Patent ID: 7672862
Filing Date: 2010-03-02
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of generating a supply chain plan and using the supply chain plan to generate an order plan, comprising: accessing, by a server, data in a database describing a supply chain network comprising a plurality of buffers, each buffer configured to store a plurality of items and associated with a corresponding time variable, the supply chain network constrained by one or more constraints selected from the group consisting of a lead time constraint, a lot size constraint and a capacity constraint; generating, by the server, a linear programming problem for the supply chain network; approximating, by the server, the linear programming problem by discretizing the corresponding time variables of the buffers to yield a plurality of discretized corresponding time variables and by relaxing the one or more constraints to yield a relaxed constraint; calculating, by the server, an optimized supply chain plan for the approximated linear programming problem, the optimized supply chain plan describing a quantity of items at each buffer for at least one time value of the corresponding time variable and including a list of producers configured to supply the items to each buffer; and adjusting, by the server, the optimized supply chain plan to satisfy the one or more constraints, wherein adjusting the optimized supply chain plan comprises: generating, by the server, an order plan by planning production to supply the quantity of items to each buffer according to the list of producers associated with the buffer.