Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for calculating alerts and, more particularly, to systems and methods for calculating alerts based on pegging. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Background Art 
         [0004]    Supply chain planning (SCP) is used today by many manufacturing companies. SCP can be used, for example, to ensure that supplies used in manufacturing an end product are timely delivered so that a customer&#39;s order can be timely filled. SCP can involve many aspects of the manufacturing process from making sure that adequate supplies are available to making sure that transportation of the finished product to the customer takes place in a timely and efficient fashion. 
         [0005]    Applications are used in the supply chain that create and dynamically alter steps in the supply chain in response to changes in demands and capacity. To ensure the fast and efficient operation of the supply chain, the applications need quick and easy access to data relating to the flow of materials through the supply chain. The way in which this data is stored determines how easily it can be accessed. 
         [0006]    Supply chain data is often stored in multiple relational database tables. In early supply chain planning systems, if a part of a manufacturing order was changed, all aspects of the supply chain effected by the change would be recalculated using the data in the relational database tables. However, in early systems, since the information had to be traced through the relational database tables, the systems were cumbersome and unnecessarily delayed planning functions. 
         [0007]    Systems were thus developed to store all data relevant to supply chain planning in an efficient manner reflecting the progress of materials and orders along the supply chain. An example of such a system is shown in  FIG. 2A . Order  10  represents an organizational unit that groups together several activities  11 . Each order points to the first activity and the last activity of its activity network. Thus, order  10  points to activity  12  and activity  13 . Each activity  11  contains a reference  14  to its corresponding orders. As shown in  FIG. 2B , related activities such as a chain of activities  11   a,    11   b  and  11   c  that must be executed in order may be grouped together into an operation  20  to avoid having to map each activity individually on a planning table. 
         [0008]    Referring now to  FIG. 2C , each order  10  may have one or more input interface nodes  30  and/or one or more output interface nodes  31 . Each input interface node  30  represents a material used in fulfilling the order. An input interface node  30  may also include attribute information as to the quantity of the material required, the time requirement of the material and may indicate a shortage of the material. A shortage of a material can be determined, for example, by determining the difference between the quantity of material required and the quantity that is delivered by other orders or stock. Each output interface node  31  also has attributes. These attributes can include the type of material created, the quantity of material created, the time availability of the material and the surplus of the material, if any. Each input interface node  30  may refer to the activity  12 , if any, in which the material that it represents is consumed, and each output interface node  31  points to the activity  13 , if any, in which the material that it represents is created. If an activity  12  consumes a material, all input materials of this activity can be traced via arrows marked with dashes and dots  32   a  that point from activity  12  to input interface node  30 . If input activity  12  consumes more than one material, arrow  32   b  joins input interface node  30   a  to the next input interface node  30   b,  which links on the same input activity  12 . 
         [0009]    “Pegging” links two orders when one of the orders supplies a material consumed by the other order. Pegging tracks the type and quantity of material supplied by a subordinate order to a superior order. Pegging thus allows planners to ascertain the superior and subordinate orders for any given order at any given time. If the planner reschedules the dates of an order, pegging allows all other orders influenced by the change to be updated. 
         [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of pegging between orders, consisting of  12  orders  201 - 212  that produce or consume materials M 1 , M 2  and/or M 3 . For example, as shown one un it each of M 2  and M 3  are used to produce each unit of M 1 . Next to each input interface node  30  is the type of material  44 , the required quantity  40  and the requirements date  41  for the material. For example, order  201  utilizes 60 units each of M 2 , M 3  which are required by May 11, 2006. Next to each output interface node  32  is the type of material  54 , the quantity created  50  and the availability date  51  for the material. For example, order  208  produces 100 units of M 2  which are available Apr. 22, 2006. Relationships between orders can be mapped with pegging arcs, as shown. For example, the orders which supply order  201  can be found by starting from input interface node  30  of order  201  and alternately following the solid curved arrow lines  52  and the dashed curved arrow lines  53  to output interface node  32  of order  208 . Similarly, the orders that supply order  202  can be found by starting from the input interface node  30  of order  202  and alternately following the solid curved arrow lines  54  and the dashed curved arrow lines  55  to output interface node  32  of order  208 . The orders which order  209  supplies can be found by starting from output node  32  of order  209  and alternately following solid straight arrow lines  56  and dashed straight arrow lines  57  to input node  30  of order  203  and solid straight arrow line  58  and dashed straight arrow line  59  to input node  30  of order  204 . The values shown in nodes  57  represent the quantity of materials being provided by an order. For ease of description, orders supplying M 3  are omitted and only orders supplying M 2  are shown. Of course, it will be appreciated that in reality, pegging arcs can also be shown for orders supplying M 3 , either separate from or together with the orders supplying M 2 . 
         [0011]    Pegging is thus always global and essentially matches supply and demand. Accordingly, although pegging can link a large network of orders, pegging in this way also requires that all demands for materials be matched to all outputs of the materials. In order to do this, all orders and materials have to be considered. Accordingly, it can be difficult to determine when material supply may come up short, particularly in high volume situations when many orders are involved. 
         [0012]    Alerts can be used to notify an operator when material supply comes up short. Alerts can be calculated on deviation in quantity. For example, a lateness alert is based on pegging. To properly perform pegging, all inputs and outputs have to be taken into account. Present systems read all input nodes and output nodes and calculate pegging and alerts using the information. However, reading all input and output nodes and calculating pegging and-alerts based thereon can be time consuming and require a large amount of memory. If many orders are involved, pegging and/or alerts can be particularly difficult to show to a user in a meaningful manner. 
         [0013]    Accordingly, there is a need to provide a system that enables information to be presented to a user that is meaningful and useful. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0014]    This application describes tools (in the form of methodologies, apparatuses, and systems) for calculating alerts. The tools may be embodied in one or more computer programs stored on a computer readable medium or program storage device and/or transmitted in the form of a computer data signal in one or more segments via a computer network or other transmission medium. 
         [0015]    A method for performing supply chain planning, comprises providing a plurality of demand orders, each demand order including at least one input interface node, each input interface node identifying a type of material required by said demand order, a quantity of the material required by said demand order and a requirements date the material is required by said demand order, providing a plurality of supply orders, each supply order including at least one output interface node, each output interface node identifying a type of material provided by said supply order, a quantity of the material provided by said supply order and a date the material is provided by said supply order, combining a plurality of said demand orders into an aggregated demand order and forming an aggregated demand time line, each aggregated demand order indicating a quantity of material required, the quantity of material required being a sum of the quantities of the material required by said plurality of demand orders combined into the aggregated demand order and performing an operation for pegging the plurality of supply orders to the aggregated demand orders. 
         [0016]    A programmed computer system for performing supply chain planning, comprises a processor, a program storage device readable by the processor, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor to perform a method comprising providing a plurality of demand orders, each demand order including at least one input interface node, each input interface node identifying a type of material required by said demand order, a quantity of the material required by said demand order and a requirements date the material is required by said demand order, providing a plurality of supply orders, each supply order including at least one output interface node, each output interface node identifying a type of material provided by said supply order, a quantity of the material provided by said supply order and a date the material is provided by said supply order, combining a plurality of said demand orders into an aggregated demand order and forming an aggregated demand time line, each aggregated demand order indicating a quantity of material required the quantity of material required being a sum of the quantities of the material required by said plurality of demand orders combined into the aggregated demand order and performing an operation for pegging the plurality of supply orders to the aggregated demand orders. 
         [0017]    A computer recording medium including computer executable code for performing supply chain planning the computer recording medium comprising code for providing a plurality of demand orders, each demand order including at least one input interface node, each input interface node identifying a type of material required by said demand order, a quantity of the material required by said demand order and a requirements date the material is required by said demand order, code for providing a plurality of supply orders, each supply order including at least one output interface node, each output interface node identifying a type of material provided by said supply order, a quantity of the material provided by said supply order and a date the material is provided by said supply order, code for combining a plurality of said demand orders into an aggregated demand order and forming an aggregated demand time line, each aggregated demand order indicating a quantity of material required, the quantity of material required being a sum of the quantities of the material required by said plurality of demand orders combined into the aggregated demand order and code for performing an operation for pegging the plurality of supply orders to the aggregated demand orders. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    A more complete appreciation of the present disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of an computer system capable of implementing embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2A  shows a representation of the relationship between an order and its activities; 
           [0021]      FIG. 2B  shows a representation of fusing of activities to make operations; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2C  shows a representation of the input and output interface nodes of an order; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  shows a representation of how pegging between orders can be modeled; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  shows a representation of aggregated time line demands according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  shows a representation of aggregated time line demands when a supplying order can not be filled, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  shows a representation of aggregated time line demands with individual input nodes broken out, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    The following exemplary embodiments are set forth to aid in an understanding of the subject matter of this disclosure, but are not intended, and may not be construed, to limit in any way the claims which follow thereafter. Therefore, while specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity in describing some exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner. 
         [0028]      FIG. 1  shows an example of a computer system  1000  which may implement the method and system of the present disclosure. The system and method of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of a software application running on a computer system, for example, a mainframe, personal computer (PC), handheld computer, server, etc. The software application may be stored on a recording media locally accessible by the computer system, for example, floppy disk, compact disk, hard disk, etc., or may be remote from the computer system and accessible via a hard wired or wireless connection to a network, for example, a local area network, or the Internet. 
         [0029]    The computer system  1000  can include a central processing unit (CPU)  1001 , program and data storage devices  1004 , a printer interface  1010 , a display unit  1011 , a (LAN) local area network data transmission controller  1005 , a LAN interface  1006 , a network controller  1003 , an internal bus  1002 , and one or more input devices  1009  (for example, a keyboard, mouse etc.). As shown, the system  1000  may be connected to a database  1008 , via a link  1007 . 
         [0030]    The computer system  1000  is merely exemplary. The specific embodiments described herein are illustrative, computer system(s) as referred to herein may include(s) individual computers, servers, computing resources, networks, etc., and many variations can be introduced on these embodiments without departing from the spirit of the disclosure or from the scope of the appended claims. 
         [0031]    According to embodiments of the present disclosure, alerts are calculated based on pegging information. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a material requirement planning (MRP) controller for components is provided. Information about the component situation of the planned orders, when looking at the demand/supply situation of the components regarding pegging information and alerts based on pegging is used to determine deviation in quantity and earliness/lateness. 
         [0032]    According to embodiments of the present disclosure, individual input nodes (e.g., demands) of orders are aggregated into single demands and into time lines. Pegging is then calculated between supply and the aggregated demands.  FIG. 4  will be used to describe various embodiments of the present disclosure. Orders  300 - 306  consume materials M 2  and M 3  and produce material M 1 . As shown, one unit each of M 2  and M 3  are used to produce each unit of M 1 . Next to each interface node  320  is the type of material used  362  (M 2 , M 3 ), the quantity required  361  and the requirements date  360 . Next to output node  363  is the type of material produced  368 , the quantity produced  366  and the scheduled date of completion of the order  364 . Each order  307 - 311  produces material M 2  used by orders  300 - 306 . Next to each output node  326  is the type of material produced  374 , the quantity being produced  370  and the projected date of completion  372  of the order. According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, the demands for each type of material are aggregated into separate time lines. Although not shown in  FIG. 4  for ease of description, orders that supply material M 3  would also be provided. In addition, for ease of description, only the aggregated demand time line for material M 2  is shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0033]    Order  300  uses 60 units each of M 2  and M 3  to produce 60 units of M 1 . The requirements date for materials M 2  and M 3  for order  300  is May 11, 2006. The requirements date of order  301  for materials M 2  and M 3  is May 20, 2006, 40 units each. The requirements date of order  302  for materials M 2  and M 3  is May 28, 2006, 50 units-each. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, demands for materials are combined into aggregate demands or buckets. Demands can be combined into buckets on a monthly, weekly, daily, shiftly, hourly, etc. basis, depending on the circumstances. According to other embodiments including the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the user can be prompted to select arbitrary points in time, each point in time defining a bucket. In this case, the start date of bucket n+1 would be the end date of bucket n. For example, according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the user has selected arbitrary bucket start dates of May 1, 2005, Jun. 5, 2006 and Jun. 15, 2006. Accordingly, as shown in  FIG. 4 , orders having requirements dates between May 1, 2006 and Jun. 5, 2006 (orders  300 - 302 ) are aggregated into bucket  322 . Orders having requirements dates between Jun. 5, 2006 and Jun. 15, 2006 (orders  303 ,  304 ) are aggregated into bucket  323 . Orders having requirements dates after Jun. 15, 2006 (orders  305 ,  306 ) are aggregated into bucket  324 . For purposes of pegging, the arbitrary bucket start dates are then used as the requirements dates for each bucket. A similar aggregated demand time line can be generated for materials M 3 . Of course, the interval between bucket start dates can be set by the user to any suitable length of time as desired and can be in terms of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, etc., depending on the situation. Aggregated time line demand or bucket  322  is thus for 150 units of M 2  with a requirements date of May 1, 2006. Aggregated time line demand or bucket  323  is for 120 units of M 2  with a requirements date of Jun. 5, 2006. Aggregated time line demand or bucket  324  is for 140 units of M 2  with a requirements date of Jun. 15, 2006. Pegging can now be performed on the aggregated demands. It will be appreciated that there may be instances where there are empty buckets. That is, there may be situations where there are no demands for materials during that time interval. Empty buckets can be ignored during the pegging process. 
         [0034]    Orders  307 - 311  all produce M 2 . As shown, order  307  produces 100 units of M 2  with an availability date of Apr. 22, 2006. Order  308  produces 80 units of M 2  with an availability date of Apr. 27, 2006. According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, pegging is calculated between supply and aggregated demand, thus reducing the number of operations involved and reducing the number of resulting pegging arcs. This makes it easier to visualize the supply and demand of materials. For example, as shown by arrows  330 , orders  307  and  308  can be used to satisfy aggregated time line demand  322 . A remaining portion of order  308  (30 units) and a portion of order  309  (90 units) can be used to satisfy aggregated time line demand  323 . A remaining portion of order  309  (10 units) and orders  310  (60 units) and  311  (70 units) can be used to satisfy aggregated time line demand  324 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 5  is similar to  FIG. 4  except in  FIG. 5 , order  309  can not be filled. For example, a manufacturing line for that order may be down or a shipment will not arrive in time. In this case, aggregated time line demand  322  will still be fulfilled by orders  307  and  308 . Aggregated time line demand  323  will receive 30 units of M 2  from order  308  and none from order  309 . Aggregated time line demand  324  will also be short due to order  309  not being filled. Accordingly, an alarm will be issued to indicate that there is a shortage of M 2  for aggregated demands  323  and  324 . The shortage can be narrowed down to aggregated time line demands  323  and  324 , but not to the specific orders that will be shorted. However, the shortage can be narrowed down to a specific time frame. For example, in this case, the shortage can be roughly narrowed down to the June 5, June 15 time frame. In this way, the system can efficiently show alerts for components even though the system can not yet determine the exact orders which will be affected by the shortage, only the time frame when the shortage situation occurs. In many instances, this information will be sufficient to allow appropriate steps to be taken. For example, using this information, orders can be moved to attempt to satisfy or delay the shortage from occurring. However, in certain situations, it may be useful to determine the specific orders that will be affected by the shortage. In order to determine the specific orders affected by the shortage, the following can be used to generate order specific alerts. 
         [0036]    According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, after an alert has been issued indicating there is a shortage with respect to aggregate time line demands  323  and  324 , the individual orders forming aggregate demands  323  and  324  can be broken out as shown in  FIG. 6 . In this example, aggregate demand  323  is formed by individual input demands  303 A and  304 A. The individual component demands forming aggregate demand  324  can also be broken Out. However, it will be appreciated that not all individual demands need to be broken out all the time. In this example, only individual component demand  305 A is broken out of aggregate demand  324  and shown individually. Aggregate demand  324  is then reduced by the amount of demand  305 A to 70 units as shown. The individual order demands and the aggregated demands can then be pegged to determine which specific orders will be short. As shown, demand  303 A is short 50 units indicating that order  303  will be short 50 units of M 2 . Demand  304 A is short 40 units indicating that order  304  will be short 40 units of M 2 . Demand  305 A is short 10 units indicating that order  305  will be short 10 units of M 2 . Order specific alerts can then be generated if desired for orders  303 ,  304  and  305 . 
         [0037]    It ill be appreciated that orders  300 - 306  in the above-described embodiments may be referred to as demand orders with respect to orders  307 - 311  by virtue of orders  300 - 306  demanding materials from orders  307 - 311 . Similarly, orders  307 - 311  may be referred to as supply orders with respect to orders  300 - 306 , by virtue of orders  307 - 311  supplying materials to orders  300 - 306 . Of course, orders  307 - 311  may include input nodes themselves demanding materials from other orders. In this instance, orders  307 - 311  may be referred to as demand orders, etc. It will be appreciated that supply orders may be materials manufactured at a particular facility or facilities, or products being delivered from a particular facility or facilities. 
         [0038]    The above-described systems and methods can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. The systems and methods can be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. A computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network. 
         [0039]    Method steps associated with the above systems and methods can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. Method steps can also be performed by, and apparatus of the invention can be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). 
         [0040]    Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The elements of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example, semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; CD-ROMs (Compact Disc Read-only Memory) and DVD-ROMs (Digital Versatile Disc Read-only Memory). The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in special purpose logic circuitry. 
         [0041]    To provide for interaction with a user, the invention can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to t he user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. 
         [0042]    The present system can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middle-ware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the invention, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the computing system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN” ), e.g., the Internet. 
         [0043]    The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. 
         [0044]    Numerous additional modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in view of the above-teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described herein. For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure and appended claims.

Technology Category: 3