Method, computer program, and system for planning a material flow

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, a system and a computer program for planning a material flow. The method comprises the following steps: determining a resource shortage, determining an identifier assigned to the resource shortage, searching a database using the identifier assigned to the resource shortage, determining a resource substitute from the database on the basis of the identifier assigned to the resource shortage, the determined resource substitute replacing the resource shortage, and using the determined resource substitute in the material flow.

Description

[0001] Method, computer program and system for planning a material flow

[0002] 1. Technical area

[0003] The present invention relates to a method, a computer program, and a system for planning a material flow. In particular, the present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for planning a material flow, the computer-implemented method comprising the following steps: determining a shortage resource, determining an identifier assigned to the shortage resource, searching a database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, determining a replacement resource from the database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, wherein the determined replacement resource replaces the shortage resource, and using the determined replacement resource in the material flow. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a computer program for planning a material flow according to the aforementioned method.Furthermore, the present invention relates to a system for planning a material flow according to the aforementioned method.

[0004] 2. State of the art

[0005] Supply chain management (SCM) is a term used in companies to describe the strategic coordination between traditional business functions and tactical decisions between these business functions, both within and between companies along the supply chain, with the aim of improving the long-term performance of individual companies and the supply chain as a whole.

[0006] Due to the trend toward concentrating on core competencies (e.g., through outsourcing) and reducing vertical integration, supply chains are increasingly developing based on the division of labor. Competition in global markets, short product launch times, short product life cycles, and high customer expectations have placed supply chains at the center of decision-making. As a result, vertically integrated individual manufacturers no longer compete in the respective target markets, but instead, complexly structured supply chains composed of affiliated but independent companies. Such decentralized systems gain competitive advantages through a market-appropriate configuration of their structure and through the coordination and integration of autonomously managed activities within the supply chain.

[0007] The present invention is particularly directed to the planning of a material flow in the context of supply chains and SCM systems. For illustration, but not as a limitation, a scenario of a supply chain in the automotive industry is presented below. However, similar use cases are explicitly encompassed by the present disclosure. Similar use cases can be, for example, a supply chain in the context of individual components of an automobile. Furthermore, such similar use cases can relate to other industrial goods, for example, aircraft, ships, motorcycles, or the like.

[0008] Due to insufficient resources, hereinafter referred to as scarce resources, such as semiconductors, the automotive industry has recently seen approximately 20% fewer cars built annually. This corresponds to a loss of approximately 2.5 million vehicles per year in the German automotive industry alone. Consequently, the production facilities of automobile manufacturers and suppliers cannot be fully utilized at all levels of the supply chain and material flow.

[0009] In order to fully utilize the production facilities of automobile manufacturers and suppliers, they are responding with excessive procurement campaigns. However, these do not solve the problem of underutilization of production facilities; they merely shift the scarce resource within the material flow or supply chain.

[0010] However, the previously described problem of shifting scarce resources within the material flow or supply chain does not only occur vertically, i.e., between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers at different hierarchical levels, hereinafter referred to as tiers. In contrast, the previously described problem also occurs horizontally, i.e., between suppliers of the same tier, for example, in Tier 1, Tier 2, ..., Tier n. US 2020 / 006 5759 Ai discloses a platform for managing engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics operations that can efficiently and effectively configure factors of product development, production, supply chains, and logistics operations, and dynamically control these factors, supply chains, and logistics to optimize performance.The platform also offers the ability to selectively and securely display data related to production factors, logistics, and supply chain to enable real-time monitoring to support sales, financial management, or the post-sales process.

[0011] US 2018 / 008 9604 Ai discloses system, method and

[0012] Computer program product embodiments for performing real-time supply chain response planning. Described embodiments operate by receiving a request from a client device specifying a quantity of a product requested within a deadline. Then, a list of constraint variants associated with the product is identified from a table of constraint variants. Each constraint variant in the list is associated with a net availability table stored in an in-memory columnar database. Based on the constraint variant table, the required capacity to satisfy the request is determined for each constraint variant in the list.To determine whether the required capacity is met for each constraint variant, the request is simulated within a current supply chain plan by aggregating available capacity for each constraint variant using one or more columns of the associated net availability table. A result is sent to the customer device based on the simulated request.

[0013] US 2011 / 0320805 Ai discloses implementations of methods for sharing data in a supply chain, the data corresponding to an item to which a tag is assigned, comprising generating data corresponding to the item, generating a data reference, encrypting the data using an encryption key to provide encrypted data, transmitting the encrypted data over a network for storage in a database based on the data reference, writing the data reference and the encryption key to the tag, and transmitting the item to a successor in the supply chain.Implementations include retrieving information stored electronically on the label, the information comprising a data reference and an encryption key, transmitting a data request over a network to retrieve encrypted data from a database, the data request comprising the data reference, receiving the encrypted data from the database, and decrypting the encrypted data using the encryption key to provide decrypted data.

[0014] US 2006 / 015 5593 Ai discloses methods, systems, and computer-implemented architectures for performing supply chain planning. In one implementation, a system is provided comprising a database configured to store master data describing elements of the supply chain, a model generator coupled to the database and configured to derive a master data-based core model representing a supply chain planning problem, and a solver configured to translate the core model into a mathematical model and determine a solution to the mathematical model. Furthermore, the system may comprise a preprocessor configured to preprocess the core model by subjecting the core model to a set of rules to derive a preprocessed core model, wherein the solver creates the mathematical model from the preprocessed core model.By applying a set of preprocessing rules to the core model, which still contains the business logic of the supply chain planning problem, the planning problem's solution process can be improved, the solver's performance can be increased, and meaningful preprocessing results can be communicated to the client.

[0015] Catena-X is a collaborative, open data ecosystem for the automotive industry. It connects global players to create end-to-end value chains. The goal is standardized, global data exchange. Those who provide data retain control and decide individually who participates in the data exchange, how, when, where, and under what conditions.

[0016] However, all of the aforementioned disclosures have the disadvantage that, due to the large number of resources required for a complex product, determining a replacement resource is a computationally complex operation. Therefore, a timely determination of a replacement resource for a specific shortage resource is not computer-technically possible. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to at least partially address and / or improve the disadvantages of the prior art.

[0017] 3- Summary of the invention

[0018] The problem underlying the invention is solved by the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

[0019] In a first embodiment, a method for planning a material flow is provided. The computer-implemented method comprises the following steps: determining a shortage resource, determining an identifier assigned to the shortage resource, searching a database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, determining a replacement resource from the database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, wherein the determined replacement resource replaces the shortage resource, and using the determined replacement resource in the material flow.

[0020] According to this first embodiment, the shortage resource is replaced by the replacement resource based on the identifier. Replacing the shortage resource with the replacement resource using an identifier provides a high-performance data format on the basis of which a database can efficiently determine the replacement resource for the shortage resource.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment, the database comprises a plurality of databases, wherein the plurality of databases are maintained on different computers.

[0022] In a further preferred embodiment, searching the database comprises searching the plurality of databases on different computers.

[0023] In a further preferred embodiment, the plurality of databases on different computers are each assigned to a different tier in a hierarchy of computers. In a further preferred embodiment, each tier has a plurality of databases. Each tier corresponds to a tier of the planned material flow.

[0024] In a further preferred embodiment, each of the databases of a same animal is assigned to a different computer of a manufacturer of the shortage resource.

[0025] In a further preferred embodiment, determining a replacement resource from the database comprises replacing the shortage resource within an animal by another producer of the same animal.

[0026] In a further preferred embodiment, the identifier is constructed from an industry code and a material manufacturer code. In a further preferred embodiment, the identifier can be a Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) identifier, hereinafter referred to as SCT-ID.

[0027] In a further preferred embodiment, determining a shortage resource comprises the following steps: determining a necessary quantity of the shortage resource, determining a stocked quantity of the shortage resource from a stock of the shortage resource, and determining that the stocked quantity of the shortage resource from the stock of the shortage resource is less than the necessary quantity of the shortage resource.

[0028] In a further preferred embodiment, the replacement resource is equivalent to the shortage resource.

[0029] In a further embodiment, a computer program is provided. The computer program comprises instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to one of the previous embodiments.

[0030] In another embodiment, a system for planning a material flow is provided. The system comprises: means for determining a shortage resource, means for determining an identifier assigned to the shortage resource, means for searching a database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, means for determining a replacement resource from the database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, wherein the determined replacement resource replaces the shortage resource, and means for using the determined replacement resource in the material flow.

[0031] 4. Figure overview

[0032] Preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the following figures. They show:

[0033] Fig. 1: a method for planning a material flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Fig. 2: a system for planning a material flow according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

[0035] Fig.3: an architecture for constructing a database with an identifier according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] 5. Preferred embodiments of the invention

[0037] Preferred embodiments for planning a material flow are presented below.

[0038] Fig. 1 shows an exemplary sequence of a method for planning a material flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method begins with step 1 in which an OEM, here OEM A, defines a bottleneck relating to a certain component. In this embodiment, the certain component is the shortage resource. The defined bottleneck is stored in a database. In step 2, a Tier 1 manufacturer, here referred to as Tier 1 A, defines the shortage resource in more detail. The shortage resource determined more precisely in this way is stored in the database. In step 3, a Tier 2 manufacturer, here a semiconductor manufacturer, names identical shortage resources that the semiconductor manufacturer has delivered to a Tier 1 manufacturer, here Tier 1 B. Step 3 is also carried out based on the database. In step 4, the Tier 1 manufacturer confirms to Tier 1 B that it has incorporated the shortage resource into components.Tier 1 manufacturer Tier 1 B then checks which other OEM received the component with the shortage resource from Tier 1 manufacturer Tier 1 B. Step 4 is also carried out based on the database. In step 5, OEM B checks the availability of the component with the shortage resource. This step is also carried out based on the database. In addition, in step 5, OEM B can define a shortage resource that it will receive in exchange. The definition can be checked automatically in the background in the database and the software based on it. It can also be checked whether the shortage resource that OEM B receives in exchange is being used by another OEM, for example OEM A, and is available for exchange. As previously described, a check is carried out based on the database to determine whether the shortage resources from OEM A are interchangeable with those from OEM B in the same quantity and within the same period.In step 6, an agreement is concluded between OEM A and OEM B regarding the exchange.

[0039] Fig. 2 shows an exemplary system for planning a material flow according to the present invention. The system is based on individually programmed software, partially supported by artificial intelligence (AI) (hereinafter referred to as SCT software). At its core is a database (here: SCT database based on SQL) and the computer-supported assignment of the identifiers of the shortage resource (here: SCT ID). The SCT software and the SCT database have interfaces via which data related to the shortage resource can be exchanged with various OEMs and Tier 1-n manufacturers. The interfaces are designed as homepages and / or specific software modules (here: SCT apps). The database and the interfaces are subject to access rights control. The access rights control can allow a virtual private network, VPN, access and / or access via Universal Serial Bus, USB, or flash drive.In an initial expansion stage, individual data records can be entered manually by individual employees of OEMs, Tier 1-n manufacturers, and semiconductor manufacturers via secure access to the website. In a later expansion stage, data exchange will take place digitally, i.e., automatically, in the event of a bottleneck or shortage, from the Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP, and IT systems (often SAP or Oracle) of the respective affected company connected to the network.

[0040] Fig. 3 shows an exemplary architecture for building a database with an identifier according to another embodiment of the present invention. The identifier can be a Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) ID. In step 1, an OEM can determine a shortage resource. In step 2, an identifier assigned to the shortage resource can be determined. The determined identifier can be the said SCT ID. In step 3, a database can be searched using the SCT ID assigned to the shortage resource. The database can be an SCT database. In step 4, a replacement resource can be determined using the SCT database based on the SCT ID assigned to the shortage resource. The resource determined in this way can replace the shortage resource, hereinafter referred to as the replacement resource. In step 5, the previously determined replacement resource can be used in a material flow.In step 6, each of the previously mentioned steps 1 to 5 can be tracked in another database. This additional database can be the SCT database or another database.

[0041] The previously described embodiments and examples can be viewed as a first phase, with an overall process comprising three phases. Therefore, phases two and three are presented in more detail below:

[0042] Phase 2: An artificial intelligence (AI) tool can help a developer find the right component (e.g., a semiconductor) in the Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) toolkit. The SCT ID of the shortage resource can be combined with AI software in a second step, together with the Tier 1 manufacturers and the manufacturer of the shortage resource, to create an SCT standard kit. This SCT standard kit allows developers to select the right shortage resource (e.g., a standard semiconductor) for an OEM's specifications or for the Tier 1 manufacturer's offer using an AI-supported SCT selection tool (depending on certain parameters, such as industry, temperature of the application area, and semiconductor function), thus reducing the variety of shortage resources used.The goal is to reduce the number of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and design-in chips from one product development generation to the next. This will result in more standardized scarce resources (e.g., standard semiconductors) being used, thus increasing supply chain resilience.

[0043] The SCT database allows semiconductor manufacturers to classify their standard semiconductors using the SCT ID and offer them transparently to customers. The SCT selection tool is used to select a standard scarce resource (e.g., the aforementioned standard semiconductor) for a specific customer application based on the SCT criteria. Ideally, several manufacturers offer an interchangeable scarce resource (the semiconductor), transforming the "single-sourcing" strategy often used in the automotive industry before the coronavirus pandemic into a "dual-sourcing" or "multi-sourcing" strategy. The market's dependence on individual, individually manufactured scarce resources (the semiconductors) is reduced. This gradually makes the market more transparent.

[0044] Phase 3: Offering SCT software modules. Each user in Phases 1 and 2 discloses information about their supply chain as part of a transaction, which is stored in the SCT database in a structured manner in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For example:

[0045] Phase 1: Value chain of components, from the OEM through the manufacturer to its suppliers, partly with quantities per week.

[0046] Phase 2: The SCT-ID links the individual supplier components with each other.

[0047] All of this information is centrally available as GDPR-compliant data in the SCT database. Parallel to Phases 1 and 2, SCT is developing software modules that build on and are interconnected. All modules serve the goal of making the supply chain more transparent and resilient. From the outset, the SCT database considers providing the foundation for the following software modules, for example:

[0048] • SCT - SM (Short Management) module

[0049] • SCT - DC (Demand / Capacity Management) module

[0050] • SCT - VCT (Value Chain Transparency) module

[0051] • SCT - DP (Demand Forecast) Module

[0052] • SCT - SERP (Simulation-Enterprise-Resource-Planning) module

[0053] • SCT - OCC (Operations Control Center).

[0054] The advantage of the SCT software is that it can combine the data from the SCT database with future applications. Users of SCT phases one through three thus receive technically comprehensive and consistent support to make their supply chain more resilient.

[0055] The above description merely represents preferred implementations of the present invention. The description is not intended to limit any one or more implementations of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent substitution, improvement, etc., made without departing from the spirit and principles of any one or more implementations of the present invention will be considered within the scope of one or more implementations of the present invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A computer-implemented method for planning a material flow, the computer-implemented method comprising the following steps: - Determining a shortage resource; - Determining an identifier assigned to the shortage resource; - Searching a database using the identifier assigned to the shortage resource; - determining a replacement resource from the database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, the determined replacement resource replacing the shortage resource; and - Using the specified replacement resource in the material flow.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a plurality of databases, and wherein the plurality of databases are maintained on different computers.

3. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein searching the database comprises searching the plurality of databases on different computers.

4. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of databases on different computers are each assigned to a different tier in a hierarchy of computers.

5. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein each tier comprises a plurality of databases and wherein each tier corresponds to an tier of the planned material flow.

6. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein each of the databases of a same animal is assigned to a different computer of a manufacturer of the shortage resource. 7- The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein determining a replacement resource from the database comprises replacing the shortage resource within an animal from a different producer of the same animal.

8. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein the identifier is constructed from an industry code and a material manufacturer code.

9. The computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein determining a shortage resource comprises the following steps: - Determining the required quantity of the shortage resource; - Determining a stocked quantity of the shortage resource from a stock of the shortage resource; and - Determine that the stocked quantity of the shortage resource from the inventory of the shortage resource is less than the required quantity of the shortage resource.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises: - Comparison with a planned production program of an original equipment manufacturer, OEM, a Tier-I supplier and a supplier of the shortage resource, where the planned production program has a quantity per unit of time, in particular a day or a week.

11. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, wherein the replacement resource is equivalent to the shortage resource.

12. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A system for planning a material flow, comprising: - means of determining a shortage resource; - means for determining an identifier assigned to the shortage resource; - means for searching a database using the identifier assigned to the shortage resource; - means for determining a replacement resource from the database based on the identifier assigned to the shortage resource, the determined replacement resource replacing the shortage resource; and - Means for using the particular replacement resource in the Material flow.

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