Patent ID: 8589257

Claim:
A method of managing inventory, the method comprising: storing a plurality of job records in a memory, each job record comprising a different one of a plurality of job identifiers, one of a plurality of production line identifiers, and at least one of a plurality of subcomponent identifiers; receiving a transaction record comprising a first subcomponent identifier and a first production line identifier; determining whether the transaction record includes one of the job identifiers; when the determination is negative, selecting one of the job identifiers by locating one of the job records including one or both of a subcomponent identifier matching the first subcomponent identifier, and a production line identifier matching the first production line identifier, and selecting the job identifier of the located job record; storing the transaction record in the memory in association with the selected one of the plurality of job identifiers; receiving a reconciliation request comprising the selected job identifier and a count of at least one subcomponent; retrieving at least one transaction record stored in association with the selected job identifier; determining whether a discrepancy exists between the count and the at least one transaction record; when the determination of whether a discrepancy exists is affirmative, determining if the discrepancy falls within a predetermined configurable tolerance, defined as one of a fraction of a quantity of subcomponent and an absolute quantity of subcomponent; and when the discrepancy falls within the predetermined configurable tolerance, automatically generating at least one correcting entry.