Method and system for collecting supply chain performance information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10146214-B2
Application number	US-201313935114-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2013
Priority date	Jul 5, 2012
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

According to one embedment, a supply chain monitoring system can collect performance information from a server associated with each of a tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part and/or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier to monitor a performance of one or more functions of a supply chain. The system obtains event information regarding an event potentially adversely impacting performance of the supply chain, determines a range of disruption of the event indicating a likely spatial range impacted by the event, and compares the range of disruption of the event against the supply chain to determine that a supply chain component has been impacted by the event.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. In a supply chain comprising a plurality of supply chain components including at least a tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier, each of the tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier being associated with a different and independent enterprise or organization, a supply chain monitoring system comprising:
a microprocessor;
a non-transitory computer readable medium, coupled to the microprocessor, comprising a microprocessor executable data collection module that programs the microprocessor to:
collect, via an intermediate network, performance information from a server associated with each of the tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier to monitor a performance of one or more functions of the supply chain;
obtain event information regarding a disruptive event, wherein the disruptive event is not indicated in the collected performance information but adversely impacts performance of one or more supply chain components of the plurality of supply chain components;
determine a spatial range of disruption of the disruptive event based on the event information;
compare the spatial range of disruption of the disruptive event against a topology of at least a portion of the supply chain;
determine a probability that a supply chain component of the at least a portion of the supply chain will be impacted by the disruptive event based on the comparing of the spatial range of disruption of the disruptive event against the topology of the at least a portion of the supply chain, wherein the supply chain component is one or more of a facility of the tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, or tier 4 material supplier and a material, component, part, or product shipment;
provide one or more recommendations to mitigate the disruptive event, the one or more recommendations comprising recommended changes to the supply chain, the recommended changes to the supply chain comprising restructuring relationships between tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 entities;
perform the one or more recommended changes to the supply change to mitigate the disruptive event; and
provide scheduling information for a selected shipment, including a projected shipment arrival date or required shipment departure date, the scheduling information being linked to a set of data structures describing the shipment, the set of data structures comprising one or more of shipment source or destination, freight carrier, freight tracking information, current shipment status, shipment contents, and date of shipment, wherein moving a cursor over the range of disruption a box causes the microprocessor to provide event information comprising one or more of a description or location of the event, a number of parts or products impacted by the event, a financial impact of the event, and facilities affected by the event.

2. The supply chain monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the performance information comprises a plurality of manufactured item output projections over a specified time period, production facility sizes or locations, raw material, work-in-process, manufactured part or component or product inventory levels, order cycle times, days of supply in inventory, manufacturing resource type, availability, reliability, or productivity, unit operations, financial factors, number of on time shipments, number of late shipments, order mismatch count, service quality, repair cost per unit, inventory value, transaction documents associated with a material or part or component or product of one or more of the tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier, historic, current, or projected compliance with price, supply requirements, or other material terms, historic, current, or projected material or part or component or product output levels, and mean, median, average, mode, historic, or projected freight transportation times, delays, or requirements and further comprising, in the computer readable medium:
a reporting module that programs the microprocessor to generate and provide for display a graphical display comprising a map displaying, for the at least a portion of the supply chain, as nodes, locations of the tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier, and, as lines interconnecting two or more of the nodes, material or part or component or product shipment lines indicating shipping routes, and the range of disruption of the event.

3. The supply chain monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the computer readable medium further comprises data structures describing a role for each enterprise or organization associated with the tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier and one or more associated enterprises or organizations in the supply chain to indicate a contractual or other supply relationship and a plurality of a geographical or geopolitical location of each enterprise or organization associated with the tier 1 control tower, tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier, material or part or component or product type or identity supplied by the enterprise or organization, current spot market or contractual sales price of the material or part or component or product type supplied by the enterprise or organization, respective performance metrics of the enterprise or organization, material or part or component or product supply or purchase commitment with another enterprise or organization in the supply chain, specifications and requirements for materials or parts or components or products supplied or purchased by the enterprise or organization, material or part or component or product quantity and shipment dates and expected arrival dates at the next enterprise or organization in the supply chain, order cycle or turnaround times, shipment or order volume, total number of shipments, number of on time shipments, number of late shipments, and order mismatch count and further comprising, in the computer readable medium:
a reporting module that programs the microprocessor to generate and provide for display a graphical display comprising a map displaying, for the at least a portion of the supply chain, as nodes, locations of the tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier, and, as lines interconnecting two or more of the nodes, material or part or component or product shipment lines indicating shipping routes, and the range of disruption of the event, wherein a color or shade of each of the shipment lines indicates whether or not the corresponding shipment is on-time or delayed and wherein the event is a natural disaster event.

4. The supply chain monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the data collection module obtains shipment information from one or more servers associated with a freight enterprise or organization handling a shipment between enterprises or organizations in the supply chain and further comprising, in the computer readable medium:
a reporting module that programs the microprocessor to generate and provide for display a graphical display comprising a map displaying, for the at least a portion of the supply chain, as nodes, locations of the tier 2 product assembler, tier 3 part or component manufacturer, and tier 4 material supplier, and, as lines interconnecting two or more of the nodes, material or part or component or product shipment lines indicating shipping routes, and the range of disruption of the event, wherein a color or shade

Assignees

• Flextronics Ap Llc

Inventors

• Linton Thomas K
• Fong Gary
• Whipple Mark
• Berger Marni
• Jones Glenn

Classifications

• G05B19/418 Primary

  Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] · CPC title

• G06Q10/06315 Primary

  Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis · CPC title

• G06F17/30389

  Physics · mapped topic

• G05B19/41865

  characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow · CPC title

• Y02P80/40

  Minimising material used in manufacturing processes · CPC title