Abstract:
A system and method is disclosed for allocating products to one or more sellers. The system includes a database operable to store data associated with one or more enterprises. The system further includes an order promising system coupled with the database and operable to model the flow of the products through the one or more enterprises and allocate resources to the one or more sellers based on the modeled flow of the products.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/108,947 filed on Apr. 24, 2008 and entitled “System and Method for Allocating Manufactured Products to Sellers Using Profitable Order Promising,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/915,227, filed May 1, 2007, and entitled “Extending a System and Method for Allocating Manufactured Products to Sellers for Profitable to Promise.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/108,947 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/915,227 are assigned to the assignee of the present application. The disclosed of related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/108,947 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/915,227 are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to supply chain management, and more particularly to a system and method for allocating manufactured products to sellers using profitable order promising. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Manufacturing enterprises produce products to be delivered to customers, based on various needs, such as, customer orders, customer demands, or customer requests. For example, a customer order may require delivery of a particular quantity of a product by a particular date. However, manufacturing enterprises have various manufacturing constraints, such as, for example, capacity constraints and material constraints that may not allow a manufacturing enterprise to fulfill every customer order. That is, some customer orders may not receive any promises, while other customer orders may only receive inadequate promises. This inability to make promises to fulfill customer orders is undesirable. 
         [0004]    In an effort to overcome the above-discussed deficiencies, manufacturing enterprises have tried to reserve products in an attempt to provide differentiated service levels to customers during the order promise and fulfillment process. However, these reservations are typically based on forecasts that become inaccurate due to various inadequacies with the forecasts. In addition, because these forecasts are often inaccurate, customer orders are either not promised, when they could have been or are promised but are not fulfilled. This inability to accurately make promises and fulfill customer orders is also undesirable. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    A system of allocating products to one or more sellers is disclosed. The system includes a database configured to store data associated with one or more enterprises. The system further includes an order promising system tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium, coupled with the database and is configured to model the flow of the products through the one or more enterprises, allocate resources to the one or more sellers based on the modeled flow of the products and receive a customer demand associated with the one or more sellers. The order promising system is further configured to determine a priority of the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand and perform the following when the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand is determined to not be at a prioritization to consume the allocations: release the allocations to the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand when a desired system profit is based on an offer by the one or more sellers, hold the allocations as un-promised allocations when a desired system profit is zero, and borrow the allocations from a seller with a lower price for the allocations and promise the allocations to the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand at a premium when a desired system profit is based on the premium. 
         [0006]    A method of allocating products to one or more sellers is also disclosed. The method provides for modeling the flow of the products through one or more enterprises, allocating resources to the one or more sellers based on the modeled flow of the products and receiving a customer demand associated with the one or more sellers. The method further provides for determining a priority of the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand and performing the following when the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand is determined to not be at a prioritization to consume allocations: releasing the allocations to the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand when a desired system profit is based on an offer by the one or more sellers, holding the allocations as un-promised allocations when a desired system profit is zero and borrowing the allocations from a seller with a lower price for the allocations and promise the allocations to the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand at a premium when a desired system profit is based on the premium. 
         [0007]    A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software to allocate products to one or more sellers is also disclosed. The software when executed using one or more computers is configured to model the flow of the products through the one or more enterprises, allocate resources to the one or more sellers based on the modeled flow of the products and receive a customer demand associated with the one or more sellers. The software is further configured to determine a priority of the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand and perform the following when the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand is determined to not be at a prioritization to consume the allocations: release the allocations to the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand when a desired system profit is based on an offer by the one or more sellers, hold the allocations as un-promised allocations when a desired system profit is zero, and borrow the allocations from a seller with a lower price for the allocations and promise the allocations to the one or more sellers associated with the received customer demand at a premium when a desired system profit is based on the premium. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. However, the invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, and further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary supply chain network according to a preferred embodiment; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates a seller hierarchy according to one embodiment; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary method for allocating manufactured products to sellers using profitable order promising; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates a supply chain model according to one embodiment; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  illustrates a profitable order promising interface according to the supply chain model of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    Reference will now be made to the following detailed description of the preferred and alternate embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention provides many inventive concepts and novel features, that are merely illustrative, and are not to be construed as restrictive. Accordingly, the specific embodiments discussed herein are given by way of example and do not limit the scope of the present invention. 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary supply chain network  100  according to a preferred embodiment. Supply chain network  100  comprises an order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n,  a network  140 , and communication links  142 ,  144   a - 144   n  and  146   a - 146   n.  Although a single order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n,  are shown and described, embodiments contemplate any number of order promising systems  110 , any number of enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and/or any number of sellers  130   a - 130   n,  according to particular needs. In addition, or as an alternative, order promising system  110  may be integral to or separate from the hardware and/or software of any one of the one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and/or one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n.    
         [0016]    In one embodiment, supply chain network  100  may model the flow of manufactured products, such as, for example, materials, items, goods, and/or services through one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n,  and/or any other supply chain planning environments associated with supply chain network  100 . As described below, order promising system  110  may be used to allocate resources based on profitable order promising. For example, one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  may receive a customer demand (i.e., customer request or customer order) from one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n.  Order promising system  110  may than prioritize the allocations, associated with the received customer order based on the level of priority of the seller, associated with the received customer order. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment, order promising system  110  may comprise multiple components, such as for example, order promising engines, optimizers, workflows, or any other like components for using profitability as a constraint for allocating manufactured products to sellers. In addition, or as an alternative, order promising system  110  may comprise one or more servers and one or more databases or other data storage arrangements at one or more locations, local to, or remote from order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  and may be made available to one or more associated users of one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  using network  140  or in any other appropriate manner. 
         [0018]    In one embodiment, supply chain network  100  may operate on one or more computers that may be integral to, or separate from, the hardware and/or software that support order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n.  These one or more computers may include any suitable input device, such as a keypad, mouse, touch screen, microphone, or other device to input information. In addition, these one or more computers may include any suitable output device that may convey information associated with the operation of supply chain network  100 , including digital or analog data, visual information, or audio information. Furthermore, these one or more computers may include fixed or removable storage media, such as magnetic computer disks, CD-ROM, or other suitable media to receive output from and provide input to supply chain network  100 . In addition, these one or more computers may include one or more processors and associated memory to execute instructions and manipulate information according to the operation of supply chain network  100 . 
         [0019]    In addition, or as an alternative, order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and/or one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  may each operate on one or more separate computers or may operate on one or more shared computers. Each of these one or more computers may be a work station, personal computer (PC), network computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless data port, or any other suitable computing device. In another embodiment, one or more users may be associated with one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and/or one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n.  These one or more users may include, for example, a “planner” handling order promising, order fulfillment, and/or one or more related tasks within supply chain network  100 . In addition, or as an alternative, these one or more users within supply chain network  100  may include, for example, one or more computers programmed to autonomously handle order promising, order fulfillment, and/or one or more related tasks within supply chain network  100 . 
         [0020]    In one embodiment, order promising system  110  may be coupled with network  140  using communications link  142 , which may be any wireline, wireless, or other link suitable to support data communications between order promising system  110  and network  140  during operation of supply chain network  100 . One or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  may be coupled with network  140  using communications link  144   a - 144   n,  which may be any wireline, wireless, or other link suitable to support data communications between one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and network  140  during operation of supply chain network  100 . One or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  may be coupled with network  140  using communications links  146   a - 146   n,  which may be any wireline, wireless, or other link suitable to support data communications between one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  and network  140  during operation of supply chain network  100 . 
         [0021]    Although communication links  142 ,  144   a - 144   n  and  146   a - 146   n  are shown as generally coupling order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  to network  140 , order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  may communicate directly with each other, according to particular needs. In addition, or as an alternative, order promising system  110  may reside within one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and/or one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n,  according to particular needs. 
         [0022]    In another embodiment, network  140  may include the Internet and any appropriate local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANS), or wide area networks (WANs) coupling order promising system  110 , one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  and one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n.  Those skilled in the art will recognize that the complete structure and operation of communication network  140  and other components within supply chain network  100  are not depicted or described. Embodiments may be employed in conjunction with known communications networks and other components. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  illustrates a seller hierarchy  200 , according to one embodiment. Seller hierarchy  200  comprises a top seller  210 , sub-sellers  220 - 280 , and seller tiers  290 - 294 . In one embodiment, order promising system  110  may provide a seller hierarchy model that represents a hierarchy of sellers, such as, for example, seller hierarchy  200 . In addition, or as an alternative, the seller hierarchy model may be stored in one or more databases or other data storage arrangements associated with order promising system  110 . The seller hierarchy model may represent a different hierarchy of sellers for each product associated with one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n.  Although, seller hierarchy  200  is shown and described as comprising a particular hierarchy of sellers, embodiments contemplate any suitable hierarchy of sellers, according to particular needs. 
         [0024]    As an example only and not by way of limitation, top seller  210  may represent a seller (i.e., one or more sellers  130 a- 130 n) associated with the worldwide sales of a manufacturing enterprise, such as, for example, any one of the one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n.  Sub-seller  220  may represent a seller associated with the sales of the manufacturing enterprise to a particular customer, such as, for example, customer A. Sub-sellers  230 - 240  may represent sellers associated with the sales of the manufacturing enterprise to one or more business units of customer A. Sub-seller  250  may represent a seller associated with the sales of the manufacturing enterprise to another customer, such as, for example, customer B. Sub-seller  260  may represent a seller associated with the sales of the manufacturing enterprise to another customer, such as, for example, customer C. Sub-sellers  270  and  280  may represent sellers associated with the sales of the manufacturing enterprise to one or more business units of customer C. 
         [0025]    In one embodiment, one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  may make allocations to any level in the hierarchy of sellers. Sellers may use these allocations for themselves or any of the members associated with the hierarchy of sellers, depending upon allocation policies of the seller hierarchy model. In addition, or as an alternative, a seller, in the hierarchy of sellers, may act as an agent of one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and make promises for those enterprises. In addition, sellers may manage orders and promises for a single manufactured product or multiple manufactured products, that is, each product may be managed independently, or grouped together with other manufactured products into product groups. These orders and promises are aggregated up to the top seller, of the hierarchy of sellers, such that the demand at the top seller may then be placed as a customer demand for the hierarchy of sellers. In another embodiment, a seller, in the hierarchy of sellers, is committed to anything its sub-sellers is committed to, that is, with reference to  FIG. 2 , top seller  210  is committed to anything sub-sellers  220 - 280  is committed to, sub-seller  220  is committed to anything sub-sellers  230 - 240  is committed to, and sub-seller  260  is committed to anything sub-sellers  270 - 280  is committed to. 
         [0026]    In one embodiment, one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  may categorize the seller hierarchy model into various seller tiers. That is, the sellers, in the hierarchy of sellers, may have an associated rank used to prioritize the allocations. Seller tier  290  may comprise top seller  210 , seller tier  292  may comprise sub-sellers  220  and  260 , and seller tier  294  may comprise sub-sellers  230 - 250  and  270 - 280 . In addition, or as an alternative, sellers with a higher prioritization may receive their allocations before the allocation goes to sellers with lower prioritization. As an example only and not by way of limitation, if the allocated amount associated with seller tier  292  (i.e., top seller  210 ) is less than what is needed by seller tiers  292 - 294  (i.e., sub-sellers  230 - 280 ), the allocation may be distributed among the sellers as specified by profitable order promising, as discussed below in more detail. Although, seller hierarchy  200  is shown and described as comprising various seller tiers, embodiments contemplate any suitable categorization of sellers that provide for prioritization into ranks, tiers, groups, or the like. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary method  300  for allocating manufactured products to sellers using profitable order promising. The method begins at step  302 , where a customer order associated with one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  is received at one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n.  As discussed above, order promising system  110  may provide a seller hierarchy model that represents a hierarchy of sellers, wherein one or more sellers  130   a - 130   n  may provide customer orders to one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  who may in turn, provide allocations at any level in the hierarchy of sellers. 
         [0028]    At step  304 , order promising system  110  determines the priority of the seller associated with the received customer order. As discussed above, the sellers, in the hierarchy of sellers, may have an associated rank, which may be used to prioritize allocations. That is, sellers with a higher prioritization may receive allocations prior to allocation provided to sellers with lower prioritization. Order promising system  110  may determine the level of priority of the seller associated with the received customer order, at step  304 . If order promising system  110  determines that the seller associated with the received customer order, is at a prioritization to consume the allocations, the method proceeds to step  306 . At step  306 , order promising system  110  promises the allocations to the seller associated with the received customer order. Among other things, this preserves customer commitments previously made with higher prioritized sellers and fulfills any backlog associated with previous commitments. 
         [0029]    At step  308 , the profit associated with the received customer order and promised at step  306 , is based on various contractual commitments previously made between the one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n  and the seller associated with the received customer order. If order promising system  110  determines that the seller associated with the received customer order, is not at a prioritization to consume the allocations, the method proceeds to step  310 . 
         [0030]    At step  310 , because the allocation associated with the received customer order was not promised, order promising system  110  holds the allocation for a higher-value customer order based on profitable order promising (i.e., profitable-to-promise). At step  312 , a determination is made as to the allocation of the manufactured products associated with the received customer request. Order promising system  110  may determine to release the allocations to the seller associated with the received customer order, even though the priority of the seller may not meet a particular threshold, the method may than proceed to step  314 . At step  314 , order promising system  110  releases the allocations and promises the allocations to the seller associated with the received customer order. At step  316 , the profit associated with the received customer order and promised at step  306 , is based on an amount offered by the seller, which may be less than or more than a higher-value customer order. 
         [0031]    Order promising system  110  may determine to hold the allocations and not to allow the seller associated with the received customer order, to consume the allocations, the method may than proceed to step  318 . At step  318 , order promising system  110  holds the allocations and leaves the capacity associated with this particular allocation un-promised. At step  320  the profit associated with holding the allocations is zero. 
         [0032]    Order promising system  110  may determine to sell-out or borrow the allocations to the seller associated with the received customer order, the method may than proceeds to step  322 . At step  322 , order promising system  110  may determine that the seller associated with the received customer order is willing to pay a premium for the allocation and promises the allocations to the seller associated with the received customer. At step  324 , the profit associated with the received customer order and promised at step  322 , is based on the premium amount offered by the seller. Once a determination of the allocation has been, the method ends. In addition, although,  FIG. 3  illustrates one embodiment of a method for allocating manufactured products to sellers using profitable order promising, various changes may be made to method  300  without departing from the scope of embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  illustrates a supply chain model  400 , according to one embodiment. Supply chain model  400  comprises raw materials  402  and  404 , routing  406  and  410 , intermediate product  408 , resource  412 , and finished product  416 . Although raw materials  402  and  404 , routing  406  and  410 , a single intermediate product  408 , a single resource  412 , and a single finished product  416 , are shown and described, embodiments contemplate any number of raw materials  402  and  404 , any number of routings  406  and  410 , any number of intermediate products  408 , any number of resources  412 , and any number of finished products  416 , according to particular needs. 
         [0034]    In one embodiment, order promising system  110  represents a supply chain model  400  of one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n.  Supply chain model  400  may produce a finished product  416  from an intermediate product  408  using one unit of resource  412 . In addition, routing  412  may take a particular period of time to produce finished product  416 , such as, for example, 1 week. Intermediate product (IP)  408  may be a combination of raw material  402  and  404  and may take a particular period of time to produce intermediate product  408  (i.e., routing  406 ), such as, for example, 2 weeks. 
         [0035]      FIG. 5  illustrates a profitable order promising interface  500  according to supply chain model  400  of  FIG. 4 . Profitable order promising interface  500  may comprise one or more graphical elements including available-to-promise buckets  510  and allocations  520 . Although, profitable order promising interface  500  is shown and described as having one or more graphical elements including a visual representation of a plurality of available-to-promise bucket  510  elements and a plurality of allocation  520  elements, embodiments contemplate any suitable number of graphical elements, according to particular needs. As will be explained below in greater detail, profitable order promising interface  500  may provide a visual representation of a rule based workflow, according to particular needs. 
         [0036]    In one embodiment, available-to-promise buckets  510  may provide the available supply associated with supply chain model  400 . Available-to-promise buckets  510  may be based on a particular time horizon, such as, for example, every day, every week, every month, or any other like time horizon. As an example only and not by way of limitation, available-to-promise buckets  510  may comprise finished product manufactured (FP Manufact.)  511 , finished product in-process (FP In-Process)  512 , finished product total (FP Total)  513 , intermediate product manufactured (IP Manufact.)  514 , intermediate product in-process (IP In-Process)  515 , intermediate product total (IP Total)  516 , resource (Res)  517  and raw materials (RM 1  and RM 2 )  518  and  519 . Although, example available-to-promise buckets  510  are shown and described, embodiments contemplate any other suitable available-to-promise buckets, such as, for example, supplier inventory, logistical capacity, consigned inventory, available to promise supply, and/or any other available-to-promise buckets, according to particular needs. 
         [0037]    In another embodiment, allocations  520  may provide the allocations of supply associated with supply chain model  400 . Allocations  520  may be based on a particular time horizon, such as, for example, every week, every month, every year, or any other like time horizon. As an example only and not by way of limitation, allocations  520  may comprise the total supply (Total Supply)  521  of resource (Res)  517 , for the time horizon associated with allocations  520 . Total supply (Total Supply)  521  may provide for how the supply of resource (Res)  517  is to be reserved across the hierarchy of sellers. 
         [0038]    Allocations  520  may also comprise top seller total (Total)  522 , top seller retained (Retained)  523 , top seller local pool (Local Pool)  523 , seller 1  total (Total)  525 , seller 1  retained (Retained)  526 , seller 1  local pool (Local Pool)  527 , seller 2  total (Total)  528 , seller 2  retained (Retained)  529 , and seller 2  local pool (local Pool)  530 . In addition, as discussed above, order promising system  110  may provide a seller hierarchy model that represents a hierarchy of sellers, such as, for example, seller hierarchy  200  of  FIG. 2 . Accordingly, the top seller may be, for example, top seller  210 , seller 1  may be, for example, sub-seller  220 , and seller 2  may be, for example, sub-seller  250 . In addition, the top seller is provided access to all of the supply, but may choose to reserve a portion of the supply to seller  1  of and/or seller 2 . In essence, any supply that is not retained by, for example, the top seller is available to the children associated with top seller. Although example allocations  520  are shown and described, embodiments contemplate any suitable allocations and/or any combination of allocations, according to particular needs. 
         [0039]    In one embodiment, allocations  520  may comprise a nested structure associated with allocations  520 . This nested structure may comprise one or more parameters coupled with the particular allocation of resources for providing profitable order promising. As an example only and not by way of limitation, the one or more parameters may be associated with a cost point, profits, margins, carbon footprint resources, and other like parameters. In another embodiment, the one or more parameters may be determined by one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n,  for each of the hierarchy of sellers and for each of the particular time horizons. In addition or as an alternative, the one or more parameters for one seller may be different than the one or more parameters for another seller and the one or more parameters for one seller tier may be different than the one or more parameters for another seller tier. In addition, the one or more parameters may be either internally stored in order promising system  110  and/or stored in a look-up table in one or more databases associated with supply chain network  100 . Although, example parameters are shown and described, embodiments contemplate any suitable parameter and/or any combination of parameters, according to particular needs. 
         [0040]    In another embodiment, order promising system  110  may adjust the one or more parameters, after the initial parameter is determined, based on, for example, shifting supply, demand conditions, and/or other like changes in supply chain network  100 . In addition or as an alternative, the one or more adjusted parameters may be either internally stored in order promising system  110  and/or stored in a look-up table in one or more databases associated with supply chain network  100 . In addition, order promising system  110  may adjust the one or more parameters using an order promising engine and/or an optimizer associated with order promising system  110 . 
         [0041]    To further explain the operation of profitable order promising interface  500 , an example is now given. In the following example, there are  46  units of total supply  521  of resource (Res)  517  in allocations  520  for month 1. That is, there are  10  units of resource (Res)  517  in week 1, there are 11 units of resource (Res)  517  in week 2, there are 12 units of resource (Res)  517  in week 3, and there are 13 units of resource (Res)  517  in week 4. Out of the 46 units of total supply  521  of resource (Res)  517   a  in allocations  520  for month 1, 10 units are allocated for top seller total  522 , 2 units are retained by the top seller at top seller retained  523 , and 8 units are placed in the local pool by the top seller at top seller local pool  524  and are available to the top seller, seller 1 , and seller 2 , according to particular needs. 
         [0042]    In addition, out of the  46  units of total supply  521  of resource (Res)  517  in allocations  520  for month 1, 30 units are allocated for seller 1  total  525 , 10 units are retained by seller 1  at seller 1  retained  526 , and 20 units are placed in the local pool by seller 1  at seller 1  local pool  527  and are available to top seller and seller 1 , according to particular needs. Furthermore, out of the 46 units of total supply  521  of resource (Res)  517  in allocations  520  for month 1, 6 units are allocated for seller 2  total  528 , 0 units are retained by seller 2  at seller 2  retained  529 , and 6 units are placed in the local pool by seller 2  at seller 2  local pool  530  and are available to the top seller and seller 2 , according to particular needs. 
         [0043]    Continuing with this example, a demand (i.e., customer order) is received at seller 2  which requires 90 units due week 7, at a margin of $10 per unit. Although, in this example, a particular demand is associated with seller 2 , a demand may be received from any member of the hierarchy of sellers, at any time, and for any parameter. In addition, in this example finished product manufactured (FP Manufact.)  511  is quantified as unrestricted supply, that is, finished product manufactured (FP Manufact.)  511  is not currently allocated and is available to any member of the hierarchy of sellers. Furthermore, in this example, the one or more parameters coupled with allocations  520  for providing profitable order promising, is a margin determined by one or more enterprises  120   a - 120   n.  In this example, the margin determined for seller 2  local pool  530  is “unrestricted”, the margin determined for top seller local pool  524  is $15 for month 1 and 2, and $10 for month 3. Although, an example parameter is shown and described in  FIG. 5 , embodiments contemplate any suitable parameter and/or any combination of parameters, according to particular needs. 
         [0044]    In order to provide profitable order promising, order promising system  110  allocates the finished product manufactured (FP Manufact.)  511  of available-to-promise buckets  510  starting at week 7 through week 1, for a total of 46 units. Next, order promising system  110  allocates the 15 units available in the local pool at seller 2  local pool  530  for month 2 and allocates the 6 units available in the local pool at seller 2  local pool  530  for month 1. However, because, in this example, top seller local pool  524  is restricted to a margin of $15 for month 1 and 2 and the received demand is for a margin of $10 per unit, order promising system  110  is not able to allocate the remaining 5 units by week 7. Order promising unit may allocate 4 units available in the top seller local pool  524  for month 3, because the 4 units available in the top seller local pool  524  for month 3 have a margin of $5 and the received demand is for a margin of $10 per unit. Accordingly, order promising system  110  may allocate (promise) 85 units in week 7 and 4 units in month 3, leaving 1 unit un-promised. 
         [0045]    In one embodiment, order promising system  110  may generate one or more reports and communicate these one or more reports to the seller associated with the demand or any member of the hierarchy of sellers. In addition, or as an alternative, these one or more reports may provide for the status of the allocations and may include, for example, a root cause report, a reasoning report, and/or any other report. In addition, these reports may describe why a particular demand was not allocated or was allocated short or late, relative to the customer request (i.e., customer order). In the above example, order promising system  110  may generate a report describing why the 4 units will not be allocated until month 3 and/or why the 1 unit remains un-promised. In addition, order promising system  110  may enable one or more workflows to launch resolution procedures in order to resolve why a particular demand was not allocated. 
         [0046]    Modifications, additions or omissions may be made to profitable order promising interface  500  without departing from the scope of the invention. As an example and not by way of limitation, profitable order promising interface  500  may have more, fewer, or other graphical elements, available-to-promise buckets, and/or allocations. Moreover, the operation of profitable order promising interface  500  may be performed by more, fewer, or other graphical elements, arranged in any suitable manner, according to particular needs. 
         [0047]    Reference in the foregoing specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “another embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
         [0048]    While the exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes and modifications to the foregoing embodiments may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.