# Patent

## Title
Methods and systems for collaborative demand planning and replenishment

## Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for generating replenishment orders for products sold to a multi-store retailer. Store trait data is mapped with planogram information and the mapped data is used to generate a fixture level safety stock for a particular product in a particular store. The fixture level safety stock triggers fixture level replenishment orders.

## Background
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/932,672 filed on Sep. 1, 2004 which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/500,425 filed on Sep. 4, 2003, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.


FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention is vendor managed inventory.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Vendor managed inventory (VMI) systems generally allow product suppliers to manage inventory of product retailers. VMI systems first appeared in the 1980s with the goal of shifting some of the burden of product replenishment away from retailers and into the hands of the vendors. Early VMI systems used point of sale (POS) data to decrement an onhand quantity (i.e. perpetual inventory) until that decremented quantity dropped below a safety stock level. Once the quantity dropped below the safety stock level, an order was generated if economic order quantity restrictions were met.
Today, most large retailers do not stock excess inventory primarily because of high inventory carrying cost. As a result, it is particularly important that replenishment of items on shelves be sufficient to meet demand yet not be overly abundant so as to cause excess inventory. Ideally, there would be no excess inventory, but there would always be an item available to meet demand.
In attempting to meet this ideal, VMI systems examine sales data at the product level. This is problematic, however, because the demand for a particular product on a particular shelf can vary significantly among stores and even among shelves in the same store. In traditional VMI systems, suppliers had no visibility or insight into shelf level inventories in part because the information was not available, was too voluminous to handle, and was too dynamic. Thus, replenishment calculations often left too much inventory on some shelves and too little inventory on others. The problems were exacerbated by the fact that a particular item could sell well in one area of a store and poorly in another area of the same store.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides systems and methods for generating replenishment orders for products sold to a multi-store retailer. Store trait data is mapped with planogram information and the mapped data is used to generate a fixture level safety stock for a particular product in a particular store. The fixture level safety stock triggers fixture level replenishment orders.
In another aspect, a vendor managed inventory (VMI) system comprises a remote server in communication over a public packet switched network with a local retailer system. The retailer system stores planogram information and store trait data which is received by the VMI system. The VMI system then maps the store trait data with planogram information in order to derive a fixture level safety stock for a particular product for a particular store. The safety stock is used as part of a trigger to generate replenishment orders.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a collaborative demand planning and replenishment (CDPR) system.
FIG. 2 is a store trait data listing.
FIG. 3 is a planogram information listing.
FIG. 4 is a listing of mapped planogram information and store trait data.
FIG. 5 is a schematic of a safety stock and replenishment calculation system.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a CDPR system 100 generally comprises a retailer inventory management module 110, a network 120, and a vendor managed inventory module 130.
Retailer inventory management module 110 includes on-hand inventory (perpetual inventory) amounts by product within shelf within store. Planograms are transmitted over a network 120 (e.g. the Internet) to a vendor managed inventory system (i.e. CDPR system). Preferably, files are transferred using file transfer protocol (FTP), however various other protocols and technologies can be used to transfer planogram data 112 including transfers using HTTP. It should also be recognized that all transmissions discussed herein can be accomplished using wired and/or wireless communication paths.
Planograms are used by retailers and others to design and allocate shelf space in a store. A planogram is generally depicted graphically, but in any case typically includes the following information: product code, product vendor, fixture (i.e. location or shelf), fixture capacity, and effective date. FIG. 3 depicts some exemplary planogram information. Note, however, that planogram information does not include store identification.
For purposes of this specification, a fixture is the lowest level location of a product on a shelf. For example, if a retailer creates a planogram showing product configurations only to a shelf level of detail, the word “fixture” is synonymous with shelf. In fact, throughout much of this specification, the words fixture and shelf are interchangeable. However, if a shelf is further divided into multiple areas, a fixture is synonymous with a particular area on the shelf. Thus, a fixture is always the most detailed location of a product. It should be noted that shelf and/or fixture configurations generally remain consistent across all stores of a multi-store retailer.
Planogram information is generally entered by a retail level employee such as a merchandising manager. In most cases, the merchandising manager will derive planograms as a result of sales data, trends, and other dynamic information, and as such, planogram information can change very quickly. Not only can fixtures be added, deleted, and changed, but stores may open and close. All this adds to the dynamic nature of planograms. Because current planogram information is important to calculations made in a VMI system, it is contemplated that future (i.e. effective date in the future) as well as current planograms will be accepted and thereafter implemented based on the effective date. In addition, preferred embodiments will store historical planograms for use in analyzing particular store configurations. Performance data calculated at the vendor level is envisaged to be transmitted back to the retailer for input into store trait and planogram configurations.
The vendor managed inventory module 130 or CDPR module is generally controlled by a product provider (e.g. supplier, vendor, manufacturer, distributor, and so on), and the product provider is responsible for maintaining the data integrity and functional aspects of the system. In the context of this application, a vendor or product provider is an entity that provides a product that is directly or indirectly sold at a retail level.
The CDPR module uses the planogram information as well as other information including demographic, psychographic, and trend data to create forecasting data, rate of return data, performance data, and other outputs that are transmitted to the retail level inventory systems. Significantly, such information is used by the product provider to replenish inventory on a timely basis. It is the collaboration between the retail level system and the vendor level system that results in the exchange of valuable information. For example, the CDPR module is also capable of making recommendations to the retail level entity by taking into consideration past and future planogram information. These recommendations are generally contemplated to include factors that account for trends in product demand down to the store level or even the fixture level. Thus, a recommendation for one store will usually be different from that of another store because of demographic and psychogaphic differences. Moreover, recommendations can vary depending on the location of a fixture in a store.
Past, current, and future planogram information is accepted by the VMI module. As such, the effective date of a planogram is important. A store may, for instance, transmit a series of planograms having successive effective dates as well as varying capacities, locations, and so on. The CDPR module is receptive to multiple planograms and can even accept and incorporate changes to planograms in a real-time manner.
Drawing your attention now to FIG. 2, a store trait data listing 200 generally includes the following fields: store identification 210 (e.g. store number), fixture 220, and effective date 230. Store trait data basically represents the configuration of a store in terms of its fixtures. It should be noted that a multi-store retailer has stores that are divided up into fixtures; so, for example, store 1 has fixtures A, B, and F. Obviously, FIG. 2 shows exemplary data and many more fixtures would likely be included in most retail stores. Still, with reference to FIG. 2, one can see that fixtures B and F are part of the configuration of stores 1 and 2 and fixture B is part of the configuration of store 3.
FIG. 3 depicts planogram information 300 including fields for product code 310, fixture 320, and fixture capacity 330. Focusing on FIG. 3, one can see that the capacity for item WP1432 is 25 on fixture B and 10 on fixture F.
In FIG. 4, a listing of mapped data 400 includes store identification 410, product code 420, fixture 430, and fixture capacity 440. Of course, other fields such as effective data may be included in a listing of mapped data, though not depicted for purposes of FIG. 4. It is contemplated that mapping includes a step of matching store trait data and planogram information by fixture identifier. Using the mapped data, it becomes clear that stores 1 and 2 require 35 WP1432 while store 3 requires only 25. It should be recognized that because capacities are at the fixture level, safety stock and replenishment amounts can be calculated by fixture thereby reducing the incidence of excess or insufficient inventory and at the same time increasing good will toward the retailer.
Now, with regard to FIG. 5, a safety stock and replenishment calculation system 500 generally comprises a VMI system 510 that calculates a safety stock 520 which, in turn, is input to a replenishment amount 530.
A purchasing manager 550 uses store sales figures, trends, demographics, psychographics, and so on to determine a fixture configuration for a store. It should be recognized that a purchasing manager is not required as there are other entities and automated methods that can be used to determine fixture configurations. In any case, fixture configuration by store is reflected in the store trait data 555.
On the other side of the equation, a merchandising manager 560 creates planogram information 565 based on product information as well as sales information, space limitations, and store layouts. Again, another entity or automated method may be substituted for a merchandising manager in less preferred embodiments.
Both the store trait data 555 and planogram information 565 are input to the vendor managed inventory system 510. It is contemplated that transmission of store trait data and planogram information may utilize various channels of communication including most especially those that use the Internet. As planogram information and store trait data is often in a spread sheet format (e.g. Microsoft® Excel), a preferred VMI system allows for import of such files formats.
VMI system 510 receives demographic data and psychogaphic data 570 including ages, incomes, socioeconomic data and so on. Such demographic and psychogaphic data can be applied to the capacity for a product before selecting a safety stock value. VMI system 510 also receives information which enables it to calculate economic order quantity (EOQ) rules 575. One of skill in the art will recognize that EOQ rules may take into consideration lead times and economic order quantities in addition to other information.
VMI system 510 also receives point of sale data 580 preferably including fixture level sales data. Point of sale data 580 includes product id, store number, and quantity sold and may also include perpetual inventory amounts and a fixture identification, though the latter two items of data are not included in some embodiments. In a preferred class of embodiments, fixture level point of sales (POS) data is applied to current fixture level capacity which was received as part of the planogram information. It should be pointed out here that in most cases, current fixture level capacity is based on the effective date that was also received as part of the planogram information. Collecting point of sale data at a fixture level is generally accomplished by affixing a fixture identifier on or in each product. Preferably the fixture level identifier is in the form of an RFID chip which is read by the point of sale system in order to indicate a sale of a product from a particular fixture.
A further aspect of the inventive matter is the inclusion of POS data to the day of the week. The following example, based on the data in FIG. 4, elucidates this aspect. Store 1 has capacity of 25 for product WP1432 on fixture B. Assume that a safety stock of 13 was calculated based on the inventive concepts provided herein. When the perpetual quantity of WP1432 on fixture B in store 1 dips below 13, generation of a fixture level replenishment order is triggered. If the replenishment order is generated on a Thursday and the lead time is 3 days, the VMI system is advantageously programmed to look at fixture level sales history for the days of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when calculating the quantity of WP1432 to send in the replenishment order. This aspect is important because sales for the days of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday may far exceed sales of the days of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, for instance.
It should be stressed that planogram information and store trait data are continuously being monitored by the VMI system and in that regard when an effective date becomes equal to the current date, the new planogram information and/or store trait data are put into effect.
Thus, specific embodiments and applications of a collaborative demand planning and replenishment system have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

## Claims

1. A vendor managed inventory system, comprising:
a remote server in communication over a public packet switched network with a local retailer system, the retailer system storing retail-level planogram information lacking store identification information, customer demographic information, and store trait data representing a configuration of an identified store in terms of the store's fixtures referenced by fixture identifiers wherein the remote server is programmed to:
store historical planogram information previously received from the retailer system;
receive the store trait data that includes the fixture identifiers, customer demographic information, a fixture-level perpetual quantity of a product in the identified store, and planogram information for a fixture in real-time via the public packet switched network;
incorporate changes to the fixture's planogram in real-time as the changes occur based continuously monitoring the store trait data and the fixture's planogram information;
map store trait data with retail-level planogram information to form store-level mapped data by matching fixture identifiers in the store trait data with fixture identifiers in the planogram information;
use the customer demographic information and the store-level mapped data to derive a fixture-level safety stock for a product in the identified store; and
trigger a planogram recommendation and a fixture-level replenishment order for an amount of the product, when the fixture-level perpetual quantity of the product falls below the determined fixture-level safety stock, the planogram recommendation and the amount are calculated based on the store trait data, the fixture-level perpetual quantity, demographic information, the historical planogram information, and the changed planogram of the fixture.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to electronically receive sales performance information via the public packet switched network.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein remote server is configured to at least one of store trait data and planogram information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote server is configured to receive capacity information of the fixture as part of the planogram information.

5. A method to manage an inventory by a provider comprising:
an inventory managing system receiving a retail-level planogram information, lacking store identification information, a customer demographic information, a store trait data representing a configuration of an identified store in terms of the store's fixtures referenced by fixture identifiers from the store in real-time, and a fixture-level perpetual quantity of a product in the identified store;
the inventory managing system storing historical planograms information previously received from the store;
the inventory managing system incorporating real-time changes to a fixture's planogram as the changes occur based continuously monitoring the store trait data and planogram information;
the inventory managing system correlating the store trait data with the retail-level planogram information by matching fixture identifiers in the store trait data with fixture identifiers in the planogram information to form store-level mapped data;
the inventory managing system using the customer demographic information and the store-level mapped data to determine a fixture-level safety stock level for the product in the identified store; and
the inventory managing system triggering a planogram recommendation and a fixture-level replenishment order for an amount of the product, when the fixture-level perpetual quantity of the product falls below the determined fixture-level safety stock level, where the planogram recommendation and the amount are calculated based on the store trait data, customer demographic information, the fixture-level quantity, the historical planograms information, and the fixture's changed planogram of the fixture.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising a provider providing the replenishment order to the store.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the planogram information comprises a fixture level information.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the planogram information comprises a product code information.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the planogram information comprises a product vendor information.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising the inventory managing system receiving sales data from the store.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the sales data comprises a historic sales data and a forecast sales data.