Patent ID: 7231361

Claim:
A method for utilizing excess inventory of parts, said parts used in end products and having part numbers, the method comprising: determining a summary of at least one end product utilizing at least one excess part number, said summary including a total quantity of said at least one excess part number required to produce respective said at least one end product; and based on a selection of at least one end product from said summary and at least one corresponding quantity, generating a report of end products that, for each quantity of at least one end product, lists: the dollar value or excess parts consumed to produce said quantity of end product; and the dollar value of additional parts to be purchased to produce said quantity of end product, wherein said determining a summary of at least one end product includes submitting an excess inventory file to a Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) engine, said excess inventory file containing part numbers and corresponding quantities of excess parts held in inventory; and wherein said generating a report of end products includes: submitting arbitrary demand values to said MRP engine one end product at a time until said arbitrary demand values point out a most optimal quantity, the most optimal quantity specifying a quantity of end products determined to consume the greatest number of excess parts without requiring additional expenditures; and performing coverage analysis against said arbitrary demand values using said excess inventory file as existing supply.