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US 8,428,985 B1Granted
Multi-feature product inventory management and allocation system and method
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsGintaras Vincent Puskorius, Bryan Roger Goodman, Robbie J. Aniol, William Richard Fravel, Yu-Ning Liu, Melinda Kaye Hunsaker, Shigeru Sadakane
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A data store includes, for a dealer of interest, a target inventory mix rate for an item having a feature. A computing device is configured to perform an optimization to obtain a recommended feature allocation of the item including the feature by minimizing a difference between a projected inventory mix rate for the feature and the target inventory mix rate for the feature.
Claims36
A method, comprising:
- determining, for a dealer of interest, a target inventory mix rate for an item having multiple features by using dealer-level historical sales mix rates and market-level historical sales mix rates for the features;
- determining a projected inventory mix rate for the features based at least in part on projected dealer sales for the features;
- performing, in a computing device having a processor and a memory, a mathematical programming optimization that includes an objective function and constraints to obtain a recommended feature allocation of the item including the features, based at least in part on at least one weighting factor associated with the dealer of interest, by minimizing a difference between a projected inventory mix rate for the features and the target inventory mix rate for the features;
- for the dealer of interest, calculating each of:
- (a) dealer-level feature-related sales of an item over a set of times where the sales are related to a feature of the item, (b) dealer-level total sales for the item over the set of times, and (c) a dealer-level historical sales mix rate for the feature based at least in part on the dealer-level total sales and the dealer-level feature sales;
- for a market related to the dealer of interest, calculating each of:
- (d) market-level feature-related sales of an item over the set of times where the sales are related to a feature of the item, (e) market-level total sales for the item over the set of times, and (f) a market-level historical sales mix rate for the feature based at least in part on the market-level total sales and the market-level feature sales;
- and
- using the dealer-level historical sales mix rates and the market-level historical mix rates for the feature at least in part in determining the target inventory mix rate;
- wherein the constraints include at least one of a production constraint, a material availability constraint, and an item definition constraint, and further wherein the optimization compares output of the optimization relative to an optimal value of the objective function.
7 more elements
The method of 1, wherein the at least one weighting factor includes a weighting factor that is based at least in part on one of a number of days that a unit of the item has been in the dealer of interest's inventory, a number of days since a unit of the item has sold, and a relative size of the dealer of interest.
A system, comprising:
- a data store that includes, for a dealer of interest, a target inventory mix rate for an item having multiple features by using dealer-level historical sales mix rates and market-level historical sales mix rates for the features;
- and
- a computing device including a processor and a memory that is configured to:
- determine a projected inventory mix rate for the features based at least in part on projected dealer sales for the features;
- perform a mathematical programming optimization that includes an objective function and constraints to obtain a recommended feature allocation of the item including the features, based at least in part on at least one weighting factor associated with the dealer of interest, by minimizing a difference between a projected inventory mix rate for the features and the target inventory mix rate for the features;
- for the dealer of interest, calculate each of:
- (a) dealer-level feature-related sales of an item over a set of times where the sales are related to a feature of the item, (b) dealer-level total sales for the item over the set of times, and (c) a dealer-level historical sales mix rate for the feature based at least in part on the dealer-level total sales and the dealer-level feature sales;
- for a market related to the dealer of interest, calculate each of:
- (d) market-level feature-related sales of an item over the set of times where the sales are related to a feature of the item, (e) market-level total sales for the item over the set of times, and (f) a market-level historical sales mix rate for the feature based at least in part on the market-level total sales and the market-level feature sales;
- and
- use the dealer-level historical sales mix rates and the market-level historical mix rates for the feature at least in part in determining the target inventory mix rate;
- wherein the constraints include at least one of a production constraint, a material availability constraint, and an item definition constraint, and further wherein the optimization compares output of the optimization relative to an optimal value of the objective function.
9 more elements
A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions tangibly embodied thereon, the instructions comprising instructions for:
- determining, for a dealer of interest, a target inventory mix rate for an item having multiple-features by using dealer-level historical sales mix rates and market-level historical sales mix rates for the features;
- determining a projected inventory mix rate for the features based at least in part on projected dealer sales for the features;
- performing, in a computing device having a processor and a memory, a mathematical programming optimization that includes an objective function and constraints to obtain a recommended feature allocation of the item including the features, based at least in part on at least one weighting factor associated with the dealer of interest, by minimizing a difference between a projected inventory mix rate for the features and the target inventory mix rate for the features;
- for the dealer of interest, calculating each of:
- (a) dealer-level feature-related sales of an item over a set of times where the sales are related to a feature of the item, (b) dealer-level total sales for the item over the set of times, and (c) a dealer-level historical sales mix rate for the feature based at least in part on the dealer-level total sales and the dealer-level feature sales;
- for a market related to the dealer of interest, calculating each of:
- (d) market-level feature-related sales of an item over the set of times where the sales are related to a feature of the item, (e) market-level total sales for the item over the set of times, and (f) a market-level historical sales mix rate for the feature based at least in part on the market-level total sales and the market-level feature sales;
- and
- using the dealer-level historical sales mix rates and the market-level historical mix rates for the feature at least in part in determining the target inventory mix rate;
- wherein the constraints include at least one of a production constraint, a material availability constraint, and an item definition constraint, and further wherein the optimization compares output of the optimization relative to an optimal value of the objective function.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.