Cost impact simulator and gross profit analyzer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10049374-B2
Application number	US-201414335704-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2014
Priority date	Jul 18, 2014
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

Changes in the supply chain of one product may affect the price and availability of many other products. Likewise, a product may be composed of a number of smaller parts. Changes in the cost or availability of any of the parts that comprise a product may result in changes in cost or availability of the product as well as many other related products. A supply chain analysis engine is used to model a supply chain. The supply chain analysis engine may identify dependencies between products, sub products, and supply chains. The dependencies may be used to analyze the impact of a change in the supply chain on all relevant products.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for supply chain analysis, the method comprising:
receiving, by a computer system, data for a first supply chain currently implemented for manufacturing a first product;
receiving, by the computer system, an indication of a predicted change to the first supply chain, wherein the predicted change is determined by monitoring one or more aspects of the first supply chain over time as the first supply chain is implemented for manufacturing the first product, and predicting a value of the one or more aspects in the future;
determining, by the computer system, a first impact to the first supply chain based on the predicted change, wherein the first impact quantifies an influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain based at least on the value;
determining, by the computer system, that the first impact is greater than a threshold;
determining, by the computer system and based on the first impact being greater than the threshold, an impact to a second supply chain based on the predicted change, wherein the impact quantifies an influence of the predicted change on the second supply chain based at least on the value, and wherein the second supply chain is currently implemented for manufacturing a second product;
determining, by the computer system, the influence of the predicted change on the second supply chain is less than the influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain;
identifying, by the computer system, one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain;
generating, by the computer system, a modification to the data for the first supply chain based on the one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain, the modification substituting one or more of the one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain for one or more aspects of the first supply chain;
generating, by the computer system, a first supply chain simulation that injects the modification into the data for the first supply chain to create a modified first supply chain in an attempt to compensate for the influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain;
determining, by the computer system, a second impact to the first modified supply chain based on the modification injected into the data, wherein the second impact quantifies an influence of the modification on the first supply chain;
determining, by the computer system, that the second impact is less than the threshold; and
applying, by the computer system and based on the second impact being less than the threshold, the modification to the first supply chain such that the first product is manufactured using the modified first supply chain.

2. The method for supply chain analysis of claim 1 , wherein the first impact and the second impact represent a cost of the first product.

3. The method for supply chain analysis of claim 1 , wherein the first impact and the second impact represent an availability of the first product.

4. The method for supply chain analysis of claim 1 , wherein the first impact and the second impact represent profitability of the first product.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first supply chain is independent from the second supply chain.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the identifying the one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain includes comparing aspects of the first supply chain to aspects of the second supply chain, determining relevant differences between the aspects of the first supply chain and the aspects of the second supply chain, and identifying the one or more aspects of the second supply chain that are relevant to the first supply chain.

7. A computer program product residing on a non-transitory processor-readable medium and comprising processor readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to:
receive data for a first supply chain currently implemented for manufacturing a first product;
receive an indication of a predicted change to the first supply chain, wherein the predicted change is determined by monitoring one or more aspects of the first supply chain over time as the first supply chain is implemented for manufacturing the first product and predicting a value of the one or more aspects in the future;
determine a first impact to the first supply chain based on the predicted change, wherein the first impact quantifies an influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain based at least on the value;
determine that the first impact is greater than a threshold;
determine, based on the first impact being greater than the threshold, an impact to a second supply chain based on the predicted change, wherein the impact quantifies an influence of the predicted change on the second supply chain based at least on the value, and wherein the second supply chain is currently implemented for manufacturing a second product;
determine the influence of the predicted change on the second supply chain is less than the influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain;
identify one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain;
generate a modification to the data for the first supply chain based on the one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain, the modification substituting one or more of the one or more aspects of the second supply chain relevant to the first supply chain for one or more aspects of the first supply chain;
generate a first supply chain simulation that injects the modification into the data for the first supply chain to create a modified first supply chain in an attempt to compensate for the influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain;
determine a second impact to the modified first supply chain based on the modification injected into the data, wherein the second impact quantifies an influence of the modification on the first supply chain;
determine that the second impact is less than the threshold; and
apply, based on the second impact being less than the threshold, the modification to the first supply chain such that the first product is manufactured using the modified first supply chain.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the first impact and the second impact represent a cost of the first product.

9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the first impact and the second impact represent an availability of the first product.

10. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the first impact and the second impact represent profitability of the first product.

11. A system for supply chain analysis comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and
an analysis module executable by the one or more processors and configured to receive data for a first supply chain currently implemented for manufacturing a first product;
a disruption analysis module executable by the one or more processors and configured to:
receive an indication of a predicted change to the first supply chain, wherein then predicted change is determined by monitoring one or more aspects of the first supply chain over time as the first supply chain is implemented for manufacturing the first product, and predicting a value of the one or more aspects in the future;
determine a first impact to the first supply chain based on the predicted change, wherein the first impact quantifies an influence of the predicted change on the first supply chain based at least on the value;
determine that the first impact is greater than a threshold;
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Assignees

• Oracle Int Corp

Inventors

• Jha Anup Kumar
• Pathak Ashish
• Yang Fan
• Pineda Ivan Canales
• Zhu Rixin
• So Bryan Siu Him
• Raman Ramchand

Classifications

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06Q30/0202 Primary

  Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities · CPC title

• G06Q10/0877

  by inventory control or reporting using inventory tracking or counting · CPC title

• G06Q10/08726

  for replenishment processing, procedures, or recommendations using forecasting or optimisation · CPC title