KR100730695B1 - Automatic inventory management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The automated inventory management system includes an inventory management database that stores inventory information useful for inventory management and includes a description of a plurality of resources, lead times, daily consumption amounts, and the like; A maximum inventory factor setting module that allows a user to set a maximum inventory factor; A purchase amount control module that calculates and outputs a proposed purchase amount for a specific resource based on a factor set in the maximum inventory factor setting module and data included in the inventory management database; An alert module is provided when an inventory quantity of a specific resource approaches a predetermined value and proposes a warning to a user to purchase the specific resource. The user only needs to set the maximum inventory factor, and the designed system automatically calculates the amount of resources for which a purchase order has been placed, so that inventory management is automatically performed.

Auto, inventory, management system, warning, product, purchase, order

Description

Automatic inventory management system

1 is a system schematic diagram of an automatic inventory management system of the present invention.

The present invention relates to an automatic inventory management system, and more particularly, to an automatic inventory management system executed according to a management target value set by a user.

In modern enterprises, there is a tendency to use computer systems to manage the internal work of the enterprise. Inventory management is an important part of internal management. Many management systems using computer systems have been developed.

As used herein, "inventory management" includes at least two aspects. One is the inventory management of goods or products, and the other is the management of materials and components in storage. In a trading company, "inventory management" means the management of goods. For manufacturers, this means the management of products, materials and components. For service providers, inventory management refers to the management of resources such as who serves and the time available to provide the service. In this specification, they will be referred to individually as "resources" and collectively as "resources".

 The best inventory management system currently available in the industry is to generate useful information for the staff in charge of inventory management. This information, given the large and extensive fluctuations of products, materials and components stored in warehouses, for medium and large enterprises, it would not be possible to perform efficient inventory management of products, materials and components without inventory management information. Therefore, it is useful for these staff. However, the information generated by commercially available inventory management systems is for reference only; Conventional inventory management systems usually do not automatically determine based on the generated information. The best decisions related to inventory management are made manually by humans, taking into account the generated information. These inventory management systems are called inventory management information generation systems.

However, there are inventory management systems that can automatically make decisions based on information generated in relation to inventory issues. These systems can generate a warning signal when a lack of product, component or material in a warehouse is detected or calculated. These systems generate suggested purchases in accordance with the warnings, so that the person in charge of inventory can determine the purchase order at any time, whether left or right, for the insufficient product, component or material being proposed or processed. In such a system, the amount of resources supplied is determined by the staff in charge of management issues.

Nevertheless, in a conventional inventory management system, the calculation and determination of factors related to inventory management are performed in a mechanical or merely logical manner in which the decisions or suggestions generated by these systems rarely conform to real world practices. In order to use a conventional inventory management system, companies need the necessary safe policies, such as setting a safe inventory. Thus, costs and expenses increase in inventory management.

In a conventional inventory management system, two concepts are essential when designing a system. They are "safety inventory" and "time to buy."

"Safety stock": "Safety stock" means the minimum stock stored. In most cases, this amount is equal to the amount of resources consumed or used during the period from when the purchase order is submitted to the supplier until the ordered resource arrives. Safety inventory allows companies to continue to supply products to consumers without interruption. Occasionally, safety inventory refers to the amount of resources that need to be stored in a warehouse to meet an immediate increase in demand. We do not know what the safety inventory means, but how to determine it is a matter of disclosure. As a general practice, safety inventory is determined by the person responsible for inventory management based on experience.

"Time to Buy": "Time to Buy" always refers to a date in which an inventory management system generates an alert to remind the user to purchase a particular resource in order to maintain a safe inventory. In an inventory management system, the "time to buy" is related to the quantity of inventory. When the amount of a particular resource being kept reaches (near) a certain amount, the inventory management system generates an alert to remind the user to take the necessary action. In the prior art, the formula for calculating "time to purchase" is as follows:

Time to Buy = Safety Stock + Lead Time * Daily Consumption… (One)

"Lead time" here means counting the number of days from the date a purchase order is submitted to the supplier, from the date the purchased resource is delivered, or from the date the order is placed to purchase the resource to the completion of production of the same product. "Daily consumption" refers to the amount of resources used or consumed each day. "Daily consumption" is the average daily consumption of resources in the last 30 days or the past year.

In the above formula, the "safety inventory" is a value according to the judgment of the person. In addition, "lead time" is the most important factor in determining the time to make a purchase. If the value of the "lead time" is determined too small, this leads to the interruption of the supply of related products or goods. To avoid supply disruptions, inventory managers either increase the amount of "safety inventory" or set a "lead time" longer than necessary, resulting in unnecessarily excessive inventory, thus increasing the cost of the company's actions. However, for most companies, the amount of "daily consumption" is hypothetical and has no real basis.

In addition to the above, the original inventory management system may generate an alert when the amount of inventory of a particular resource is close to "time to purchase", and a positive value representing "time to purchase" is mechanically calculated. It does not always depend on the actual situation. In the prior art, the factor of "time to purchase" is provided to avoid interruption of product supply. Before the supply of the corresponding resource is stopped, the value of "time to purchase" is divided by "daily consumption" to generate a value representing the number of days. However, this value is a calculation result of the present value. This is not the purpose of inventory management, but the mindset of most managers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated inventory management system that automatically detects inventory information in order to generate a proposal for inventory management.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic inventory management system for managing inventory on the basis of object information set by a user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic inventory management system for generating a proposal according to the actual situation of the enterprise.

According to the present invention, an automatic inventory management system includes an inventory management database that stores inventory information useful for inventory management and includes a description of a plurality of resources, lead times, daily consumption amounts, and the like; A maximum inventory factor setting module that allows a user to set a maximum inventory factor; A purchase amount control module for calculating and outputting a purchase amount proposed for a specific resource based on a factor set in the maximum inventory amount factor setting module and data included in the inventory management database; An alert module is provided when an inventory quantity of a specific resource approaches a predetermined value and proposes a warning to a user to purchase the specific resource. In the present invention, the user only needs to set the maximum inventory factor, and the designed system automatically calculates the amount of resources for which a purchase order has been placed, so that inventory management is automatically performed.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood from the detailed description by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, a detailed description of the embodiment of the automatic inventory management system of the present invention is given. 1 is a system diagram of an automatic inventory management system of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the automated inventory management system stores inventory information useful for inventory management and includes an inventory management database 10 including a description of a plurality of resources, lead times, daily consumptions, and the like; A maximum inventory factor setting module 20 through which a user can set a maximum inventory factor; A purchase amount control module 30 for calculating and generating a purchase amount proposed for a specific resource based on a factor set in the maximum inventory amount factor setting module 20 and data included in the inventory management database 10; An alert module 40 is provided when an inventory of a particular resource approaches a predetermined value, generating an alert, and suggesting a user to purchase the specific resource.

The inventory management database 10 stores data related to resources in inventory, particularly data related to inventory management. In the embodiment of the present invention, the data stored in the inventory management database 10 includes information on all resources within the management scope of the automatic inventory management system. Here, "resource" means any available or useful resource of a company that is subject to all completed products, semi-finished products, materials, parts, components, machinery, space, personnel, time and occasional consumption in storage and processing. On the other hand, "information" or "data" means a description of a particular resource, current inventory, lead time, and daily consumption. Here, "lead time" means the time gap between the date the purchase order was submitted to the supplier and the date the order was delivered, or the date the order was placed to produce the product and the date the production of the ordered product was completed. "Daily consumption" refers to the average daily consumption of a particular resource. Additionally, the database 10 also includes deliverable amount, meaning the amount of a particular resource ordered by the consumer or user but not delivered to the consumer or user, and receivable amount, meaning the amount of the specific resource ordered but not received. do. Of course, other data or information useful for inventory management is also included in inventory management database 10.

The "maximum inventory factor" used in the present invention is one of the main features of the present invention. Under the design of the present invention, the task of automatic inventory management to control the amount of inventory within an appropriate range is most important. Automatic inventory management can generate a proposal regarding inventory management and can perform inventory management completely automatically according to the maximum inventory factor requested by the user.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the maximum inventory factor is the maximum period of time during which resources are stored in the inventory, i.e., the period of maximum time set by the person in charge of inventory, in which the product or component is kept as inventory. The factor may apply to all resources or some resources. Multiple maximum inventory factors can be individually set and applied to different resources. The maximum inventory factor setting module 20 provides a user interface 21 through which a user can input, modify or delete the maximum inventory factor. The automatic inventory management system of the present invention, among other things, performs inventory management based on the maximum inventory amount factor. Except for the maximum inventory period, it is useful for the inventory management system used to calculate the maximum inventory, and other factors or values may also be used to control the inventory quantity managed.

Since the purchase amount control module 30 of the present invention generates a proposed purchase amount for a specific resource, it is referred to when the inventory manager decides. In fact, the inventory manager does not decide to create a purchase order only if the amount of stored resources is close to the "purchase time" as described above. The company may be determined to accept a purchase order for a variety of reasons. For example, when a company places a purchase order with a supplier of a particular product, it may also purchase another product from that supplier in order to save money by taking another order at a separate point in time or to obtain a quantity discount. Under such circumstances, the proposal generated by the automated inventory management system of the present invention will be useful to the user.

According to the present invention, the purchase amount control module 30 calculates the amount of resources to be purchased according to the following formula according to the user's request.

Purchase amount = maximum stock-(current stock-lead time * daily consumption) ---- (2)

In this formula,

Maximum Inventory = Maximum Inventory Factor * Daily Consumption ---------------------- (3)

In formula (3), the "maximum inventory factor" is a set of numbers that gives the user an upper limit on the date on which a particular resource can be stored as inventory. In formula (2), "current inventory" refers to the current inventory of a particular resource, and "lead time" refers to a purchase order for the particular resource from the time the supplier purchases it to the supplier or until the purchased resource arrives or Represents the calculation of the number of days from when the order to produce the product is made until the production of the resource is completed, wherein "daily consumption" is the value or average for the last 30 days or last year, as calculated by the automated inventory management system. It represents the average daily consumption of a particular resource.

With the above formula, the purchase amount of a specific resource can be calculated and suggested to fit the maximum inventory factor set by the user. Thus, the purchase amount of a particular resource depends on the actual consumption of the particular resource and does not exceed the maximum inventory amount as set by the user. Effective management of the inventory according to the purpose determined by the user can be achieved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the "purchase amount" can be obtained from the following formula:

Purchase Amount = Maximum Inventory-(Current Inventory-Lead Time * Daily Consumption) + Deliverable-Receipt ----------------------------- ------------------------- (4)

In formula (4), "maximum inventory", "current inventory", "lead time" and "daily consumption" have the same meaning as described above, "deliverable quantity" represents the quantity of resources that have not been delivered and sold and "receivable quantity" Represents the amount of resources purchased that were not received.

The main difference between formula (4) and formula (2) is that, to be more accurate, "capacity" and "receivable" were taken into account in the calculation of "purchase".

The purchase amount control module 30 calculates and proposes a specific amount of resource to be purchased according to the purpose of the maximum inventory amount factor set by the user.

In the present invention, the factor of "purchase amount" allows to control the inventory amount under the maximum inventory amount or the maximum inventory factor. In the enterprise, if the maximum inventory level or maximum inventory factor is actually a larger unit before using the automated inventory management system of the present invention, then in the initial stage the smaller inventory level factor and the lower maximum inventory factor of the present invention are As such, proper management of inventory can be achieved at specific time intervals.

In addition, the "daily consumption" may be automatically calculated by the purchase amount control module 30 as it may be calculated according to the average consumption of a particular resource in the last 30 days or last year. Such quantities are dynamic values and apply to the actual situation. The automated inventory management system further provides an alert module 40 for generating an alert when the storage of a particular resource is approaching a predetermined value. The time at which such an alert is generated can be determined according to the prior art when the "purchase time" is determined, ie, the safety stock amount + lead time * daily consumption amount. However, in some embodiments of the present invention, a warning is generated when a "purchase amount" is reached or crossed a threshold. The determination of the threshold is not limited to any theory. It will depend on factors such as safety stock, number of days of safety stock, etc. by the user.

As described above, the automatic inventory management system of the present invention can automatically generate a proposal of inventory management according to the purpose set by the user and control the inventory amount under the maximum inventory amount. Firms can lower inventory levels to optimal levels by using automated inventory management systems to achieve effective inventory management.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

An inventory management database for storing useful inventory information of the resource being stored; A maximum inventory factor setting module that allows a user to set a maximum inventory factor; A purchase amount control module that calculates and generates a proposed purchase amount for a specific resource based on a factor set in the maximum inventory factor setting module and data included in the inventory management database; And A warning module for generating an alert to suggest a user to purchase the specific resource when the inventory amount of the specific resource approaches a predetermined value, The maximum inventory factor is an automatic inventory management system, characterized in that the maximum number of days that a particular resource can be stored as inventory. The method of claim 1, Data stored in the inventory management database includes descriptions of specific resources, lead times, daily consumptions, and the like; The "lead time" is the date from when a purchase order for the specific resource is submitted to the supplier until the purchased resource arrives or when an order for producing the specific resource is made until the production of the resource is completed. Indicating calculating a number, wherein the " daily consumption amount " represents an average daily consumption amount of the specific resource. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The purchase amount control module calculates a "purchase amount" of a specific resource according to the following formula: Purchase Amount = Maximum Inventory-(Current Inventory-Lead Time * Daily Consumption) ----- (2) Where max inventory = max inventory factor * daily consumption ------- (3), "Maximum inventory amount factor" is a number set by the user, "current inventory amount" indicates the current inventory amount of the specific resource, and "lead time" indicates the purchased resource since the purchase order for the specific resource has been submitted to the supplier. To calculate the number of days from the time of arrival or when the order for producing the specific resource is made until the production of the resource is completed, wherein the "daily consumption" indicates an average daily consumption of the specific resource. Inventory management system. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The purchase amount control module calculates a "purchase amount" of a specific resource according to the following formula: Purchase Amount = Maximum Inventory-(Current Inventory-Lead Time * Daily Consumption) + Deliverable-Acceptable Quantity -------------------------- (4) Where max stock = max stock factor * daily consumption -------- (3) "Maximum inventory amount factor" is a number set by the user, "current inventory amount" indicates the current inventory amount of the specific resource, and "lead time" indicates the purchased resource since the purchase order for the specific resource has been submitted to the supplier. Indicates the calculation of the number of days until the arrival or when the order for producing the specific resource is made until the production of the resource is completed, wherein the " daily consumption amount " represents an average daily consumption amount of the specific resource, " Deliverable amount "refers to the amount of resources that have not been delivered and sold, and" Receivable amount "represents the amount of purchased resource that has not been received. The method of claim 2, The "daily consumption amount" is a value calculated using data stored in the inventory management database, automatic inventory management system. The method of claim 3, wherein The "daily consumption amount" is a value calculated using data stored in the inventory management database, automatic inventory management system. The method of claim 4, wherein The "daily consumption amount" is a value calculated using data stored in the inventory management database, automatic inventory management system. delete delete delete

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