Patent ID: 8725594

Claim:
A method for providing continuous flow execution of orders, the method comprising: accepting, by a computing device, a cycle comprising a distribution network, an active product set, a category set and a plurality of sharing rules, wherein the distribution network comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein the plurality of nodes represent a set of facilities that are linked to one another in a directed acyclic graph; the active product set comprises a plurality of active products, the category set comprises a plurality of supply categories and a plurality of demand categories wherein each of the plurality of supply categories is associated with a respective one of a plurality of supply chain members and a respective one of the plurality of nodes and comprises a supply formula for calculating a quantity of supply of the active product set available from the respective one of the plurality of nodes, each of the supply categories being conformed to a common schema from multiple different supply chain data, and each of the plurality of demand categories is associated with a respective one of the plurality of supply chain members and a respective one of the plurality of nodes and comprises a demand formula for calculating a quantity of demand for the active product set from the respective one of the plurality of nodes; transforming the demand categories to a common format associated with one or more supply chain common schema; matching the plurality of supply categories to the plurality of demand categories to produce a plurality of matched pairs, each matched pair comprising a respective one of the plurality of supply categories and a respective matching one of the plurality of demand categories, wherein the node associated with the one of the plurality of supply categories is adjacent within the directed acyclic graph to the node associated with the respective matching one of the plurality of demand categories; prioritizing the plurality of matched pairs; determining, using the computing device, for each matching pair, the quantity of supply for the node associated with the respective supply category using the respective supply formula and the quantity of demand for the node associated with the respective demand category using the respective demand formula; balancing, using the computing device, the supply and demand for the plurality of nodes in the inventory network; generating one or more inventory transfer recommendations; and transmitting, over at least one network, the transfer recommendations to one or more of the plurality of the plurality of supply chain members affected by the transfer recommendations, wherein the transfer recommendations result in the automatic transfer of items to substantially match the balanced supply and demand for the plurality of nodes.