Patent Publication Number: US-2006015349-A1

Title: Transformer manufacturing optimized planning across the manufacturing plants using artificial intelligence

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e) from the following U.S. provisional applications all of which were filed on Apr. 30, 2002: Ser. No. 60/377,047 (Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0302/B020200); Ser. No. 60/377,235 (Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0301/B020170); Ser. No. 60/377,241 (Attorney Docket No. ABTT- 0303 /B020210); Ser. No. 60/377,246 (Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0304/B020230); Ser. No. 60/377,251 (Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0300/B020140). All of the above-listed U.S. provisional applications are incorporated by reference herein, in their entirety, for all purposes. This application is related to the following PCT applications all of which were filed on Apr. 30, 2003: Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0378/B020200; Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0379/B020170; Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0377/B020210; Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0376/B020230; Attorney Docket No. ABTT-0380/B020140. All of the above-listed U.S. applications are incorporated by reference herein, in their entirety, for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to the field of material logistics and more specifically to the field of integrating supply systems with manufacturing material control.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Manufacturing of any detailed product is a complex process that requires extensive coordination between various entities, both within the same organization and outside the organization. Such manufacturing includes material need determinations, cost negotiations, material availability determinations, and warehousing considerations, just to name a few. Each of these entities typically is responsible for discrete portions of the manufacturing process, including order processing, supplier integration, and process feedback. It follows, therefore, that manufacturing requires getting the right information to the right place at the right time. Today, some of discrete entities or processes of the manufacturing process are automated computing systems. However, the communication and integration among the various entities is lacking. Often this lack of integration is a result of the various different entities that are responsible for the many different aspects of the overall manufacturing process. As a result, completing the entire manufacturing process often requires extensive human interaction between each of the various discrete entities or processes.  
      In addition, the entity that is ultimately responsible for the end product often is at the mercy of the individual material suppliers. Yet, often the communication to the end product manufacturer from the discrete entities is inconsistent. This inconsistent communication leads to missed production deadlines and eventually the arduous process of identifying new suppliers. In addition, inventories kept by the end product manufacturer often have low visibility, such that material acquisition requests often come too late, especially for long lead time material items.  
      Therefore, there is a need to provide automation and communication among the discrete manufacturing processes in real-time, and to provide greater visibility of manufacturing inventories.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention contemplates a system and method for communicating among entities of a manufacturing process. The system comprises a process tracking and workflow engine and a communications network. The process tracking and workflow engine includes at least one processing rule operating on manufacturing processing information. The communications network cooperates with the process tracking and workflow engine to transmit and receive data representative of the manufacturing communication information. The inventive system also may include a sales system for receiving a product request, where the product request is received from a customer and/or a field sales representative. Also, the communication network may be a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless network, and/or the Internet, or any combination of those. The process tracking and workflow engine determines available suppliers of material items to manufacture the product request, as well as determining the availability and cost associated with available suppliers. Also, the process tracking and workflow engine may select at least one supplier for each material item, and transmit an order to the selected suppliers. In addition, the process tracking and workflow engine may be integrated with at least one supplier&#39;s financial institution via the communication network. The inventive system also may include a factory inventory module and a management module both of which may be in communication with the process tracking and workflow engine. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings exemplary embodiments of the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed. In the drawings:  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system that may support the present invention;  
       FIG. 1   a  is a block diagram of an exemplary network environment in which the present invention may be employed;  
       FIG. 1   b  is a block diagram illustrating the cooperation of various computing elements when generating resource optimization for power systems in a computing environment;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an integrated manufacturing system, according to the invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an exemplary ordering module in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary ordering process in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an exemplary manufacturing system in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an exemplary method for performing a manufacturing optimization in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 7  is an exemplary flow diagram describing just one illustrative embodiment for implementing the invention;  
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram example describing just one illustrative embodiment for implementing the invention;  
       FIGS. 9   a - 9   c  are block diagrams of alternate illustrative data flow operations between exemplary components in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 10  is a block diagram of cooperating components of the customer tracking module described in  FIG. 2 , and how such components interact for tracking power distribution system equipment customers; and  
       FIG. 11  is a flow diagram of processing performed by the customer tracking module to execute customer relationship management and/or error tracking surrounding the sales of power distribution system equipment and/or services in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS  
      Illustrative Computing Environment  
       FIG. 1  shows computing system  100  that may support the present invention. Computing system  100  comprises computer  20   a  that may comprise display device  20   a ′ and interface and processing unit  20   a ″. Computer  20   a  may support computing application  180 . As shown, computing application  180  may comprise computing application processing and storage area  180  and computing application display  180   b . Computing application processing and storage area  180   a  may contain computational equation, rules, and models repository  180   a ( 1 ), computational model engine  180   a ( 2 ), and power system data store  180   a ( 3 ). Similarly, computing application display  180   b  may comprise display content  180   b ′. In operation, a participating user (not shown) may interface with computing application  180  through the use of computer  20   a . The participating user (not shown) may navigate through computing application  180  to input, display, and generate data representative of power system resource optimization. Resource optimization solutions and analysis may be created by computing application  180  using the computational equation, rules, and models repository  180   a ( 1 ), computational model engine  180   a ( 2 ), and power system information  180   a ( 3 ) of computing application processing and storage area  180   a  and shown to a participating user (not shown) as display content  180   b ′ on computing application display  180   b.    
      Illustrative Computer Network Environment  
      Computer  20   a , described above, can be deployed as part of a computer network. In general, the above description for computers applies to both server computers and client computers deployed in a network environment.  FIG. 1   a  illustrates an exemplary network environment, with a server in communication with client computers via a network, in which the present invention may be employed. As shown in  FIG. 1   a , a number of servers  10   a ,  10   b , etc., are interconnected via a fixed-wire or wireless communications network  160  (which may be a LAN, WAN, intranet, the Internet, or other computer network) with a number of client computers  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c , or computing devices, such as, mobile phone  15 , and personal digital assistant  17 . In a network environment in which the communications network  160  is the Internet, for example, the servers  10  can be Web servers with which the clients  20  communicate via any of a number of known communication protocols, such as, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) or wireless application protocol (WAP). Each client computer  20  can be equipped with browser  180   a  to gain access to the servers  10 . Similarly, personal digital assistant  17  can be equipped with browser  180   b  and mobile phone  15  can be equipped with browser  180   c  to display and receive various data.  
      In operation, a participating user (not shown) may interact with a computing application running on a client computing devices to generate resource optimization solutions for energy markets. The optimization solutions may be stored on server computers and communicated to cooperating users through client computing devices over communications network  160 . A participating user may create, track, manage, and store project solutions and cost analysis information by interfacing with computing applications on client computing devices. These transactions may be communicated by client computing devices to server computers for processing and storage. Server computers may host computing applications for the processing of optimization information relevant to energy markets.  
      Thus, the present invention can be utilized in a computer network environment having client computing devices for accessing and interacting with the network and a server computer for interacting with client computers. However, the systems and methods providing resource optimization as described by the systems and methods disclosed herein can be implemented with a variety of network-based architectures, and thus should not be limited to the example shown. The systems and methods disclosed herein will be described in more detail with reference to a presently illustrative implementation.  
      Power System Solution Generation  
       FIG. 1   b  shows the cooperation of various computing elements when generating resource optimization for power systems in a computing environment. A participating user may employ computing application  180   a  operating on client computer  20   a  to send a request for resource optimization to project processing server  10   a  over communications network  160 . In response, project processing server  10   a  may process the request by cooperating with adaptable and updateable computational equation, rules, and models data store  10   b ( 1 ), and adaptable and updateable computational model engine  10   b ( 2 ) to generate and communicate resource optimization solutions for the power system resource optimization request. The resource optimization solution information can then be communicated to client computer  20   a  over communications network  160 . At client computer  20   a , the resource optimization solution information may be viewed and manipulated by participating users.  
      Overview  
      The invention contemplates a technique for integrating the inventory system of a manufacturing facility with each of the many material suppliers systems in real time.  FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an integrated manufacturing system  200 , according to the invention. It should be appreciated that the block diagram shown in  FIG. 2  is just one example of a technique for accomplishing the invention.  FIG. 2  is not meant to be the exclusive example, but is provided for the purpose of understanding the invention.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , a customer order enters ordering module  201 . The customer order may be received electronically by ordering module  201  from a customer and/or a sales representative, for example, via a communications network  160  such as the Internet. As will be discussed in greater detail, ordering module  201  receives and processes the product order, and then routes the order for production and manufacturing. More specifically, plant optimization module  202  receives the order information from ordering module  201 . As will be discussed in greater detail, plant optimization module  202  then determines which of the possible manufacturing plants would most effectively and/or efficiently manufacture the requested product. The order also is processed by supplier integration module  203 . Supplier integration module  203 , as will be discussed in greater detail below, considers the ordered product on a component-by-component basis and determines which of the available suppliers most efficiently and/or effectively will provide the component materials that eventually will be assembled to manufacture the end product. Product  204  represents the assembled end product, based on the customer order received by ordering module  201 . Product  204  may then be delivered to the customer  206 . Information may be gathered during the manufacture process by two additional modules, sales marketing module  205  and customer relationship management module  207 . As will be described in more detail below, sales and marketing module  205  processes requests for quotes for various power distribution equipment and/or services to provide pricing information for a variety of equipment and/or services. Customer relationship management module  207  tracks and reports customer complaints and errors relating to the sale or performance of a power distribution system equipment and services.  
      Ordering Module  
      An embodiment of ordering module  201  is an online application that integrates the multiple processes that occur during the ordering and manufacturing of a power transformer into one streamlined process that also provides for real-time access and manipulation of ordering and manufacturing data. It should be noted that the details of implementing a website and/or intranet site in connection with electronic commerce should be known to one skilled in the art and is therefore not discussed herein for clarity.  
      A block diagram of an exemplary ordering module  201  in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown, the exemplary ordering module includes a customer computer  302  which is connected to a sales computer  304  by way of a communications network  306 . Such computers  302 ,  304  may be any computing device such as, for example, computer  20   a  as discussed above in connection with  FIG. 1 , a specialized computer or the like. Displayed on customer computer  302  may be a sales website  312  that provides predetermined transformer sales information to a customer and that may also permit the customer to transmit information to the sales computer  304 . Communications network  306  may be any means for operatively connecting computers  302 ,  304  such as communications network  160 .  
      Operatively connected to sales computer  304  by way of communications network  308  may be management computer  310  and project processing server  0   a . Communications network  308  may be the same network as communications network  306 , or may be a different network. Additionally, communications network  308  may be a different type of communications network  160  than communications network  306 . Management computer  310  may be any computing device for communicating with a management entity of the transformer manufacturer. Such management computer  310 , like computers  302 ,  304 , may be any type of computing device, such as computer  20   a , and may permit the management entity to send information to sales computer  304  by way of communications network  308 . Sales computer  304  may process such management input, for example, according to predetermined criteria. Project processing server  10   a  enables functionality similar to that of management computer  310  with respect to a manufacturing entity of the transformer manufacturer and will be discussed below in greater detail in connection with  FIGS. 5 and 6 .  
      Turning now to  FIG. 4 , at step  410  an order or a request for quote for a transformer is received by way of sales website  312 . Such an order or request may be performed in any number of ways. For example, a customer may fill out an online form on a manufacturer website  312 , which is then sent to a website server associated with the manufacturer website. Alternatively, a customer may send a request by way of email or like. The order may contain any information relevant to the transformer order such as, for example, transformer characteristics, project information and/or shipping information. At some point during step  210 , as well as at some point during steps  215 - 225  and  235 - 250 , as will be discussed below, an online report may be sent to the management computer  310  at step  255 . For example, if a customer fills out an online form to perform step  210 , a copy of such form may be sent to both a manufacturing entity by way of the project processing server  10   a , as well as a management entity by way of management computer  310 . As may be appreciated, sending such a report, and the information contained in such report, may enable the creation of a trend analysis, historical analysis and/or the like. Furthermore, such a report enables management or another entity within the manufacturer to review a status associated with the transformer order or with the transformer&#39;s construction in real-time. In one embodiment, the customer may also have access to a manufacturer system such as project processing server  10   a  or the like so as to be able to review a status associated with the order.  
      At step  215 , the order is reviewed. Such a review process may be performed manually by, for example, a sales engineer or the like, or the process may be automated. In an embodiment where a customer performed step  210  above in connection with sending an email, for example, a sales engineer or the like may review the order, correspond with the customer if necessary, and then enter the order into the manufacturing system such as project processing server  10   a . In an embodiment where a customer performed step  210  above in connection with filling out an online form provided by website  312 , for example, the form may be reviewed by sales computer  304  or the like and automatically forwarded, if valid, to project processing server  10   a  or another manufacturer computer  10   a . A pre-review is also possible, where a customer is only permitted to, for example, select valid options for ordering one or more transformers. The options may be based on valid transformer configurations, manufacturing capacity, availability of supplies or the like. As may be appreciated, in such an embodiment, step  215  takes place prior to step  210 .  
      At step  220 , an optimization across manufacturing plants is conducted by the plant optimization module  202 , as will be discussed below in greater detail in connection with  FIGS. 5 and 6 . Essentially, such an optimization determines the best location to manufacture the ordered transformer based on a plurality of conditions, which may also include conditions that are related to business, rather than manufacturing, concerns. For example, the optimization may account for manufacturing costs and capacity at each available plant, shipping terms and location of a plant with respect to a customer location, customer credit rating, available materials and the like. As may be appreciated, any of the above factors may be weighted as desired by the manufacturer. Such weighing may be conducted by way of management server  310 . At the completion of step  220 , a factory location is chosen based on the above criteria. At step  225 , once the optimization of step  220  has completed, a hold is placed on plant capacity and materials necessary to produce the transformer. By doing so, the optimized plant location may be held so as to prevent the subsequent placement of another order from interfering with the present order. Additional factors such as, for example, an expiration policy may be placed into effect, where the hold will be released if the order is not confirmed by a given date.  
      At step  230 , a determination is made as to whether the order for the transformer has been confirmed. If not, the method proceeds to step  235  where the order is cancelled and any supply or factory holds are released. As may be appreciated, additional factors may be incorporated into step  235  such as, for example, the automated charging or payment of a cancellation fee, the generation of a cancellation confirmation, or the like. If, however, the determination of step  230  results in a confirmed order, the method proceeds to step  240 . At step  240 , an automated payment plan may be initiated as agreed upon between the manufacturer and customer. The use of an automated payment plan may allow for the automatic deduction of customer funds at given production points, at the completion of production or the like.  
      At step  245 , the necessary materials and plant space are ordered and reserved, and the production of the transformer begins. In addition, the manufacturing process may be further optimized based on orders received, actual plant loading and the like. At step  250 , the order and manufacturing process is completed. At such step, a customer service entity of the manufacturer may be notified to, for example, follow up with the customer and receive feedback on the ordering and manufacturing process. An example of such a following up process is described below in connection with the customer relationship management module  207  of  FIGS. 10 and 11 .  
      Plant Optimization Module  
      A block diagram of an exemplary manufacturing system in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown, the exemplary manufacturing system includes factories  510  and  520 . Each such factory  510  and  520  includes machines  510   a - d  and  520   a - c , respectively. As should be appreciated, a manufacturing system in accordance with the present invention may include any number of factories  510 ,  520  each including any number of machines  510   a - d ,  520   a - c . Manufacturing capability input data from each factory  510  and  520  is submitted to project processing server  10   a  via communications network  160 . Manufacturing capability information may include information such as, for example, status (online, offline, operative, non-operative, limited, full, etc.), loading, capacity and available raw materials. Such manufacturing capability input is used to perform a manufacturing optimization at project processing server  10   a.    
      A flowchart of an exemplary method for performing a manufacturing optimization in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 6 . The exemplary method shown in  FIG. 6  is preferably performed by a computing device such as, for example, project processing server  10   a  of  FIG. 1   b . Generally, input including orders, manufacturing capability, and optionally management preferences is received, an optimization is performed based on such input, and an optimal manufacturing location output is generated. Input parameters may be submitted from a computing device such as, for example, client computer  20   a  via communications network  160 . The optimization is preferably performed on a global or a local scale depending on the input provided.  
      At step  610 , order input is received. The order input preferably includes information about an order such as, for example, a size of the order, a completion/shipping date for the order, and a shipping location for the order.  
      At step  620 , manufacturing capability input is received. The capability input may include global and/or local input. Global input preferably includes capability information about global manufacturing facilities such as, for example, factories  510  and  520 . Global input may include facilities throughout the world or throughout a selected region. Local input preferably includes capability information about manufacturing components within global facilities such as, for example, machines  510   a - d  and  520   a - c.    
      At step  630 , management input is received. Step  630  is an optional step. Management input preferably includes information related to management policies and decisions such as, for example, manufacturing costs, wages, raw material costs, and strategic planning.  
      At step  640  a global or local optimization mode is selected. The optimization may be selected manually by a participating user or automatically based on factors such as, for example, the size of the order input and whether the manufacturing input is primarily global or local.  
      At step  650 , the optimization is performed. The optimization is preferably performed by a computational engine such as, for example, computational engine  10   b ( 2 ) of  FIG. 1   b . During optimization, the inputs received at step  610 - 640  are preferably processed by a plurality of artificial intelligence agents which execute at least one genetic algorithm. Computational engine  10   b ( 2 ) preferably includes a neural network to realize pattern recognition and fuzzy logic for system control.  
      The optimization may be recalculated based on a change in input parameters due to factors such as, for example, a change in planning strategy, available materials, costs, or wages. Such a recalculation may be initiated manually in response to a request or may be initiated automatically based on a detection of a change in input parameters. For example, a participating user may request that engine  10   b ( 2 ) recalculate the optimization based on a predetermined degree of a change in input parameters.  
      The optimization may also be performed based on anticipated future input parameters. Engine  10   b ( 2 ) may calculate such future input parameters based on current values, trends, historical analysis, and/or estimates supplied by a user. The current optimization may also be recalculated by varying input parameters for testing and/or planning purposes.  
      At step  660 , the manufacturing location output is generated. The output may include a primary optimal location and a plurality of alternate optimal locations. A participating user may select from the primary location or the alternate location based on management and planning considerations. The output may be submitted via communications network  160  to a computing device such as, for example, client computer  20   a . The output may be displayed to a user at client computer  20   a . The output may be used as input to an application for planning a manufacturing and production schedule at the selected manufacturing location. The output may also be stored for further processing.  
      The output may be incorporated as part of a report, for example, to management, to potential investors, or to potential customers. Such a report may be used to plan future management decisions such as, for example, future hiring, purchase of additional manufacturing components, creation of new factories, and future allocation of existing manufacturing resources. Such a report may also be used to demonstrate manufacturing capability to potential investors and potential customers.  
      Supplier Integration Module  
      Although the various modules in system  200  are shown in communication with certain other modules, it should be appreciated that the configuration of the modules in  FIG. 2  are not meant to be exclusive, but are provided merely as a means to further explain the invention. For example, in some instances supplier integration module  303  may process the customer order before plant optimization module  202 , and vice versa. Also, it should be appreciated that communications among the various modules may be satisfied in any number of structural contexts. For example, each of the modules may be separated by great distances, requiring communication over large networks, for example the Internet. Alternatively, the modules may all be located within a single manufacturing structure and thus communicate over a LAN. Also, it should be appreciated that each of the modules may be represented by software, and thus be located on a single and/or a distributed computing device. From this, it should be appreciated that the invention is not constrained by any particular structural context, but may be applied in any one of the embodiments listed in addition to other possible embodiments.  
       FIG. 7  is an example flow diagram  700  describing just one illustrative embodiment for implementing the invention. It should be appreciated that the flow diagram shown in  FIG. 7  is just one example of a technique for accomplishing the invention.  FIG. 7  is not meant to be the exclusive example, but is provided for the purpose of understanding the invention.  
      As shown in  FIG. 7 , in step  701 , the system receives material requests from the factory&#39;s inventory system. In step  702 , the system determines available suppliers for each of the necessary material. In step  703 , the system determines the availability and costs of the material for each of the selected suppliers. In step  704 , the information pertinent to each of the suppliers are filtered against certain business rules and polices. Such business rules may be applied automatically by a computing device or manually via human input and interaction. In step  705 , the system selects a particular supplier for each material item. In step  706 , the system provides an order (e.g., material, date of delivery, and place of delivery) with the selected supplier. In step  707 , the system receives confirmation from the supplier. In step  708 , the system provides payment instructions, for example electronic money transfer, to the supplier&#39;s financial institution (e.g., bank, credit agency, etc.). In step  709 , the system provides feedback and trend analysis to grade each the suppliers (e.g., based on delivery due dates, material quality, and payment terms, etc.). In step  71   d , the system provides reporting of the information collected in step  709 .  
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram example describing just one illustrative embodiment  800  for implementing the invention. It should be appreciated that the block diagram shown in  FIG. 8  is just one example of a technique for accomplishing the invention.  FIG. 8  is not meant to be the exclusive example, but is provided for the purpose of understanding the invention. In addition, although the flow diagram is discussed in the context of the manufacturing of a distribution transformer, the invention is not so limited but may be applied to the manufacturing of other products as well.  
      As shown in  FIG. 8 , a system  800  may comprise a sales system  801  that may be in communication with a factory inventory component  802 . Sales system  801  may include computer processing equipment used by sales representatives to place orders for a particular type of distribution transformer via ordering module  201 . Sales system  801  also may provide input directly from clients via ordering module  201 . Also, communication between sales system  801  and factory inventory  802  may be accomplished over a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), for example. Factory inventory component  802  may be a computer processing component that tracks real-time inventory, capacity, and material movement within the factory setting. For example, in the context of a distribution transformer, factory inventory component may track the availability and movement of the transformer enclosure, transformer winding items, and transformer insulation bushings. Because sales system  801  is a part of system  800 , the system may be linked to material offer and acceptance process, thus providing increased reliability of promised material delivery dates.  
      Factory inventory component  802  may be in communication with a management component  803 . Management component  803  may be computer processing equipment capable of interpreting the availability and movement of material, as provided by factory inventory  802 , and providing material ordering and/or material stocking recommendations. For example, in the context of a distribution transformer, management component  803  may receive data from factory inventory  802  indicating that the in-house inventory supply of transformer insulation bushings are below expected need. As a result, this information will be provided to management component  803 . Because management component  803  is an integrated part of system  800 , real-time manufacturing, material inventory status, and trend and historical analysis are provided.  
      Factory inventory component  802  may be in communication with an application tool  804 . Also, application tool  804  may be in communication with a supplier A  805 , a supplier B  806 , a supplier C  807 , and a supplier D  808 . Application tool  804  is the logic component that processes the information regarding the availability and movement of material from factory inventory  802  and the request for material and end-of-line products from sales system  801 . As discussed with reference to  FIG. 8 , application tool  804  processes the information provided by sales system  801  and factory inventory  802  and determines what, if any, additional material is needed. Application tool  804  then identifies the relevant suppliers  805 - 808  that are capable of providing the needed material. There may be one or more relevant suppliers able to provide the needed material. As a result, application tool  804  determines each of the relevant supplier availability and costs. In addition, application tool  804  may make filter the relevant suppliers based on certain business rules and/or policies. These business rules and/or policies may be programmed within application tool  804 , may be input on by management component  803 , and/or may be input at any time based on changing business demands and supplier performance. Such information may be input to the system at any time, on a per-order basis, and/or via human interaction with the system. Once application tool  804  processes the relevant pre-programmed and/or real-time entered criteria and business rules, application tool  804  selects one or more of the relevant suppliers to provide the needed material. Application tool  804  facilitates increased material need forecasting and projection, relevant especially for critical materials that require long lead time ordering. Also, application tool  804  facilitates real-time and early cost calculations to provide up front profit margin estimates, which provide input for subsequent material price quote negotiations.  
      Application tool  804  may be in communication with financial institution  809 . Application tool  804  may communicate with financial institution  809  to compensate the supplier or suppliers from whom application tool  804  ordered the needed materials. Also, because each of suppliers  805 - 808  may be in communication with one or more financial institutions  809 , financial institution  809  may provide direct compensation to the selected suppliers. It should be appreciated that like the communication among the various components in system  800 , application tool  804  may communicate with financial institution  809  electronically over a LAN or WAN and/or over secure financial networks. Similarly, suppliers  805 - 808  may receive payment from financial institution  809  electronically. It should be appreciated that each of the suppliers may have different, dedicated financial institutions to process the financial transaction.  
      Sales Marketing Module  
       FIGS. 9   a - 9   c  show block diagrams of alternate illustrative data flow operations between exemplary components of an integrated manufacturing system  200  as described above in  FIG. 2 . Specifically, the data flow is of sales/marketing information communicated by the shown exemplary components to realize creation, tracking, and management of sales/marketing data for use in global power equipment manufacturing and services organizations. As shown in  FIG. 9   a , customer  902  may interact with sales system  908  through communications infrastructure  904  and data converter  906  to provide and obtain desired sales and marketing data for power distribution system equipment and services. Sales system  908  cooperates with design database  912 , market database  910 , and Factory system  914  to gather various data for processing in the creation of desired sales and marketing data.  
      In operation, sales system  908  will send retrieve data from design database  912  and market database  910 . The retrieved data is then processed with additional data communicated from factory system  914  to create sales and marketing data for power distribution equipment and services. The created data is then communicated back to the customer  902  by sales system  908  through data converter  906  and communications infrastructure  904 . Specifically, sales system  908  executes one or more instruction sets that instruct at lest one execution thread to cooperate with design database  912  and market database  910  to retrieve and store power distribution equipment and services design type data and power distribution equipment and services market data, respectively. In addition, sales system  908  contains one or more instructions sets to instruct at leas one execution thread to cooperate with factory system  914 . Factory system  914 , among other things, provides creates and communicates data representative of planning, capacity, and material relating to power distribution system equipment and services.  
      For example, in an exemplary implementation, customer  902  requests a power distribution system component/service quote through the company web site (Internet). As part of this request, customer  902  may fill in a short form including transformer characteristics, project information and shipping information. The information provided by customer  902  may make its way to a sales Engineer, who is tasked to import the quote to the sales system. Sales system  908  executing one or more instruction sets, will communicate with design database  912 , that may contain previous sales/design documents and drawings and retrieve a design for the requested power distribution system component. Sales system  908  may then operate to generate a bill of materials and begin manufacturing planning based on the retrieved design parameters.  
      From there, sales system  908  may then search through market database  910 , having populated therein previous sales from previous orders and competitors&#39; prices as well as market business conditions, to obtain pricing information for use in generating quote information for the desired power distribution system component/service. In the event that a design is not available in design database  912  as it is a newly designed power distribution system component or a special type, then an estimation of the minimum required design parameters is performed. If sales system  908  determines that the minimum design parameters is adequate for performing the estimate, sales system  908  will cooperate with a design system (not shown) to calculate those parameters and store them in design database  912  for future use.  
       FIGS. 9   b  and  9   c  show alternative implementations of the sales marketing module  205  of the integrated manufacturing system  200  described above in  FIG. 2 . Specifically, as is seen in  FIG. 9   b , sales system  908 , instead of cooperating with a single factory to obtain information to create, track, and manage sales and marketing information for power distribution system components/services, cooperates with a plurality of factories, factory  2   916 , factory  3   918 , factory  4   920 , and factory  5   922 . In this context, in addition to the performing the above described processing, sales system  908  forwards a generated quote to a regional sales component where an automated agent will perform optimization across manufacturing plants, such as factories  510  and  520  (not shown). The optimization process will take place based on pre-determined business conditions and business logic, including but not limited to, the distance of the customer site from one or more of the power distribution system component/service manufacturing facilities, manufacturing costs, shipping terms, and customer credit rating. Additionally, sales system  908  will look to available capacity and materials to determine manufacturing capabilities to support quote realization. Additionally, sales system  908  operates such that once a factory is determined, a hold will be in place on capacity and materials to reserve a spot for that order once it is received. In an exemplary implementation, an expiration policy may be levied on the duration and extent of such hold. A confirmation may also be sent to the sales system and a quotation letter will generated with all terms and conditions of the generated quote.  
      At this stage, the sales engineer has the option to mail, fax and/or email that quote to the customer. Once customer accepts the quote and sales are acknowledged with that acceptance, they enter a confirmation into the sales system that forward all technical information to the appropriate manufacturing facility. Sales system  908  may also operate to perform a cost analysis on the manufactured product to determine if it is inline with the provided quote. Sales system  908  may also operate to generate reports relating to the above-described processing. In these reports information about sales trends, realized quotes or other relevant management information may be contained.  
       FIG. 9   c  shows the implementation wherein a quick order database  922  is provided in the sales marketing module  205 . The quick order database serves to cache information about returning customers in an effort to speed up quote creation and communication. As is seen, sales system  908  cooperates with quick order database  922  to store and retrieve relevant customer information for use in creating, tracking, and managing sales and marketing information for customers and for use in the above-described report generation processes.  
      Customer Relationship Module  
       FIG. 10  shows a block diagram of the cooperating components of the customer relationship module  207  described in  FIG. 2 , and how these components interact for tracking power distribution system equipment customers. As shown, in an exemplary implementation, customer relationship module  207  comprises customer relationship management (CRM) processes  1005 , CRM data store,  1015 , error tracking and reporting processes  1010  and error data store  1020 . In operation, a request is provided (e.g. by a participating user or cooperating component) to customer relationship module  207 . The request is first processed by CRM processes  1005 . Included in CRM processes  1005  is at least one instruction set to instruct to cooperate with CRM data store  1015  and error tracking and reporting process  1010  to retrieve, process, or store CRM relevant data for at least one customer relating to the sale or disposition of power distribution system equipment. From there, processing may then be passed to error tracking and reporting processes  1010 . Error tracking and reporting processes  1010  cooperate with error data store  1020  and CRM processes  1005  to retrieve or store data relevant to errors encountered by customers as part of the sale or performance of power distribution system equipment or services. Included in error tracking and reporting processes  1010  is at least one instruction set providing instructions to an exemplary computing environment to communicate data to/from CRM processes  1005  and error data store  1020 . Once processed, data is collected and gathered by the customer relationship module  207  to generate a CRM/Error response to the CRM/Error Request/update. As shown by the right arrow, the response is provided for subsequent use by participating users (not shown) and/or cooperating components (not shown).  
      In the exemplary implementation described, CRM processes  1005  may include instruction sets to obtain or provide customer demographic, use, affinity, order history, profile, or payment history information. In addition, CRM processes  1005  may contain one or more instruction sets to track and log customer complaints surrounding the sales and/or performance of power distribution system equipment or services. Similarly, error tracking and reporting processes  1010  may include instruction sets to obtain or provide various error information for power distribution system equipment sales activities. Included in the error information is delivery error, missing equipment parts error, incorrect specifications error, and malfunctioning equipment error information.  
      It is appreciated that although the exemplary implementation, shows CRM processes operating first and error tracking and reporting processes operating second, that such processing