System and method for determining sell-through time and inventory aging for retail products
US7376601B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 18, 2004 |
| Grant date | May 20, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 21, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q10/08728
- WIPO fieldIT methods for management
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and system for determining shelf life and sell-through time for retail products. The solution employs a data warehouse, a self monitoring product and product traceability. The data warehouse is utilized to track delivery information throughout the supply chain, e.g., time, quantity, product information, traceability; return information of unsold inventory returned from a retailer or customer as saleable; return information of inventory returned as unsaleable, damaged or defective; and data relating to evaluation of returned inventory. A self monitoring product is one that is capable of recording events such as number of times the product has been used, time since initial use, cumulative time and other items of interest such as stress variables, dates, min/max values, updates, etc. The solution involves evaluation of all returned product and comparing the information on the self monitoring product with known information from the supply line and return results contained in the database. The returns effectively act as a sample of all products and provide information about the product shelf-life, use profiles, installation issues, abuse, defects, etc.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.