Patent ID: 6463345
Filing Date: 2002-10-08
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
A system for determining product availability, comprising:a) at least one demand source inputting demand information; b) a demand configurator receiving demand information from each said at least one demand source and coordinating product requests responsive to said received demand information according to customer request rules and priorities; c) a material resource engine providing material supply information responsive to supply data, said received demand information and according to product supply rules and priorities; and d) a solver optimizing product availability information responsive to the material supply information and product supply rules and priorities, wherein the demand configurator determines how supply is grouped for a plurality of customers in a plurality of forecast groups, wherein the demand configurator comprises: means for retrieving all said received demand information; means for individually selecting orders from said all received demand information, means for mapping currently available supply against demand for each of said individually selected orders; and means for changing a demand class of each individually selected of said orders, said demand class indicates whether an order is a backorder, a firm order, an order move-in, an order move-out or a new request.