Patent ID: 11875291
Assignee: NIAGARA BOTTLING, LLC
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 11:
12. A method to transmit orders of products from a supplier directly to respective retail locations of a first retailer and a second retailer, the method comprising:
controlling, with an electronic processor, a communication interface to communicate with a plurality of computing devices, the plurality of computing devices including a first computing device associated with the first retailer, a second computing device associated with the second retailer that is different from the first retailer, and a third computing device associated with the supplier that is completely distinct and separate from the first retailer and the second retailer;
controlling, with the electronic processor, the communication interface to receive one or more initial demand signals from each of the first computing device and the second computing device, the one or more initial demand signals including demand information for a product with a stock keeping unit (SKU);
routing, with the electronic processor, the one or more initial demand signals to the third computing device;
controlling, with the electronic processor, the communication interface to receive an agreement from the third computing device for maintaining an inventory of the product with the SKU;
controlling, with the electronic processor, the communication interface to continuously receive one or more demand signals from the each of the first computing device and the second computing device indicating the inventory of the product with the SKU, the one or more demand signals being in parallel to each other;
dynamically determining, with the electronic processor, an aggregate of orders from the one or more demand signals that are received, wherein the aggregate of orders is a lowest-cost shipping solution based on at least one analytical technique, by taking into consideration load-leveling across multiple days, according to capacity restraints of the respective retail locations of the first retailer and the second retailer, and according to quantities necessary to maintain the agreement for maintaining the inventory of the product with the SKU;
dynamically adjusting, with the electronic processor, order quantities based on the one or more demand signals that are received, the order quantities maximizing a quantity of freight within a load based on the SKU while minimizing a likelihood any of the one or more demand signals go below the agreed upon inventory of the product with the SKU or reaches a zero stock level of the product with the SKU; and
controlling, with the electronic processor, the communication interface to transmit the aggregate of orders that are dynamically determined and the order quantities that are dynamically adjusted to the third computing device.