Inventory management method and apparatus

Abstract

Method and apparatus for inventory monitoring a supply consumed in the manufacturing of a finished product. An inventory management system monitors the quantity of supplies in a storage facility. Based upon historical data related to the rate of usage of the supplies, the inventory management system determines the period of time until the stored supplies are depleted. If the supplies are depleted prior to a next scheduled delivery of replacement supplies, the inventory management system communicates with the supplier to move ahead the delivery date. Conversely, if the inventory management system determines that the supplies are being consumed at a rate lower than projected, the inventory management system will instruct the supplier to delay a shipment date. Supervisory personnel may access the system from a local location or a remote location. In addition, an alarm is activated when there is a sudden change in the rate of usage of the stored supplies. Provisions are included for remotely accessed the inventory management system, and for detecting the receipt of replacement supplies in order to authorize the payment for the replacement supplies.

We claim: 
     
       1. A consumable supplies monitoring and ordering system, comprising: a sensor that detects a quantity of said consumable supplies;   means for determining usage information of said consumable supplies for a predetermined period of time in response to a signal from said sensor; and   means for modifying scheduled deliveries of additional consumable supplies based upon historical rates of consumption of said consumable supplies, in accordance with said usage information determined by said determining means and said detected quantity of consumable supplies.   
     
     
       2. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, wherein said sensor comprises a differential pressure cell, sensor. 
     
     
       3. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 2, further comprising means for converting a signal produced by said differential pressure cell sensor to a digital signal. 
     
     
       4. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising means for converting an output signal of said sensor to an RS-232 signal. 
     
     
       5. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 4, further comprising means for providing a local indication of said quantity of consumable supplies. 
     
     
       6. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising an alarm that is activated when said determining means determines an abnormal condition. 
     
     
       7. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising means for providing status information related to said consumable supplies. 
     
     
       8. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising means for remotely accessing said monitoring and ordering system. 
     
     
       9. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising means for verbally conveying information related to said consumable supplies to an authorized user. 
     
     
       10. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising means for ascertaining an operating condition of said sensor, said ascertaining means issuing an alarm when said operating condition comprises an abnormal condition. 
     
     
       11. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 10, further comprising means for activating a remote alarm when said ascertaining means ascertains said abnormal condition. 
     
     
       12. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 1, further comprising means for acknowledging delivery of said additional consumable supplies. 
     
     
       13. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 12, wherein said acknowledging means authorizes payment for said delivered additional consumable supplies. 
     
     
       14. A consumable supplies monitoring and ordering system, comprising: a sensor that detects a quantity of consumable supplies stored in a storage facility, said sensor outputting a signal related to said quantity of stored consumable supplies;   a converting device that converts said output signal of said sensor to a predetermined signal;   a processing unit that receives said predetermined signal to determine usage information of said consumable supplies over a predetermined period of time, said processing unit employing said usage information to project when said consumable supplies will be completely depleted; and   means for communicating with a supplier of said consumable supplies to modify a scheduled delivery of additional consumable supplies, based upon the projection of when said consumable supplies will be depleted, if said scheduled delivery would result in an undesirable quantity of stored consumable supplies.   
     
     
       15. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 14, further comprising a local alarm that is activated when said converting device fails to provide said predetermined signal to said processing unit. 
     
     
       16. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 15, further comprising a remote alarm, said remote alarm being activated along with said local alarm. 
     
     
       17. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 16, wherein said remote alarm comprises a visual alarm indicator and an audible alarm. 
     
     
       18. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 17, further comprising means for disabling said audible alarm. 
     
     
       19. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 14, further comprising means for accessing said processing unit from a remote location. 
     
     
       20. The monitoring and processing system of claim 19, wherein said accessing means comprises a voice card associated with said processing unit that responds to predetermined audio signals. 
     
     
       21. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 20, wherein said predetermined audio signals comprise touch-tone signals produced by a touch-tone telephone. 
     
     
       22. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 14, said processing unit issuing additional communications if said supplier fails to respond to a communication within a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       23. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 14, further comprising means for compiling history data pertaining to said usage of said consumable supplies over time, said history data being used to adjust future scheduled deliveries of additional consumable supplies. 
     
     
       24. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 23, further comprising a printer that provides a printout of said history data. 
     
     
       25. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 14, further comprising means for issuing a warning when said processing unit determines that said usage of said consumable supplies exceeds a usual consumption rate. 
     
     
       26. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 25, wherein said issuing means further comprises means for issuing a warning when said usage of said consumable supplies is less than said usual consumption rate. 
     
     
       27. The monitoring and ordering system of claim 14, said converting means further comprising means for producing a second predetermined signal, said second predetermined signal being supplied to a usage indicator associated with said storage facility. 
     
     
       28. A monitoring and ordering system, comprising: a sensor that detects a quantity of supplies;   means for determining usage information of said supplies for a predetermined period of time based upon a signal from said sensor; and   means for scheduling deliveries of additional supplies based upon a rate of consumption of said supplies, in accordance with said usage information determined by said determining means and said quantity of supplies detected by said sensor.   
     
     
       29. A method for monitoring and ordering supplies stored in a storage facility, comprising the steps of: sensing a quantity of supplies stored in the storage facility;   determining a rate at which the stored supplies are consumed based upon the sensed quantity of supplies stored in the storage facility;   ascertaining a modified delivery request schedule of replacement supplies based upon the sensed quantity of stored supplies and the rate at which the stored supplies are being consumed; and   communicating the modified delivery request schedule to a supplier of the supplies.   
     
     
       30. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of notifying monitoring personnel when a sudden change occurs in the rate at which the stored supplies are consumed. 
     
     
       31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of issuing additional notifications when the monitoring personnel fail to acknowledge receipt of an initial notification within a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       32. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of activating an alarm when an abnormal condition arises. 
     
     
       33. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of compiling historical data pertaining to usage of the supplies over time.