Patent ID: 8156050
Filing Date: 2012-04-10
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A project management system comprising: a computing system having a computer readable medium; and a plurality of processing sequences stored on said computer readable medium comprising: a first group of processing sequences associated with an installation module operable to facilitate a plurality of requirement and project data input and output said requirements and project data in documents, reports and graphical user interfaces; a second group of processing sequences associated with an inventory module operable to facilitate a plurality of inventory or material management activities associated with a plurality of material or supply items, said inventory or material management activities comprising managing and associating said material or said supply items with said projects or requirements; and a third group of processing sequences associated with a logistics module operable to facilitate planning associated with movements of said material or said supply items used in relation to said projects; a plurality of user interfaces operable to display user selectable controls and information related to said installation module, inventory module, and logistics module; wherein said plurality of processing sequences further comprise: a first processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to provide a user interface section of at least one of said plurality of user interfaces to display a plurality of alert indicia corresponding to a plurality of alert status corresponding to said plurality of requirements, the plurality of requirements corresponding to said plurality of projects and including at least one of complete and incomplete requirements, and the plurality of alert indicia representing the plurality of alert status; a second processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to convert an incomplete requirement to a complete requirement upon completion of a task corresponding to the incomplete requirement; a third processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to determine the alert status of the requirements of the plurality of projects based on a time difference between a current date and a target date corresponding to each requirement; a fourth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to select a first project from the plurality of projects, select a project alert status, and override the alert status of incomplete requirements of the first project based on the project alert status selected; a fifth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to select a first incomplete requirement of the first project, select a first requirement alert status, and override the alert status of the first incomplete requirement based on the first requirement alert status selected; a sixth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to send an alert message to a contact related to the requirement; a seventh processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to complete the task corresponding to the incomplete requirement and causing the second processing sequence to convert the incomplete requirement to a complete requirement; an eighth processing sequence embodied in embodied in the computer readable medium operable to provide a user interface section in one or more of said plurality of user interfaces to relate a plurality of approval pipes to a group identifier in a sequential order to generate a group of sequentially ordered approval pipes including at least one unapproved approval pipe; a ninth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to relate one or more said materials or said supply items required to complete said project or requirement to the group of sequentially ordered approval pipes; a tenth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to select a next unapproved approval pipe from the group of sequentially ordered approval pipes related to the item, the next unapproved approval pipe being the first unapproved approval pipe in the group of sequentially ordered approval pipes; an eleventh processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to send a first message to a pipe contact corresponding to the next unapproved approval pipe prompting the pipe contact to approve the next unapproved approval pipe; a twelfth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to receive a pipe approval from the pipe contact and, upon receipt of the pipe approval, to convert the next unapproved approval pipe into an approved approval pipe; a thirteenth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to facilitate interface activities between said project management system and a plurality of source data repositories, said interface comprising input and output of source data from said source data repositories, said interface further comprising reading said source data from one or more of said plurality of source data repositories, reformatting said source data, and storing said source data in a plurality of data structures having a predetermined relationship with said source data; a fourteenth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to facilitate user input of a plurality of project data and requirement data associated with said plurality of projects and requirements, said plurality of project data comprises project identifier data, project description data, and facility or asset identifier data, geographic data for said facility or asset identifier data, and one or more facility or asset availability window time period data; and a fifteenth processing sequence embodied in the computer readable medium operable to facilitate user input data associated with one or more said material or said supply items and associate said material or said supply items with one of said plurality of projects or requirements; wherein the incomplete requirement is converted to a complete requirement when after all of the sequentially ordered approval pipes in the group of sequentially ordered approval pipes are approved.