Patent ID: 7660753
Filing Date: 2010-02-09
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. An inventory control system, comprising: a server machine having a central processing unit (CPU) and a storage apparatus; the storage apparatus storing an inventory control program; the inventory control program being executable by the CPU; the inventory control program comprising: demand predicting means for calculating a predicted value of a demand based on past actual demand information; actual value retrieval means for retrieving an actual value of demand which is compared with the predicted demand value; predicted remainder calculating means for calculating a predicted remainder which is a difference between the predicted demand value and the actual demand value; parameter calculating means for calculating a parameter of standard deviation by employing the predicted remainder; safety stock calculating means for calculating a safety stock based upon said parameter; and input means for accepting setting or updating of a setting value such as a planning cycle and at least one of a procurement lead time and a plan lead time, and wherein the storage apparatus stores therein, in time sequence, respective setting values and the past actual demand information at every unit time period from a past time to a present time, wherein upon receipt of updating of a setting value, via the input means, the setting value including said planning cycle and at least one of said procurement lead time and said plan lead time, the demand predicting means calculates a planned demand value of a second past time period based on an actual demand value of a first past time period stored in the data storage means, wherein the actual value retrieval means retrieves and sums actual demand values corresponding to the second past time period stored in the data storage means, wherein the predicted remainder calculating means calculates a predicted remainder which is a difference between the planned demand value of the second past time period and the actual demand value of the second past time period, wherein a process is performed in which the demand predicting means calculates a planned demand value of a fourth past time period, which is different from the second past time period, based on an actual demand value of a third past time period stored in the data storage means, which is different from the first past time period, the actual value retrieval means retrieves and sums actual demand values corresponding to the fourth past time period, and the predicted remainder calculating means calculates a predicted remainder from the planned demand value of the fourth past time period and the actual demand value of the fourth past time period to obtain a new sample of the predicted remainder, wherein the process of calculating a predicted remainder is repeatedly performed for different past time periods until a number of samples of predicted remainders satisfying a criterion has been obtained, wherein the parameter calculating means calculates the parameter of standard deviation based on a plurality of the samples of the predicted remainders obtained by the repeated process of calculating a predicted remainder, and wherein the safety stock calculating means newly calculates a safety stock based upon the parameter of standard deviation and the updated setting value, each time the setting value is updated, to thereby update a current safety stock.