to inventory control systems and more particularly to an inventory control system of salable goods that are being carried on a transport, such as for example a train, that travels from a start location to an end location.

#A train traveling from one place to another that carries passengers may include a dining car, a café car and a lounge car. Goods usually in the form of foodstuffs and drinks are sold to passengers in each of those cars.

#Prior to the instant invention, before a train departs a depot or train station, a given amount of inventory in the form of foods and drinks are loaded onto the appropriate cars from the commissary at that station. The service agent is also provided with a given amount of money to make change when the passengers make purchases. To monitor or keep tab of the inventory, either sold or on hand, the service agent provides to the manager at the depot station where the trip ends a handwritten sheet that indicates the amount and types of inventory sold or on hand at the end of the trip. Data relating to the inventory sold or on hand at the end of the trip is then manually input to a workstation at the depot station, or some other place, so that it may be relayed back to a central or headquarters computer where the data may be analyzed by the management of the railroad company.

#The above mentioned objectives and advantages of the present invention will be apparent and the invention itself will be best understood with reference to the following description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is an overall view of the system of the instant invention;

#FIG. 2 is an illustration of the various components that make up the architecture of the system of the instant invention;

#In a transport network for example a railroad network, when inventory is requisitioned for a train for a trip on a given route, the management at corporate headquarters would assign the train to which the inventory is to be stocked a train number. A file containing the ingredients and the quantities of the items that make up the inventory is generated and posted by means of any one of the upload/download workstations that are located at commissaries adjunct to depot stations throughout the railroad network. A lead service attendant, basically a waiter for directing the sale of food and service activities on a particular train car to which the inventory is to be stocked, is assigned a point of sale (POS) device in the form of a portable terminal. By connecting the portable terminal to one of the upload/download workstations at the commissary where the inventory is loaded to the train, data relating to the amount of inventory from that commissary loaded onto the train is stored in the POS device. When the train begins its trip, the POS device is attached or connected to its docking station at one of the cars of the train, for example at either the diner car, the lounge car or the café car. Upon input of the train number, the amount of the inventory and the items that make up the inventory are posted to the POS.

#As the train moves from the start location to the end location of the trip, the portable terminal POS device would act as a conventional cash register, so that items of the inventory depleted during the trip are recorded. In addition, the remittance or monies collected for the sales of the items during the trip are also recorded. At any train station during the trip, the service attendant could off load any of the inventory, by for example transferring it to another train or unloading it to the commissary, if any, that is located at that train depot station. At the end of the trip, the service attendant undocks the POS portable terminal from the train, connects the POS device to the upload/download workstation located at the commissary of the end depot station, and uploads the data stored in the portable terminal to the upload/download workstation. The data downloaded from the POS device is then transmitted by the workstation to a server centrally located or at the headquarters for use by the management of the railroad company.

#The above brief overall summation of the instant invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a number of commissaries 2-10 each communicatively connected to a server 12, most likely centrally located at the company headquarters. At each of the commissaries 2-10 there is provided at least one upload/download workstation 2a-10a, respectively. It is by means of these workstations 2a-10a that bidirectional communications are effected between the respective commissaries and server 12. Each of commissaries 210 is presumed to be located at a corresponding depot or train station to which trains arrive and depart.