Abstract:
A system and method for scheduling outsourced production is provided. The system includes an order generating module ( 111 ), a consignee assigning module ( 121 ), a consignee operating module ( 131 ), a data processing module ( 112 ) and an order canceling module ( 113 ). When there is a demand for outsourcing, the order generating module ( 111 ) generates a consignment order. Then the consignee assigning module ( 121 ), according to the content of the consignment order, determines a consignee. After the consignment order is fulfilled, the data processing module ( 112 ) guides a consignor to inspect the products based on the consignment order. If the consignment order is decided to be canceled, the order canceling module ( 113 ) can do so before a consignee is assigned.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a system and method for scheduling outsourced production, more particularly, to a system and method for consigning orders to other production departments or factories when the manufacturer is in scarcity of production capacity.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Usually there are many small production departments in a large enterprise. Among them, some have a large number of original orders beyond their production capacity, while others might have surplus production capacity. In the circumstances, the former will consign some orders to the latter to fulfill. Additionally, some products needing to be handled by very special processes may also require outsourcing. This situation occurs when the production department receiving the special order is not familiar with the very special process for fulfilling the order.  
           [0003]    When receiving original orders, most manufacturers may not have the ability to produce all the ordered products by themselves. Some of them outsource to other manufacturers. Particularly, some manufacturers may produce nothing on the orders, but outsource to other manufacturers.  
           [0004]    Traditionally, outsourcing is performed through communication means such as telephone and fax. Those conventional means can&#39;t transmit information on a real-time basis and influence the timeliness of production. U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,356 discloses an assistant for resource and demand trading. The assistant can generate an optimal solution to allocate sources of resource information to demand information by the use of a solution generator. However, the system doesn&#39;t disclose the detailed procedure as to how to meet demand information after generating a solution. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that can integrate all parties&#39; information to finally meet demand.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The major object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for scheduling outsourced production, enabling a production department to consign its orders to others when it lacks production capacity or special processes needed for production.  
           [0006]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for scheduling outsourced production, enabling a consignor to cancel consigned orders on line, inspect and accept or reject products on line.  
           [0007]    In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a system and method for scheduling outsourced production. The system comprises: an order generating module which generates a consignment order and transmits it to a consignee assigning module; a consignee assigning module which assigns a consignee to complete the consignment order; a consignee operating module which receives and confirms the consignment order, and sends a work-done notice upon fulfilling the consignment order; a data processing module which deals with the information in association with the consignment order, including inspection data, rejection data, consignment order&#39;s status; an order canceling module which cancels the consignment order before the consignee assigning module assigns a consignee.  
           [0008]    Also, the present invention provides a system and method for scheduling outsourced production. The method comprises steps of: checking in a consignor&#39;s computer the consignor&#39;s present available capacity and processes and required capacity and processes for fulfilling an original order; deciding which part of the original order needing outsourcing based on the checking; generating and transmitting a consignment order based on the decided outsourcing part to a management computer; receiving the consignment order in the management computer, assigning corresponding consignee according to the consignment order, and forwarding the consignment order to the consignee. After receiving the consignment order, a consignee&#39;s computer confirms the consignment order, and transmits a work-done notice to the consignor&#39;s computer after the order is fulfilled. After receiving the products, the consignor&#39;s computer guides the consignor to inspect the products, generates inspection data, rejection data, and updates consignment order processing data. In addition, the method comprises a step to cancel the consignment order, which should be performed before the management computer assigns a consignee. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the framework of a system for scheduling outsourced production according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a data flowchart of the system shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a flowchart for generating a consignment order by an order generating module in a consignor&#39;s computer;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a flowchart for assigning a consignee to fulfill the consignment order by a consignee assigning module in a management computer; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the system shown in FIG. 1.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the framework of the system for scheduling outsourced production. The system comprises a server  100 , a consignor&#39;s computer  110 , a management computer  120 , and a consignee&#39;s computer  130 . In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a consignor may be a factory, or a small production department in a factory, which has to place one or more consignment orders to another internal production departments or external factories because of the scarcity of production capacity or special processes needed for fulfilling the consignment order. The next is to arrange a consignee according to the consignment orders. The consignee is an independent production department or factory.  
         [0015]    The consignor&#39;s computer  110  comprises an order generating module  111  for generating consignment orders according to the original orders and transmitting the consignment orders to the management computer  120 , a data processing module  112  for dealing with the data in association with the consignment orders, an order canceling module  113  enabling the consignor to cancel the consignment order before the management computer  120  assigns a consignee. A consignee assigning module  121  is installed in the management computer  120  for assigning a consignee according to the consignment orders, transmitting the consignment orders and other corresponding information to the consignee, and transmitting the consignment order to the data processing module after receiving the consignee&#39;s confirmation. A consignee operating module  131  is installed in the consignee&#39;s computer  130  for receiving and confirming the consignment orders sent from the consignee assigning module  121 , and sending a work-done notice to the consignor after completing the consignment orders, A database  101  is installed in the server  100  for storing all kinds of data generated during the assigning process.  
         [0016]    All information generated in the consignor&#39;s computer  110 , the management computer  120  and the consignee&#39;s computer  130  is transmitted and stored in the database  101  of the server  100  via a network  140 , which connects the server  100  with the consignor&#39;s computer  110 , the management computer  120  and the consignee&#39;s computer  130 . The network  140  may be the Internet, an intranet or combination of the two.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a data flowchart of the system shown in FIG. 1. The order generating module  111  is provided for generating consignment orders  211 , which comprises such information as consignment price, deadline of the consignment order, and other production requirements. After generating the consignment order  211 , the order generating module  111  sends it to the consignee assigning module  121  in the management computer  120  to assign consignees.  
         [0018]    The consignee assigning module  121  receives the consignment order  211 , generates consignment assigning data  221 , and sends the consignment order  211  and the consignment assigning data  221  to the consignee operating module  131 , wherein the consignment assigning data  221  comprises such data as the name, address, contact information of the consignee, and the order number. After receiving the consignee&#39;s confirmation, the consignee assigning module  121  also sends the consignment order  211  to the data processing module  112 .  
         [0019]    The order canceling module  113  is provided for generating consignment order canceling data  231 , wherein the consignment order canceling data  231  indicate the reasons for and the time of canceling the consignment order. The consignment order canceling data  231  are transmitted to the consignee assigning module  121 , and also transmitted to the data processing module  112 .  
         [0020]    The consignee operating module  131  receives and confirms the consignment order  211  and finally generates a work-done notice  242  after fulfilling the consignment order  211 . After receiving the consignment order  211 , the consignee operating module  131  confirms it and sends confirmation data  241  to the consignee assigning module  121 . Next, the consignee operating module  131  schedules production according to the requirements of the consignment order  211 , and after fulfilling the consignment order, generates and sends the corresponding work-done notice  242  to the data processing module  112 .  
         [0021]    The data processing module  112  generates consignment order processing data  251 , inspection data  252  and rejection data  253 . The consignment order processing data  251  indicates that the status of the consignment order is either one of ‘cancelled’, ‘work-in-process (consigned)’, ‘work-done’ and ‘rejected’. The inspection data  252  indicates the volume of each qualified product. The rejection data  253  indicates the volume of each unqualified products.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 is a flowchart for generating consignment orders. In step  300 , the production department receives an order. In step  310 , the order generating module checks consignor&#39;s production capacity to see whether the consignor is able to complete the original order before deadline. If there isn&#39;t enough production capacity, in step  340 , an outsourcing is decided and a consignment order is generated. On the contrary, if the production department has enough production capacity to fulfill the original order, in step  320 , the order generating module  111  decides whether there are any special processes needed which the consignor is not capable of for fulfilling the original order. If positive, in step  340 , the order generating module  111  sets all or part of products of the original order for outsourcing, and generates a consignment order. Otherwise, in step  330 , the order generating module  111  decides that the order needs no consignment, then in step  360  the whole procedure is over.  
         [0023]    After generating the consignment order, in step  350 , the order generating module  111  sends it to the management computer  120  in which an assignment of consignees is recorded. After step  350 , the whole procedure of generating consignment orders is over in step  360 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a flowchart for assigning a consignee when a production department requires outsourcing. In step  410 , the consignee assigning module  121  (see FIG. 1) in the management computer  120  receives the consignment order from the order generating module  111 . In step  420 , the consignee assigning module  121  checks from the database  101  the production capacities of other production departments of the same company with the consignor to see if there are internal production departments available to fulfill the consignment order. If none of the internal production departments are available, in step  450 , the consignee assigning module  121  assigns the consignment order to an external manufacturer. If there is an internal production department available to fulfill the consignment order, in step  430 , the consignee assigning module  121  checks the database  101  to see whether the production department is capable of the processes required by the consignment order. If the production department isn&#39;t capable of the processes, the routine also proceeds to step  450  in which the consignee assigning module  121  checks the capacities and processes of external manufacturers stored in the database  101  beforehand, and assigns the consignment order to an external manufacturer that is available in both the capacities and the processes. In step  440 , if a production department is available of both superfluous capacity and required processes, the consignee assigning module  121  selects the production department to be the consignee.  
         [0025]    After assigning the consignee, in step  460 , the consignee assigning module  121  sends consignment order  211  and consignment assigning data  221  to the corresponding consignee&#39;s computer  130 , and also sends consignment order  211  to the consignor&#39;s computer  110  after receiving confirmation (not shown in FIG. 4). In step  470 , the consignee assigning module  121  decides whether to receive an confirmation. If positive, in step  480 , the management computer  120  finishes the whole procedure of assigning a consignee. If negative, the routine proceeds to step  420  if the first assigned consignee is an internal production department, or proceeds to step  450  if the first assigned consignee is an external manufacturer.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the system shown in FIG. 1. First of all, upon receiving an order, the order generating module  111  in the consignor&#39;s computer  110  assesses whether the consignor could fulfill the order on time considering its present capacity and capability of processes. If the required capacity or processes are not available, in step  510 , the order generating module  111  prepares a consignment order, and in step  511 , transmits it to the management computer  120 .  
         [0027]    When the consignment order is sent to the management computer  120  while not yet assigned to a consignee by the consignee assigning module  121 , the consignor may want to cancel the consignment because of unexpected superfluous capacity or other reasons. In this situation, the order canceling module  113  sends consignment order canceling data  231  to the consignee assigning module  121 . Before assigning a consignee, in step  512 , consignee assigning module  121  checks whether the consignment order canceling data  231  is received. If the order canceling data  231  are received, then in step  524 , the whole procedure is over. Contrarily, if receiving the order canceling data  231  are not received, in step  513 , the consignee assigning module  121  checks from the database  101  capacities and processes of other production departments and manufactures and selects a consignee according to the order&#39;s requirements. After assigning the consignee, in step  514 , the consignee assigning module  121  sends the assignment information to the consignor&#39;s computer  110  and the assigned consignee&#39;s computer  130 .  
         [0028]    After receiving the consignment order, in step  515 , the consignee decides whether to accept it or not. If negative, the routine goes back to step  514 . If positive, in step  516 , the consignee begins to manufacture according to the requirement of the consignment order. After products are finished, in step  517 , the consignee operating module  131  transmits work-done data  242  to the consignor&#39;s computer  110 .  
         [0029]    In step  518 , on receiving work-done notice  242 , the data processing module  112  guides the consignor to inspect the products. In step  519 , the data processing module  112  decides whether the products are qualified based on requirement of the consignment order. If the products are qualified, in step  520 , the data processing module  112  generates inspection data  252  indicating the amount of qualified products, and updates the consignment order processing data  251  from “work-in-process” to “work-done.” If the products are unqualified, in step  521 , data processing module  112  generates the rejection data  253  indicating the amount of unqualified products, and updates the consignment order processing data  251  as rejected. After inspection, in step  522 , the consignor settles with the consignee. Thus, in step  523 , the whole procedure of outsourcing is ended.  
         [0030]    Although the present invention has been described in terms of the above embodiment, it is not intended that the invention be limited to that embodiment. Modification within the spirit of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. And the scope of the present invention is defined by the following claims.