Patent ID: 8244644

Claim:
A computer implemented method for containing a defective product across a supply chain, the computer implemented method comprising: receiving, by a data processing system, a notice from a source supplier that a product is defective; identifying, by the data processing system, an exposure level associated with the defective product, wherein the exposure level comprises a list of affected assemblies and a range of a plurality of consecutive serial numbers associated with the affected assemblies; applying, by the data processing system, a flattening algorithm to the list of affected assemblies associated with the defective product and the range of the plurality of consecutive serial numbers associated with the affected assemblies to narrow the range of the plurality of consecutive serial numbers associated with the affected assemblies by modifying a table having a plurality of entries, each entry identifying a set of consecutive serial numbers and a product status associated with each set of consecutive serial number, wherein modifying the table comprises creating a first range of consecutive serial numbers that includes an identified starting serial number and an identified ending serial number based on a first entry in the table, splitting the first range of consecutive serial numbers into a plurality of smaller ranges of consecutive serial numbers when a second entry in the table includes a second range of consecutive serial numbers with a range start that falls between the identified starting serial number and the identified ending serial number of the first range of consecutive serial numbers and the second range of consecutive serial numbers has a product status opposite of the first range of consecutive serial numbers, wherein the plurality of smaller ranges includes ranges of serial numbers from the first entry that are not in the second entry, creating new entries in the table corresponding to the plurality of the smaller ranges, and replacing the first entry in the table with the new entries and the second entry, and merging entries in the table when a first range of consecutive serial numbers is consecutive to a second range of consecutive serial numbers having a same product status, wherein the splitting and the merging are performed for other entries in the table based on the set of consecutive serial numbers and the product status identified in each of the other entries; and responsive to identifying the exposure level, notifying, by the data processing system, each supplier in the supply chain of the defective product.