Patent ID: 7110841

Claim:
A system for utilizing multi-level shipping instructions in a manufacturing system, comprising: a first element operable to receive an order associated with manufacture of a product, to generate an electronic, text-based file based on the order, the file including shipping instructions identifying the product, to identify a second element based on the order, and to transmit the file to the second element; and the second element operable to receive the file including the shipping instructions, to identify manufacturing activities to be completed at the second element based on the shipping instructions, to generate instructions for the identified manufacturing activities to be completed at the second element, to determine whether at least one downstream element is involved in the manufacture of the product, and, for each downstream element determined to be involved in the manufacture of the product, to identify a rating of the downstream element, to determine whether the shipping instructions are inappropriate for the downstream element at least in part based on the rating of the downstream element, to modify the shipping instructions if the shipping instructions are determined to be inappropriate for the downstream element, and to transmit the shipping instructions to the downstream element.