Patent ID: 7162318

Claim:
A resource management and planning system comprising: a memory resident data module embodied in a computer readable media and operable to load into memory near real-time information associated with a plurality of enterprise and affiliated production facilities, the near real-time information including demand information indicating demand for a product, production information indicating scheduled production of the product at the production facilities, and inventory information indicating inventories of the product at the production facilities; an interface module embodied in a computer readable media and operable to receive a current order for the product; and a control module embodied in a computer readable media and operable to identify resources for use in producing the product, to determine availabilities of the resources using the near real-time information loaded into memory, and to generate a production plan for production of the product using the availabilities of the resources, the control module further operable to identify delay and cost associated with production of the product using the production plan, to determine whether to seek review of the production plan based on the delay and cost, wherein predetermined combinations of delay and cost suggest review of production plans, and to present the production plan to a user of the resource management and planning system for approval in response to determining to seek review, and to output an approval of the generated production plan in response to determining not to seek review.