Patent ID: 8489467

Claim:
A computerized method of providing information over the Internet to a customer about a contract manufacturer's progress on an order submitted on-line by the customer, the customer located remote from the contract manufacturer, the method comprising: receiving a request for information at a server computer, the information relating to two or more products being manufactured by the contract manufacturer for the customer, the order including customer-specified parameters associated with the two or more products; scanning with a scanner a product as it moves to or from a first workstation in a manufacturing process; providing an exact location in real-time of the product in the manufacturing process to a database; providing the customer with the real-time status of the in-process order, the status including the number of products at the first workstation and one or more of: the number of products at a second workstation, the number of ordered products being made, already made, being tested, held for delivery, and delivered; receiving at the server computer a customer request to change the in-process order; running a simulation triggered by the customer to determine at least one impact of making the requested change; and automatically returning to the customer the at least one impact of making the requested change to the in-process order.