Patent ID: 7853536

Claim:
A virtual inventory system that bypasses distribution centers in a supply chain by using an integrated global shipment system of a carrier, said integrated global shipment system comprising: one or more processors connected to one or more respective memories, the processors configured for executing: (1) a shipping client application stored in one or more said memories configured for processing a shipment request from a supplier to generate shipping data associated with shipment of goods to a destination country; (2) a shipment entry application stored in one or more said memories configured for receiving and preparing said shipping data to ship said shipment of goods; (3) a shipment consolidating application stored in one or more said memories configured for generating a data file associated with a consolidated freight shipment to be shipped to said destination country, said shipment consolidating application configured for consolidating said shipment of goods with one or more shipments of goods that are to be shipped to said destination country; (4) a transportation application stored in one or more said memories configured for managing transportation of said consolidated freight shipment to said destination country; (5) a shipment deconsolidating application stored in one or more said memories configured for processing said data file after said consolidated freight shipment is transported to said destination country, said shipment deconsolidating application configured for processing said data file to separate said consolidated freight shipment into one or more child shipments and generate a dispatch plan for said one or more child shipments, each of said one or more child shipments comprising a plurality of packages associated with said one or more shipments of goods of said consolidated freight shipment, and each of said one or more child shipments to be shipped to a respective consignee location; (6) an end-delivery application stored in one or more said memories configured for managing delivery of said resulting child shipments to respective consignee locations; and (7) a shipment visibility application stored in one or more said memories configured for providing an integrated interface for said supplier to track status of said shipment of goods.