Patent ID: 7464039

Claim:
A method for merging an order with a surviving order in a flexible order transaction system wherein production of the order is currently in progress, comprising the steps executed by a computer processor of: receiving a request to merge the order, the request specifying the surviving order; determining at least one of a yield quantity, a scrap quantity, and a work-in-process quantity at each reporting point in a first production process for the order, the first production process including a plurality of reporting points; mapping at least two pairs of reporting points between the first production process for the order and a second production process for the surviving order, the second production process including a plurality of reporting points; merging, at each mapped pair of reporting points, the yield quantity, the scrap quantity, and the work-in-process quantity from the order to the surviving order; and transferring, for each unmapped reporting point in the first production process for the order, the scrap quantity and the work-in-process quantity as a function of the mapped reporting points.