Architectural design for make to stock application software

A system, comprising:

• a computer system comprising one or more hardware platforms for executing a computer software application;
• a plurality of process components, each of the process components being a package of software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the plurality of process components including:
• an Accounting process component that records all relevant business transactions;
• a Production process component that combines the activities required to manage the production execution process on the manufacturing shop floor;
• a Site Logistics process component that supports preparing and execution tasks concerning internal inventory movements;
• a Confirmation and Inventory process component that combines tasks required to confirm inventory changes and provided activities;
• a Customer Requirement Processing process component that combines tasks required for processing customer requirements and provides an interface to presales, sales and services;
• a Demand Forecast Processing process component that collects demand forecasts for further processing;
• a Supply and Demand Matching process component that combines tasks necessary to ensure that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account;
• a Production Trigger and Response process component that provides an interface to production from a supply planning perspective;
• an In-house Requirement Processing process component that combines tasks required for processing in-house requirements;
• a Sales Scheduling Agreement Processing process component that combines tasks required for the inbound processing of delivery schedules and the outbound processing of delivery schedule confirmations;
• and
• a Demand Planning process component that combines all the tasks required to anticipate future demand;
• and
• a plurality of service interface operations, each service interface operation being implemented for a respective process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the passing of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between:
• the Production process component and the Accounting process component;
• the Production Trigger and Response process component and the Production process component;
• the Site Logistics Processing process component and the Accounting process component;
• and
• the Demand Planning process component and the Demand Forecast Processing process component.

A method for developing a computer software application, comprising:

• obtaining in a computer system digital data representing an architectural design for a set of processes implementing an end-to-end application process, the design specifying a process component for each process in the set of processes, the design specifying further specifying a set of process component interactions, wherein
• the specified process components include
• an Accounting process component that records all relevant business transactions;
• a Production process component that combines the activities required to manage the production execution process on the manufacturing shop floor;
• a Site Logistics process component that supports preparing and execution tasks concerning internal inventory movements;
• a Confirmation and Inventory process component that combines tasks required to confirm inventory changes and provided activities;
• a Customer Requirement Processing process component that combines tasks required for processing customer requirements and provides an interface to presales, sales and services;
• a Demand Forecast Processing process component that collects demand forecasts for further processing;
• a Supply and Demand Matching process component that combines tasks necessary to ensure that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand while taking available capacity into account;
• a Production Trigger and Response process component that provides an interface to production from a supply planning perspective;
• an In-house Requirement Processing process component that combines tasks required for processing in-house requirements;
• a Sales Scheduling Agreement Processing process component that combines tasks required for the inbound processing of delivery schedules and the outbound processing of delivery schedule confirmations;
• and
• a Demand Planning process component that combines all the tasks required to anticipate future demand;
• and
• the process component interactions include interactions between
• the Production process component and the Accounting process component;
• the Production Trigger and Response process component and the Production process component;
• the Site Logistics Processing process component and the Accounting process component;
• and
• the Demand Planning process component and the Demand Forecast Processing process component;
• and
• using the design including the specified process components and the specified process component interactions to develop a computer software application to perform the set of processes.