Patent ID: 7761336

Claim:
A system for managing at least one welding consumable, comprising: a welder, comprising: a consumables monitor that monitors an amount of at least one consumable consumed; and an arc/weld quality monitor that monitors quality of at least one weld; and a remote system communicatively coupled to the welder via a network, the remote system comprising: a production control component that receives information from the consumables monitor regarding the amount of the at least one consumable consumed or the amount of the at least one consumable remaining and measures a consumable demand rate based at least in party upon a production control policy and the received information; a financial account component that receives information from the consumables monitor regarding the amount of the at least one consumable consumed or the amount of the at least one consumable remaining and performs accounting tasks based at least in part upon the received information; a materials management component that receives information from the consumables monitor regarding the amount of the at least one consumable consumed or the amount of the at least one consumable remaining and performs inventory control based at least in part upon the received information; an inventory management component that maintains data regarding an inventory of the at least one consumable at a customer location, adjusts the inventory based at least in part on the information received from the consumables monitor regarding the amount of the at least one consumable consumed or the amount of the at least one consumable remaining and charges the customer for an amount of the at least one welding consumable used by the customer based at least in part upon the change in inventory.