Patent Abstract:
A system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain. The system, method and interface facilitate the collation of information in a supplier database. The system, method and interface facilitate the evaluation of a base of suppliers forming a supply base of a supply chain. The evaluation includes providing a database of information relating to supplier performance and capabilities based on historical performance. The supply base evaluation system, method and interface can be used to qualify and disqualify suppliers, and to improve supplier performance and capabilities. Objective feedback may be provided to suppliers, the feedback including metrics captured and tracked by the system. Development plans may be implemented to improve the manner in which suppliers do business throughout the supply chain.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system, method and interface for facilitating the evaluation of a base of suppliers forming a supply base for a supply chain. The evaluation entails providing a database of supplier performance and capabilities based on historical performance. The supply base evaluation system, method and interface of the present invention can be used to qualify and disqualify suppliers, and to improve supplier performance and capabilities.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    The channels that goods or resources travel through are known as a supply chain. These channels may extend from a manufacturing point to a retail sales location or from a point where a resource, such as raw ore, is harvested to a manufacturing location, where a product is made from that resource. In the manufacturing process or sales process, over-supply or under-supply of goods or resources is undesirable. An efficient supply chain maintains the optimum amount of goods and resources throughout the supply chain to avoid both overstocking and under-stocking.  
           [0005]    In conventional supply chains it is difficult to assess the performance and capabilities of a supplier to find a supplier that can meet a retailer or manufacturer&#39;s needs. While a retailer, for instance, can contact a better business bureau to learn if complaints have been filed against a supplier, such information is anecdotal and not quantifiable. Furthermore, a better business bureau would only maintain negative information and not positive information, historical performance, or capabilities for a supplier. Consequently, the information available at a service such as a better business bureau is of limited utility.  
           [0006]    In order to perform long term planning it would be very useful to members of a supply chain to be able to determine the performance and capabilities of a supplier and thereby better-forecast sales, inventories, replenishment intervals, seasonal variations, etc.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    Advantageously, the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can provide a qualitative assessment of a supplier&#39;s capabilities and characteristics, comprehensive assessments of a supplier&#39;s historical performance and a way to evaluate the risks and benefits associated with working with supplier during sourcing decisions.  
           [0008]    The system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention can identify gaps and surplus in a supplier database. An interface facilitates the collation of information in the supplier database. Cross functional opportunities can be found using a supplier database and an interface screens, which will potentially capture information on what products are produced by each supplier.  
           [0009]    Suppliers that fail to meet minimum standards may be removed from the database, and thus from the supply chain. In conjunction with the removal of a supplier from the database, objective feedback may be provided to suppliers, the feedback including metrics captured and tracked by the system. Removal of a supplier from the supply chain should therefore come as no surprise to the suppliers, as they will have visibility of how their performance is perceived via the rankings and metrics. Potential new suppliers may be evaluated and added to the supplier database if they meet measured service levels. Similarly, suppliers may be able provide information to the system of their increased capacities and capabilities.  
           [0010]    Proactive development plans may be implemented to improve the manner in which suppliers do business throughout the supply chain and thereby maintain high ratings. The information in the database is updated regularly to help to monitor supplier&#39;s performance. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    These and other attributes of the present invention will be described with respect to the following drawings in which:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system upon which the system and method of the present invention may be embodied;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating activities and responsibilities involved in managing and maintaining the supplier database using the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating flow between interface screens according to the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain of the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a logon screen for the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a home page screen for the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is an actuals evaluation screen according to the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 is a supplier information screen according to the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 is a teams view evaluation screen according to the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is bulletin board screen according to the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is an actuals comparison screen according to the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is a trend evaluation screen according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 is a teams view comparison screen according to the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 is a trend evaluation screen according to the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 14 is screen for linking a supplier to a specific product type, according to the present invention;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 15 is a screen showing suppliers ranked by their team scores according to the present invention; and  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 16 is a flow chart of the method according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]    The present invention may be embodied on a computer system, such as the system  100  shown in FIG. 2. Computer  100  includes a central processor  110 , a system memory  112  and a system bus  114  that couples various system components including the system memory  112  to the central processor unit  110 . System bus  114  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The structure of system memory  112  is well known to those skilled in the art and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS) stored in a read only memory (ROM) and one or more program modules such as operating systems, application programs and program data stored in random access memory (RAM).  
         [0029]    Computer  100  may also include a variety of interface units and drives for reading and writing data. In particular, computer  100  includes a hard disk interface  116  and a removable memory interface  120  respectively coupling a hard disk drive  118  and a removable memory drive  122  to system bus  114 . Examples of w removable memory drives include magnetic disk drives and optical disk drives. The drives and their associated computer-readable media, such as a floppy disk  124  provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for computer  100 . A single hard disk drive  118  and a single removable memory drive  122  are shown for illustration purposes only and with the understanding that computer  100  may include several of such drives. Furthermore, computer  100  may include drives for interfacing with other types of computer readable media.  
         [0030]    A user can interact with computer  100  with a variety of input devices. FIG. 2 shows a serial port interface  126  coupling a keyboard  128  and a pointing device  130  to system bus  114 . Pointing device  128  may be implemented with a mouse, track ball, pen device, or similar device. Of course one or more other input devices (not shown) such as a joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, touch sensitive screen or the like may be connected to computer  100 .  
         [0031]    Computer  100  may include additional interfaces for connecting devices to system bus  114 . FIG. 2 shows a universal serial bus (USB) interface  132  coupling a video or digital camera  134  to system bus  114 . An IEEE 1394 interface  136  may be used to couple additional devices to computer  100 . Furthermore, interface  136  may configured to operate with particular manufacture interfaces such as FireWire developed by Apple Computer and i.Link developed by Sony. Input devices may also be coupled to system bus  114  through a parallel port, a game port, a PCI board or any other interface used to couple and input device to a computer.  
         [0032]    Computer  100  also includes a video adapter  140  coupling a display device  142  to system bus  114 . Display device  142  may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), field emission display (FED), plasma display or any other device that produces an image that is viewable by the user. Additional output devices, such as a printing device (not shown), may be connected to computer  100 .  
         [0033]    Sound can be recorded and reproduced with a microphone  144  and a speaker  166 . A sound card  148  may be used to couple microphone  144  and speaker  146  to system bus  114 . One skilled in the art will appreciate that the device connections shown in FIG. 2 are for illustration purposes only and that several of the peripheral devices could be coupled to system bus  114  via alternative interfaces. For example, video camera  134  could be connected to IEEE 1394 interface  136  and pointing device  130  could be connected to USB interface  132 .  
         [0034]    Computer  100  can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers or other devices, such as a server, a router, a network personal computer, a peer device or other common network node, a wireless telephone or wireless personal digital assistant. Computer  100  includes a network interface  150  that couples system bus  114  to a local area network (LAN)  152 . Networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks and home computer systems.  
         [0035]    A wide area network (WAN)  154 , such as the Internet, can also be accessed by computer  100 . FIG. 2 shows a modem unit  156  connected to serial port interface  126  and to WAN  154 . Modem unit  156  may be located within or external to computer  100  and may be any type of conventional modem such as a cable modem or a satellite modem. LAN  152  may also be used to connect to WAN  154 . FIG. 2 shows a router  158  that may connect LAN  152  to WAN  154  in a conventional manner.  
         [0036]    It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other ways of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used. The existence of any of various well-known protocols, such as TCP/IP, Frame Relay, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like, is presumed, and computer  100  can be operated in a client-server configuration to permit a user to retrieve web pages from a web-based server. Furthermore, any of various conventional web browsers can be used to display and manipulate data on web pages.  
         [0037]    The operation of computer  100  can be controlled by a variety of different program modules. Examples of program modules are routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The present invention may also be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCS, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal digital assistants and the like. Furthermore, the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.  
         [0038]    Referring to the flow chart shown in FIG. 2, activities and responsibilities involved in managing and maintaining the supplier database are outlined using the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention. The flow chart, shown in FIG. 2, includes the step  30  of creating and maintaining a database of suppliers. The information in the database is used to analyze departmental databases of suppliers in step  32 . The results of the analysis of step  32  is utilized in step  34  the select suppliers for each season. The results of the selections made in step  34  are tracked to develop evaluations of suppliers is step  36 . The evaluations of suppliers, developed in step  36 , are in turn utilized to maintain the database of suppliers in step  30 .  
         [0039]    The system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention displays a number of screens on a display, such as the display device  142  of the computer system  100 . FIG. 3 illustrates a logical order in which these screens may be reviewed. In particular, the interface of the present invention begins with a logon screen  200 , shown in FIG. 4, described in detail below. After successfully logging on, a user is presented with the home page screen  210 , shown in FIG. 5. From the home page screen  210 , a user can select from: an actuals evaluation screen  220 , a supplier information screen  230 , a teams view evaluation screen  240 , and a bulletin board  250 , shown in FIGS.  6 - 9 , respectively, actuals comparison screen  260  shown in FIG. 10, or teams view comparison screen  280 , shown in FIG. 12, and described in detail below.  
         [0040]    From the actuals evaluation screen  220 , a user can select a trend evaluation screen  270  shown in FIG. 11. A user can select a trend evaluation screen  290 , shown in FIG. 13 from the teams view evaluation screen  240 .  
         [0041]    Referring to FIG. 4, when a user first begins to use the system of the present invention, the interface displays the logon screen  200 . Users are requested to enter their user ID into field  202  along with their password in field  204  on the logon screen  200 . Upon successful logon, achieved by selecting logon button  206 , most users will only have authorization to read information and no permission to enter information. In one embodiment, only users that are members of the quality assurance team (QA) will have write access to the system in order to maintain accurate assessments of the suppliers. Most users will be authorized to read all information in the application, but will have no write access. Once QA members launch the application they may be required to follow the same procedure for logging on, however they will be allowed to edit scores on the Teams View screen, described in detail below. Administrative users may be allowed to review, reject or submit Bulletin Board messages, input Supplier Turnover and Websites, add or delete product type or add or delete users.  
         [0042]    Each user&#39;s permissions are established with the establishment of their account, and will be invisible to the user. The ID and password entered in the logon screen  200  will determine the level of user access to the information in the system. Members of the QA team will be allowed to edit scores in the team view evaluation screen  240 , discussed below. All users will be allowed to post messages on the bulletin board screen  250 , shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0043]    Successful logon through screen  200  brings up the homepage screen  210 , shown in FIG. 5. The homepage screen  210  is a web page containing a list of suppliers  211  with corresponding status ratings. The status ratings include actuals  212  and team views  213 . The actuals  212  displays the status for each supplier based on actuals information from the actuals evaluation screen  220 . Similarly, the teams view fields  213  display the status (red, green or amber) of the supplier based on team set information from the team view evaluation screen  240 .  
         [0044]    A specific supplier can be found by typing in the first letter(s) of the supplier&#39;s name in the Find Supplier field  214 , or by using the scrollbar  215  adjacent the supplier list  211  to arrive at the nearest match. A user can navigate to different screens in the system by using the hyperlink buttons  216  on the left-hand menu section  300  of screen  210 . The menu section  300  is repeated in all the subsequent screens.  
         [0045]    The team view scores for each supplier in the supplier list  211  may be colored coded to provide a quick visual indication of the supplier&#39;s status. For example, If the team view is red the supplier&#39;s score is between 0-69.99 indicating poor performance. A team view colored amber corresponds to a score between 70 and 89.99 and indicates average performance. If the team view is green a supplier has a score of greater than 90 indicating above average performance. The actual value ranges for the scores may vary depending upon the situation being evaluated, and the foregoing scores are merely for illustrative purposes. The calculation of evaluation scores is described in detail below.  
         [0046]    Homepage screen  210  also has a supplier status report button  217  that, when selected, brings up a supplier status report through which a user can rank the suppliers according to their team view score, in either ascending or descending order, discussed in detail below.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 6 shows the actuals evaluation screen  220 , accessed by selecting the actuals hyperlink button  216  on menu section  300 . The actuals evaluation screen  220  contains key performance indicators (KPI) by which suppliers may be measured. Supplier&#39;s KPI are viewed by channel (supply chain) either aggregated up to ‘All Suppliers’ or at a supplier, division, or department level. The supplier KPI may include Lateness of Order, Completeness of Order, and Service Level. The Trend button produces a Trend graph plotting Teams View scores overtime. The actuals data may be extracted from an RMS database. The foregoing list of possible KPI is not intended to be inclusive, and other performance indicators may be utilized.  
         [0048]    The select channel field  221  provides a list box from which a user can select the supply chain. A select supplier field  222  provides a list of values from which a user may select a single supplier or ‘all suppliers’. The user may enter the first letters of the name and the nearest match will be found, or the scroll bar can be used. The select division field  223  and select department field  224  provide list boxes from which the user may select a division and the department, respectively.  
         [0049]    The actuals evaluation screen  220  contains columns of data. The measure column  225  is a listing of the metrics for each supplier. In the illustrated embodiment, the measures include: returns, damaged returns, gross sales, net sales, buying margin, achieved margin, lateness of order, completeness of order, service level, supplier-current level, number of lines sold, annualized sales for the preceding 52 weeks, annualized profit for the preceding 52 weeks, and percentage of supplier turnover.  
         [0050]    The second column  226  is a monetary value column. In the illustrated embodiment its monetary unit is pounds. Column  227  is a representation of the percentage of value of the measure. The last column is a units column  228  representing the value in units for the measure in column  224 .  
         [0051]    Users can indicate how important each metric in column  225  is by assigning an appropriate weight in column  227 . One skilled in the art will appreciate that there are a number of different formulas that can be utilized to create an evaluation score. In one embodiment of the invention, the monetary values in column  226  may be multiplied by the corresponding weights in column  227  and the resulting products may be summed together to produce a raw score. The raw scores for each supplier may then be normalized to produce an evaluation score. Of course, one or more of the monetary values in column  227  may also be normalized or otherwise modified before being multiplied by the appropriate weight.  
         [0052]    In one embodiment of the invention, each user or a group of users may be given the option of identifying which metrics to score for the suppliers. Furthermore, the user or group of users may be given the option of defining how the metrics will be combined to create an evaluation store. The QA users may designate the metrics to score for the suppliers and the general users will able to enter values for the designated metrics, but will not be able to change the chosen metrics.  
         [0053]    By selecting the teams view hyperlink button  216  in menu section  300 , teams view evaluation screen  240  is displayed, as shown in FIG. 8. The teams view evaluation screen  240  allows users to view a supplier&#39;s performance as evaluated against five defined teams view measures, for both their pre-season and in-season performance, and can be rolled up or down the hierarchy (as in actuals). The five measures in the illustrated embodiment are: deliveries, quality, documentation, culture, and communication. The scores are on a scale of one to ten for each measure, yielding a maximum total score of 100. Trend button  241  brings up a trend graph plotting teams view scores over time. The teams view evaluation screen  240  may also launch an editable version of the page, allowing QA members to create/edit the scores for that supplier at the department level. Score creation/editing can be done by selecting the edit department scores button  242 . The five measures are merely intended to be illustrative of possible measures, and other factors may be used as measures of supplier performance.  
         [0054]    The select supplier field  222 , select division field  223 , and select department field  224  are the same as discussed previously with regard to FIG. 6.  
         [0055]    The subtotals in fields  243  and  244  are for pre-season and in-season performance, respectively, and the Season total field  245  displays the total score for the supplier. The date the score was created is indicated in date created field  246 . The new department button  247  associates a department to a supplier, if association does not already exist. Disassociation is not possible.  
         [0056]    By selecting the supplier information hyperlink button  216  in the side menu  300 , a user is presented with supplier information screen  230 , shown in FIG. 7. Screen  230  contains a standard form displaying information relating to an individual supplier&#39;s contact and reference information. The supplier field  231  provides the name of the supplier. The turnover field  232  indicates the current turnover of the supplier. The website field  233  provides the URL of the selected supplier. Screen  230  may also contain the selected supplier&#39;s address, information relating to a contact person, information concerning the selected supplier&#39;s factories, and lead-time on orders from each factory. A user can go to the website displayed by clicking on the Go to web-site button  234 . The save, reset, edit, ok, and cancel buttons  235 - 239 , respectively, are all for use by specifically authorized personnel.  
         [0057]    When a user selects the bulletin board hyperlink button  216  in the side menu  300 , the bulletin board screen  250 , shown in FIG. 9, is displayed. Screen  250  provides a basis for informal communication for assessing and evaluating the supply base. Users can use the bulletin board screen  250  to create and post a message, and to view messages that have been posted. Thus, the bulletin board screen  250  promotes cross-functional and cross-hierarchical communication, giving users the ability to present information that may not be communicated in the remaining prescribed screens. The bulletin board screen  250  includes a message window  252  that displays the title and subject of a message, and message text, which is the content of the message.  
         [0058]    The bulletin board screen  250  is intended to promote cross-functional and cross-hierarchical communication, essentially giving users the ability to present information that may sometimes not be communicated outside of structured information. The bulletin board screen  250  may help facilitate informal communication, quickly spreading news on suppliers who may be struggling financially, quotas which are running out in various areas of the world, news of labour rate shifts, etc. Users who submit messages to the bulletin board screen  250  may define a removal time for the message. Messages may then be automatically removed after this time. The QA users have the ability to view, edit, delete, or publish the messages from the general users.  
         [0059]    Referring to FIG. 10, an actuals comparison screen  260  is illustrated. The actuals comparison screen  260  may be selected using the actuals compare suppliers score button  216  in the side menu  300 . With the actuals comparison screen  260 , a user will be able to compare the actual performance metrics of multiple suppliers by stacking them up next to each other in a matrix. This can be done at department, division or channel level, and comparisons across levels of the hierarchy are possible (i.e. compare supplier A&#39;s performance at divisional level against supplier B&#39;s performance at company level).  
         [0060]    Each supplier is identified in the channel field  261 , supplier field  262 , division field  263 , and department field  264 . The measure column  265  corresponds to the measure column  225  in FIG. 6 listing the quantitative KPIs. Similarly, the remaining columns for each supplier parallel the columns in FIG. 6.  
         [0061]    The trend evaluation screens  270  and  290 , shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, respectively, allows users to see how a supplier has performed over a period of time. For screen  270 , the user selects a KPI, for example Culture, Communication, etc. and clicks on the trend graph button  216 , shown in FIG. 8, to display a graph in a screen  270 . For screen  290 , the user selects a KPI, for example Returns, damaged returns, etc. and clicks on the trend graph button  241 , shown in FIG. 10, to display a graph in a screen  290 .  
         [0062]    By selecting the team view comparison button  216  in the side menu  300 , the team view comparison screen  280  is displayed, as shown in FIG. 12. The team view comparison screen  280  allows a user to compare the teams view performance metrics of multiple suppliers by stacking them up next to each other in a matrix. Such comparison can be done at department, division or company level, and comparisons across levels of the hierarchy will be possible (i.e. compare supplier A&#39;s performance at divisional level against supplier B&#39;s performance at company level).  
         [0063]    Each supplier is identified by supplier field  281 , division field  282 , and department field  283 . The KPI column  284  corresponds to the five defined teams view measures, for both their pre-season and in-season performance set forth in FIG. 8. In the illustrated embodiment these measures are: deliveries, quality, documentation, culture, and communication. The subtotals are for pre-season and in-season performance, respectively, and the season total field displays the total score for the supplier, as was the case in FIG. 8. The date the score was created is also indicated.  
         [0064]    [0064]FIG. 14 illustrates a screen  310  for linking a supplier to a product type. Screen  310  is accessed through the link supplier to product type button  216  in the side menu  300 , and authorized users to associate a product type with a supplier or add a product type to a suppliers product type list, or delete a product type from the suppliers product type list. From screen  310 , users can bring up a report screen, which once a supplier is selected, returns the different product types that the supplier provides.  
         [0065]    Screen  310  has two basic fields. A supplier field  312  that includes a list of suppliers, and a product type field  314 , that includes a scrolling list from which an authorized user can select a product type to link with a supplier.  
         [0066]    As discussed previously with regard to the homepage screen  210 , a supplier status report  320 , shown in FIG. 15, may be produced by selecting the status report button  217 . The supplier status report  320  allows users to rank the suppliers according to their team view score, in either ascending or descending order.  
         [0067]    Referring to FIG. 16, a flow chart of the method for evaluating the supply base according to the present invention is illustrated. In step  400  the QA users can restrict the ability to input supplier data into the system to authorized personnel. Next, in step  402  the data concerning the suppliers is input. Performance indicators for the suppliers are displayed in step  404 . An evaluation score is produced in step  406  based upon the input data.  
         [0068]    In step  408  the evaluation score produced in step  406  may be linked to a product type. The evaluation scores for multiple suppliers may be compared in step  410  and the performance indicators for multiple suppliers may be compared in step  414 . After step  410 , multiple suppliers may be ranked according to their evaluation scores, in step  412 . Finally, anecdotal information may be input in step  416 , and does not have to follow directly from steps  408 ,  412 , or  414 . Rather, step  416  may be executed at almost any time in the flow chart shown in FIG. 16.  
         [0069]    The illustrated embodiment of the system, method and interface for evaluating the supply base of a supply chain according to the present invention is designed to work with an Oracle® database. However, the present invention is not intended to be limited to Oracle® databases, and may be used with other relational database products such as Jasmine®, Sybase®, Informix®, or PowerBuilder®. The system according to the present invention may request data from the central Oracle Web Server, which will in turn source data from a main Oracle® database. Any time the system is updated the new information is fed back to the central web server and subsequently updates the Oracle® database. The system according to the present invention may be housed in an Oracles database, and may be accessed via a web-browser front end on a LAN using an Oracle® Web Server.  
         [0070]    Having described several embodiments of the system and method of optimizing a supply chain in accordance with the present invention, it is believed that other modifications, variations and changes will be suggested to those skilled in the art in view of the description set forth above. It is therefore to be understood that all such variations, modifications and changes are believed to fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6