Electronic Marketplace Providing Service Parts Inventory Planning and Management

Abstract

Service parts inventory planning and management are provided for one or more entities in a supply chain ( 12 ), preferably within the context of an electronic marketplace ( 14 ). Status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at stocking locations within the supply chain ( 12 ) is accessed, these inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more stocking locations. A substantially current service parts inventory plan is generated according to the status data, a service parts demand forecast, and a supply chain model, the inventory plan including target stocking levels for service parts at stocking locations. According to the inventory plan, one or more services are initiated to attempt to resolve service parts excesses or needs at stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities.

1 . A system for providing service parts inventory planning and management for one or more entities in a supply chain, comprising:
 one or more planner applications tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium configured to:
 receive set-up data for the one or more entities; 
 validate one or more aspects of the set-up data and if one or more errors exist, create an error log that is accessible by the one or more entities; 
 receive status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at one or more stocking locations in a supply chain, the inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations; 
 access a service parts demand forecast for the supply chain; 
 access a model of the supply chain; 
 access reverse logistics data comprising a forecast of service parts returns flow into a returns supply chain within the supply chain, an estimate of repairable service parts returns as a percentage of all service parts returns, an estimate of repair times for the repairable service parts returns, and a model of the returns supply chain; 
 generate a service parts inventory plan according to the status data, the demand forecast, the model, the reverse logistics data, and one or more customer service target levels, the service parts inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for service parts at one or more stocking locations in the supply chain; and 
 generate an updated service parts inventory plan based on the reinsertion of one or more repaired service parts reinserted back into the supply chain; and 
   a manager application tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium configured to receive the service parts inventory plan and, according to the service parts inventory plan, automatically and independent of human interaction in response to receiving the service parts inventory plan, execute a broker function to resolve the service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more planner applications are configured to consider any customer requirements for totally new service parts as opposed to repaired service parts in generating the service parts inventory plan. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more planner applications are configured to schedule a service operation according to the projected availability of one or more service parts necessary in connection with the service operation as reflected in the service parts inventory plan. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein scheduling a service operation comprises scheduling service personnel necessary to perform the service operation. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more planner applications are configured to receive status data for all the stocking locations in the supply chain and the service parts inventory plan comprises target stocking levels for all the stocking locations in the supply chain. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the service parts inventory plan further comprises an optimal allocation of service parts to one or more customers to meet target customer service levels. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more planner applications are configured to generate updated service parts inventory plans according to fluctuations in service parts demand and supply within the supply chain and according to target customer service levels. 
     
     
         8 . A method of providing service parts inventory planning and management for one or more entities in a supply chain, comprising:
 receiving, by a computer, set-up data for the one or more entities;   validating, by the computer, one or more aspects of the set-up data and if one or more errors exist, creating, by the computer, an error log that is accessible by the one or more entities;   receiving, by the computer, status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at one or more stocking locations within a supply chain, the inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations;   accessing, by the computer, a service parts demand forecast for the supply chain;   accessing, by the computer, a model of the supply chain;   accessing, by the computer, reverse logistics data comprising a forecast of service parts returns flow into a returns supply chain within the supply chain, an estimate of repairable service parts returns as a percentage of all service parts returns, an estimate of repair times for the repairable service parts returns, and a model of the returns supply chain;   generating, by the computer, a service parts inventory plan according to the status data, the demand forecast, the model, the reverse logistics data, and one or more customer service target levels, the service parts inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for service parts at one or more stocking locations in the supply chain;   generating, by the computer, an updated service parts inventory plan based on the reinsertion of one or more repaired service parts reinserted back into the supply chain; and   according to the service parts inventory plan, automatically and independent of human interaction in response to receiving the service parts inventory plan, executing, by the computer, a broker function to resolve the service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein any customer requirements for totally new service parts as opposed to repaired service parts are considered in generating the service parts inventory plan. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising scheduling a service task according to projected availability of one or more service parts necessary in connection with the service operation as reflected in the service parts inventory plan. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein scheduling the service task comprises scheduling service personnel necessary to perform the service task. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising receiving status data for all the stocking locations in the supply chain, the service parts inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for all the stocking locations in the supply chain. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the service parts inventory plan further comprises an optimal allocation of service parts to one or more customers to meet target customer service levels. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising generating updated service parts inventory plans according to fluctuations in service parts demand and supply within the supply chain and according to target customer service levels. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodied with software providing service parts inventory planning and management for one or more entities in a supply chain, the software when executed by a computer is configured to:
 receive set-up data for the one or more entities;   validate one or more aspects of the set-up data and if one or more errors exist, create an error log that is accessible by the one or more entities;   receive status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at one or more stocking locations in a supply chain, the inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations;   access a service parts demand forecast for the supply chain;   access a model of the supply chain;   access reverse logistics data comprising a forecast of service parts returns flow into a returns supply chain within the supply chain, an estimate of repairable service parts returns as a percentage of all service parts returns, an estimate of repair times for the repairable service parts returns, and a model of the returns supply chain;   generate a substantially current service parts inventory plan according to the status data, the demand forecast, and the model, the service parts inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for service parts at one or more stocking locations in the supply chain;   generate an updated service parts inventory plan based on the reinsertion of one or more repaired service parts reinserted back into the supply chain; and   according to the service parts inventory plan, automatically and independent of human interaction in response to receiving the service parts inventory plan, executing a broker function to resolve the service parts excesses or needs at one or more of the stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities in the supply chain.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein any customer requirements for totally new service parts as opposed to repaired service parts are considered in generating the service parts inventory plan. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the software is further configured to schedule a service task according to projected availability of one or more service parts necessary in connection with the service operation as reflected in the service parts inventory plan. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the software is further configured to schedule the service task by scheduling service personnel necessary to perform the service task. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the software is further configured to receive status data for all the stocking locations in the supply chain, the service parts inventory plan comprising target stocking levels for all the stocking locations in the supply chain. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the service parts inventory plan further comprises an optimal allocation of service parts to one or more customers to meet target customer service levels.