Patent ID: 8843416

Claim:
A method performed by a consumable-product distribution system comprising: generating, by a meter, a time-sequence of data by measuring over a time-interval a series of loads; measuring, with a meter of a consumable-product distribution system, a value of a consumable product supplied through the consumable-product distribution system to a facility, wherein the measured value comprises a second time-sequence of data of the facility's access to the consumable product, and wherein the consumable-product distribution system connects a plurality of loads in the facility to the consumable product; transmitting, by the meter of the consumable-product distribution system to a processor of the consumable-product distribution system, the measured value of the consumable product supplied through the consumable-product distribution system to the facility; retrieving, by the processor of the consumable-product distribution system, a plurality of load signatures from a database of the consumable-product distribution system, each load signature comprising a time-sequence of data of a corresponding load's access to the consumable product; comparing, by a-the processor of the consumable-product distribution system, the time-sequence of data of each of the plurality of load signatures to the second time-sequence of data of the measured value; and determining, by the processor of the consumable-product distribution system, an amount of the consumable product accessed by a first load of the plurality of loads based on the comparing.