Patent ID: 8620707

Claim:
A method, comprising: performing, via one or more computers: selecting items to be stored at a fulfillment center, wherein said selecting comprises: identifying orders fulfilled by a fulfillment center during a previous time period, wherein each of the identified orders specifies one or more of a plurality of items, and wherein at least one of the identified orders specifies a plurality of distinct items; determining, for each identified order, a probability that the identified order will occur in a subsequent time period; calculating, for each identified order, a cost savings associated with fulfilling the identified order from the fulfillment center instead of another fulfillment center; selecting a limited number of distinct items to be stored at the fulfillment center, wherein said selecting comprises selecting items among the plurality of items to be stored in the fulfillment center during at least a portion of the subsequent time period based, at least in part, upon the determined probability and cost savings of each identified order, wherein said selecting attempts to maximize the cost savings for the limited number of distinct items; and for each of the selected items, calculating a target inventory level, wherein calculating the target inventory level comprises: receiving a customer demand forecast corresponding to the selected item; determining a bind factor for the selected item; and calculating the target inventory level for the selected item to be stored in the fulfillment center based, at least in part, upon the customer demand forecast and the bind factor.