Patent · US Expired

System and method for controlling the number of units of parts in an inventory

US5608621A · kind A · utility

86Cited by
13References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 24, 1995
Grant dateMar 4, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 24, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06Q30/0202
  • WIPO fieldIT methods for management
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A computer system according to the present invention comprises in a preferred embodiment a memory, a processor, an input and an output. The computer system receives part data and forecast data for each part in an inventory, including the number of units in the inventory, the cost, and the forecast unit demand. The computer system uses the part data and forecast data for each part to optimize the number of units of each part in the inventory for a selected inventory investment or service level constraint. The computer system optimizes the number of units of each part in the inventory by determining the number of units for each part for which the marginal increase in the number of orders for the part filled from the inventory for each additional order stocked is equal to the marginal increase for every other part and for which either the inventory service level equals the service level constraint or the inventory investment equals the inventory investment constraint. The computer system then outputs a determined minimum unit replenishment quantity and a safety unit quantity for each part. The minimum unit replenishment quantities and the safety unit quantity are used to determine the…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.