Inventory Management System
The inventory management system optimizes inventory levels through sales forecast data processing and shipment updates, addressing manufacturer challenges of unsold stock or delayed delivery by ensuring sufficient inventory.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- TW115203552
- Authority / Receiving Office
- TW · TW
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-04-22
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-11
- Estimated Expiration
- 2036-04-21
Smart Images
Figure IMG-2_DRAW_115203552-A0305-14-0001-1 
Figure IMG-2_DRAW_115203552-A0305-14-0002-2 
Figure IMG-2_DRAW_115203552-A0305-14-0003-3
Abstract
Description
Inventory Management System Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to an inventory management system, and more particularly to an inventory management system suitable for managing the quantity of goods in stock. Prior Technology
[0002] Before delivering goods to customers, manufacturers need to place orders with suppliers to prepare inventory. The manufacturers then deliver the goods to customers after the suppliers have delivered them. However, if manufacturers prepare too much inventory, they may encounter unsold stock. Conversely, if they prepare only a small amount, they may not be able to deliver in time, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Therefore, developing a new system that allows manufacturers to effectively control the amount of inventory they prepare is the subject of further exploration in this new invention. Summary of the Invention
[0003] In order to improve upon existing technology, the purpose of this invention is to provide an inventory management system suitable for managing the quantity of goods in stock.
[0004] This novel inventory management system includes an inventory management server and multiple client-side processing devices. The inventory management server stores inventory data, lead times data, and delivery data. The inventory data includes multiple inventory quantities related to multiple product data items. The lead times data includes multiple required lead times related to product data items. The delivery data includes multiple estimated arrival dates corresponding to different product data items. Multiple client-side processing devices are electrically connected to the inventory management server. Each client-side processing device is operated by a salesperson to generate multiple personal sales forecast data items corresponding to that salesperson. Each sales forecast data item corresponds to a customer data item and a product data item, and includes multiple demand data items corresponding to multiple weeks. For each of these personal sales forecast data items generated by each client-side processing device, the inventory management server executes a calculation program to generate multiple personal inventory management information items corresponding to the same sales forecast data. Each personal inventory management information item indicates whether the product related to the product data item corresponding to that personal inventory management information item can be purchased. When one of the individual inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to that individual inventory management information can be purchased, the inventory management server, based on the individual sales forecast data generated by all client processing devices, generates an overall sales forecast corresponding to the goods information related to the individual inventory management information from one or more of the individual sales forecast data corresponding to the same goods information. The inventory management server executes the calculation procedure based on the overall sales forecast data to generate overall inventory management information corresponding to the overall sales forecast data, wherein the overall inventory management information indicates whether the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the overall inventory management information can be purchased.
[0005] In some embodiments of this novel inventory management system, the inventory management server receives shipment information from a supplier's shipping device and updates the estimated arrival date of the goods corresponding to the shipment information. The inventory management server then executes the calculation procedure again for each piece of personal sales forecast data generated by each user terminal processing device to generate personal inventory management information.
[0006] In some embodiments of this novel inventory management system, each inventory quantity also corresponds to one or more of the sales personnel and includes one or more liability amounts corresponding to each of those sales personnel. The client processing device transmits a goods exchange request corresponding to a goods data item and including an exchange quantity to the inventory management server, and the inventory management server updates the liability amount of the inventory data related to the goods data item corresponding to the goods exchange request based on the goods exchange request.
[0007] In some implementations of this novel inventory management system, each inventory quantity also corresponds to one or more of the sales personnel, and includes one or more sales quotas corresponding to each sales personnel, as well as one or more in-stock times corresponding to each sales quota. The inventory management server generates a determination result based on the in-stock times, the overall inventory management information indication related to the same goods data, and the individual inventory management information. This determination result indicates whether it is necessary to update the sales personnel corresponding to one or more of the sales quotas.
[0008] In some implementations of this novel inventory management system, when the inventory management server determines that the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the overall inventory management information cannot be purchased, and one of the individual inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the individual inventory management information can be purchased, and the responsibility amount corresponding to the goods information is greater than a preset inventory quantity threshold, and the in-stock time corresponding to the responsibility amount of one of the individual inventory management information is greater than a preset inventory time threshold, the determination result indicates that it is recommended to update the sales personnel corresponding to the responsibility amount.
[0009] The advantages of this new system are as follows: The inventory management system, through the inventory management server, executes a calculation procedure for each piece of individual sales forecast data generated by each user terminal processing device to generate individual inventory management information. Furthermore, when one of the individual inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the corresponding product information can be purchased, the inventory management server executes the calculation procedure based on the overall sales forecast data to generate overall inventory management information. When the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the corresponding product information can be purchased, it means that the company's inventory of the goods related to that product information is insufficient; when the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the corresponding product information cannot be purchased, it means that the company's inventory of the goods related to that product information is sufficient. Sales personnel use the indications of the overall inventory management information to decide whether to place orders with suppliers, thereby effectively controlling the quantity of inventory prepared. Simple Explanation of the Diagram
[0010] Other features and benefits of this invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings.
[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the novel inventory management system.
[0012] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating, by way of example, how an inventory management method is implemented in this embodiment.
[0013] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating, by way of example, how a roll calculation program is implemented in this embodiment. Implementation
[0014] Before this invention is described in detail, it should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, the term "electrically connected" in this patent specification refers to the "coupled" relationship between computer hardware (such as electronic systems, devices, apparatuses, units, and components), and broadly refers to "wired electrical connections" achieved by physically connecting multiple computer hardware components through conductor / semiconductor materials, and "radio connections" that achieve wireless data transmission using wireless communication technologies (such as, but not limited to, wireless networks, Bluetooth, and electromagnetic induction). On the other hand, unless otherwise defined, the term "electrical connection" in this patent specification also broadly refers to "direct electrical connections" achieved by directly coupling multiple computer hardware components to each other, and "indirect electrical connections" achieved by indirectly coupling multiple computer hardware components through other computer hardware components.
[0015] Referring to Figure 1, one embodiment of the novel inventory management system 100 is adapted to communicate with a supplier's shipping device 3 via a network electrical connection. The supplier's shipping device 3 can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, or desktop computer.
[0016] In this embodiment, the inventory management system 100 includes an inventory management server 1 and multiple user-end processing devices 2 electrically connected to the inventory management server 1. The inventory management server 1 is a server device used to manage goods inventory. Each user-end processing device 2 can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, or desktop computer.
[0017] The inventory management server 1 stores inventory data, lead times data, and delivery data. The inventory data contains multiple inventory quantities related to multiple goods items. The lead times data contains multiple lead times required for each goods item. The delivery data contains multiple estimated arrival dates corresponding to different goods items. Each inventory quantity corresponds to one or more sales personnel and includes one or more sales quotas corresponding to that sales personnel and one or more in-stock times corresponding to each sales quota.
[0018] Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the following exemplarily illustrates how the inventory management system 100 of this embodiment implements an inventory management method.
[0019] First, in step S01, each user-end processing device 2 is operated by the salesperson to generate multiple individual sales forecast data corresponding to that salesperson. Each individual sales forecast data corresponds to a customer profile and a goods profile, and includes multiple demand data corresponding to multiple weeks (e.g., j weeks, where j = 1 to j_max, where j_max is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and is the maximum value of j), a quantity of goods in stock, a quantity shipped in the current week, and a quantity of overdue purchased goods. Each demand data includes a quantity of goods expected to be sold in the current week and a quantity of goods expected to be purchased in the current week. For example, the quantity of goods expected to be sold in the current week, the quantity of goods in stock, the quantity shipped in the current week, and the quantity of overdue purchased goods included in each individual sales forecast data can be shown in Table 1. Next, the process proceeds to step S02. Table 1 Cargo holding quantity 80 Shipments shipped this week 20 Expired Purchased Goods Quantity 20 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Weekly sales volume 100 100 90 100 120 Expected purchase volume for the week 30 120 140 90 0
[0020] In step S02, the inventory management server 1 performs a calculation program for each piece of personal sales forecast data generated by each user terminal processing device 2 to generate multiple pieces of personal inventory management information corresponding to the sales forecast data. Each piece of personal inventory management information indicates whether the goods related to the goods data corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased.
[0021] Referring to Figures 1 and 3, the following exemplarily illustrates how the inventory management system 100 of this embodiment implements the roll-up procedure.
[0022] First, in step S11, for each item data, the inventory management server 1 calculates the target inventory quantity for the j-th week corresponding to the j-th week based on the corresponding stock preparation week number and the expected sales quantity for the j-th week. More specifically, when the inventory management server 1 determines that j is less than or equal to j_max-1-M, the inventory management server 1 calculates the target inventory quantity Yj for the j-th week according to the following formula: where the expected sales quantity for the j-th week is SDj. The stock preparation week number is M and M is an integer. Yj=SDj+SDj+1+…+SDj+(M-1). When the processing unit 2 determines that j is greater than j_max-1-M, the processing unit 2 calculates the target inventory quantity Yj for the j-th week according to the following formula: Yj=SDj+SDj+1+…+SD(j_max).
[0023] For example, for one type of product data, the expected sales volume for the first week of week 1 is, for example, 100 units; the expected sales volume for the second week of week 2 is, for example, 100 units; and the expected sales volume for the third week of week 3 is, for example, 90 units. The stock preparation period is, for example, 2 weeks. The inventory management server 1 calculates the target inventory for the first week of week 1 by adding the expected sales volume for the first week of week 1 to the expected sales volume for the second week of week 2, which is 200 units. It also calculates the target inventory for the second week of week 2 by adding the expected sales volume for the second week of week 2 to the expected sales volume for the third week of week 3, which is 190 units. These expected sales volumes and target inventory volumes for each week are shown in Table 2. Next, the process proceeds to step S12. Table 2 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Weekly sales volume 100 100 90 100 120 Weekly target inventory 200 190 190 220 120
[0024] In step S12, for each of the goods data, the inventory management server 1 calculates the actual inventory for the j-th week corresponding to the j-th week based on the quantity of goods held, the quantity of goods shipped in the current week, the quantity of goods purchased that have expired, the quantity of goods expected to be purchased in the j-th week corresponding to the j-th week, and the quantity of goods expected to be sold in the j-th week corresponding to the j-th week.
[0025] More specifically, the inventory management server 1 calculates the actual inventory quantity Z1 corresponding to the first week according to the following formula: Wherein, the quantity of goods held is H; the quantity shipped that week is S; the quantity of overdue purchased goods is DuePo; and the expected quantity of goods to be purchased for the first week of the first week is PO1. Z1 = H + S + DuePo + PO1. When the inventory management server 1 determines that j is greater than 1, it calculates the actual inventory quantity Zj corresponding to the j-th week of the j-th week according to the following formula: Wherein, the expected quantity of goods to be purchased for the j-th week of the j-th week is POj; and the expected quantity of goods to be sold for the j-th week of the j-th week is SDj. Zj = Z(j-1) - SD(j-1) + POj.
[0026] For example, the quantity of goods held is, for instance, 80 units; the quantity shipped in the current week is, for instance, 20 units; the quantity of overdue purchased goods is, for instance, 20 units; and the expected quantity of goods to be purchased in the first week of the current week is, for instance, 30 units. The inventory management server 1 calculates the actual inventory quantity for the first week of the current week by adding the quantity of goods held, the quantity shipped in the current week, the quantity of overdue purchased goods, and the expected quantity of goods to be purchased in the first week of the current week, resulting in an actual inventory quantity of 150 units for the first week of the current week.
[0027] When the inventory management server 1 determines that j is greater than 1, assuming the expected purchase quantity for the second week of the second week is, for example, 120 units, the expected sales quantity for the first week of the first week is, for example, 100 units, and the actual inventory for the first week of the first week is, for example, 150 units. The inventory management server 1 subtracts the expected sales quantity for the first week of the first week from the actual inventory for the first week of the first week, and adds it to the expected purchase quantity for the second week of the second week to calculate the actual inventory for the second week of the second week, which is 170 units. The held inventory, the weekly shipped inventory, the expired purchased inventory, the expected purchase inventory for the current week, the expected sales inventory for the current week, and the actual inventory for the current week can be shown in Table 3. Next, the process proceeds to step S13. Table 3 Cargo holding quantity 80 Shipments shipped this week 20 Expired Purchased Goods Quantity 20 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Weekly sales volume 100 100 90 100 120 Actual inventory for the week 150 170 210 210 110
[0028] In step S13, for each item data, the inventory management server 1 subtracts the actual inventory quantity of the jth week corresponding to the jth week from the target inventory quantity of the jth week corresponding to the jth week to calculate the jth estimated inventory quantity corresponding to the jth week.
[0029] Continuing with the example above, the inventory management server 1 subtracts the actual inventory quantity corresponding to the first week from the target inventory quantity corresponding to the first week to calculate the estimated inventory quantity for the first week as -50 units. The actual inventory quantity, the target inventory quantity, and the estimated inventory quantity for the week are shown in Table 4. Next, the process proceeds to step S14. Table 4 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Actual inventory for the week 150 170 210 210 110 Weekly target inventory 200 190 190 220 120 Estimated inventory -50 -20 20 -10 -10
[0030] In step S14, for each item data, the inventory management server 1 sums up the j-th estimated inventory quantity to calculate a total estimated inventory quantity corresponding to that item data. When the inventory management server 1 determines that the total estimated inventory quantity is negative, it generates personal inventory management information indicating that the items related to the item data corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased. When the inventory management server 1 determines that the total estimated inventory quantity is positive, it generates personal inventory management information indicating that the items related to the item data corresponding to the personal inventory management information cannot be purchased. In this way, the salesperson can determine whether their inventory is sufficient based on the personal inventory management information. When the personal inventory management information does not indicate that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased, it means that the salesperson has sufficient inventory of the goods related to the goods information. Conversely, when the personal inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased, it means that the salesperson has insufficient inventory of the goods related to the goods information.
[0031] The above is an example of how the inventory management system 100 in this embodiment implements the roll calculation procedure. Next, the process proceeds to step S03.
[0032] In step S03, the inventory management server 1 determines whether one of the personal inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased.
[0033] After the inventory management server 1 determines that one of the personal inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased, the process proceeds to step S04. After the inventory management server 1 determines that one of the personal inventory management information does not indicate that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the personal inventory management information can be purchased, the process ends.
[0034] In step S04, the inventory management server 1, based on the individual sales forecast data generated by all user-end processing devices 2, generates an overall sales forecast corresponding to the goods data related to the individual inventory management information from one or more of the individual sales forecast data corresponding to the same goods data. More specifically, the inventory management server 1 aggregates the demand data, the inventory holdings, the weekly shipments, and the overdue purchases from one or more of the individual sales forecast data corresponding to the same goods data across the entire company to generate the overall sales forecast data. The process then proceeds to step S05.
[0035] In step S05, the inventory management server 1 executes the calculation procedure based on the overall sales forecast data to generate overall inventory management information corresponding to the overall sales forecast data. This overall inventory management information indicates whether the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the overall inventory management information can be purchased. When the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the overall inventory management information cannot be purchased, it means that the company has sufficient inventory of the goods related to that goods information.
[0036] To further clarify, before step S04 (i.e., before generating the company's overall sales forecast data), the inventory management server 1 first aggregates the demand data, the inventory holdings, the weekly shipments, and the overdue purchases from the individual sales forecast data of each department for the same goods, to generate a departmental sales forecast data corresponding to that department. Then, based on the departmental sales forecast data, the rollout procedure is executed to generate departmental inventory management information corresponding to that departmental sales forecast data. Each departmental inventory management information indicates whether the goods related to the goods data corresponding to that departmental inventory management information can be purchased. When each departmental inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods data corresponding to that departmental inventory management information cannot be purchased, it means that the inventory quantity of the goods related to that goods data in that department is sufficient.
[0037] The inventory management system 100 executes the calculation program to generate individual inventory management information corresponding to each salesperson, departmental inventory management information corresponding to each department, and overall inventory management information corresponding to the company. If described using the concept of reservoirs, the individual inventory management information, the departmental inventory management information, and the overall inventory management information can respectively correspond to small reservoirs, medium reservoirs, and large reservoirs, for the system users (e.g., small reservoir users are salespersons, medium reservoir users are department heads, and large reservoir users are project managers). By observing the water level in the reservoirs, users can understand whether the corresponding inventory management information indicates whether the goods are available for purchase or not. Next, the process proceeds to step S06.
[0038] In step S06, the inventory management server 1 receives shipping information from the supplier's shipping device 3 and updates the estimated arrival date of the goods data corresponding to the shipping information. After the inventory management server 1 updates the estimated arrival date of the goods data corresponding to the shipping information, the process returns to step S02. The inventory management server 1 again executes the roll-up procedure for each piece of personal sales forecast data generated by each user terminal processing device 2 to generate personal inventory management information. More specifically, the estimated arrival date of the goods data corresponding to the shipping information affects the quantity of goods shipped that week corresponding to the goods data. Therefore, after the inventory management server 1 updates the estimated arrival date of the goods data corresponding to the shipping information, the roll-up procedure needs to be executed again for each piece of personal sales forecast data. Then, the process proceeds to step S07.
[0039] In step S07, the inventory management server 1 generates a judgment result based on the inventory time, the overall inventory management information indication related to the same goods, and the individual inventory management information. The judgment result indicates whether it is necessary to update the sales personnel corresponding to one or more of the responsibilities.
[0040] More specifically, when the inventory management server 1 determines that the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the overall inventory management information cannot be purchased, and one of the individual inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the individual inventory management information can be purchased, and the responsibility amount corresponding to the goods information is greater than a preset inventory quantity threshold, and the in-stock time corresponding to the responsibility amount corresponding to one of the individual inventory management information is greater than a preset inventory time threshold, the determination result indicates that it is recommended to update the sales personnel corresponding to the responsibility amount.
[0041] For example, the preset inventory quantity threshold is, for instance, 300, and the preset inventory time threshold is, for instance, 2 weeks. Suppose that one of the personal inventory management information entries of a salesperson indicates that goods related to the goods information corresponding to that personal inventory management information can be purchased, and the responsibility amount corresponding to that goods information is 400, and the in-stock time corresponding to that responsibility amount is 4 weeks, then the inventory management server 1 will generate a judgment result suggesting that the salesperson corresponding to that responsibility amount be updated.
[0042] The above is an example of how the inventory management system 100 in this embodiment implements the inventory management method.
[0043] In other embodiments, the client processing device 2 transmits a goods exchange request corresponding to a goods data item and including an exchange quantity to the inventory management server 1. The inventory management server 1 updates the liability amount of the inventory data associated with the goods data item corresponding to the goods exchange request based on the goods exchange request. When the company has sufficient inventory of the goods associated with the goods data item, but the salesperson has insufficient inventory of the goods associated with the goods data item, the salesperson can transmit the goods exchange request through the client processing device 2 to request goods from other salespersons.
[0044] In summary, the inventory management system 100, through the inventory management server 1, executes the roll-out procedure for each piece of individual sales forecast data generated by each user terminal processing device 2 to generate individual inventory management information. Furthermore, when one of the individual inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the corresponding product information can be purchased, the inventory management server 1 executes the roll-out procedure based on the overall sales forecast data to generate overall inventory management information. When the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the corresponding product information can be purchased, it means that the company's inventory of the goods related to that product information is insufficient; when the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the corresponding product information cannot be purchased, it means that the company's inventory of the goods related to that product information is sufficient. Sales personnel use the indications of the overall inventory management information to decide whether to place orders with suppliers, thereby effectively controlling the quantity of inventory, thus truly achieving the purpose of this new system.
[0045] However, the above description is merely an embodiment of this invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of implementation of this invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the contents of the patent specification shall still fall within the scope of this invention.
[0046] 100: Inventory Management System 1: Inventory Management Server 2: User-end processing device 3: Supplier shipping device S01~S07: Steps S11~S14: Steps
Claims
1. An inventory management system comprising: an inventory management server storing inventory data, lead times data, and delivery data, the inventory data including multiple inventory quantities related to multiple goods data, the lead times data including multiple required lead times related to goods data, and the delivery data including multiple expected arrival dates corresponding to different goods data; a plurality of client-side processing devices electrically connected to the inventory management server, each client-side processing device being operated by a salesperson to generate multiple personal sales forecast data corresponding to the salesperson, each sales forecast data corresponding to a customer data and a goods data and including multiple demand data corresponding to multiple weeks; the inventory management server executing a calculation program for each of the personal sales forecast data generated by each client-side processing device to generate multiple personal inventory management information corresponding to the sales forecast data, wherein... Each individual inventory management information entry indicates whether the goods associated with the corresponding goods information can be purchased. When one of the individual inventory management information entries indicates that the goods associated with the corresponding goods information can be purchased, the inventory management server, based on the individual sales forecast data generated by all client processing devices, generates an overall sales forecast corresponding to the goods information associated with one or more of the same goods information from the individual sales forecast data. The inventory management server executes the calculation procedure based on the overall sales forecast data to generate overall inventory management information corresponding to the overall sales forecast data, wherein the overall inventory management information entry indicates whether the goods associated with the corresponding goods information can be purchased.
2. The inventory management system as described in claim 1, wherein, The inventory management server receives shipment information from a supplier's shipping device and updates the estimated arrival date of the goods corresponding to the shipment information. The inventory management server then executes the recalculation process for each of the individual sales forecast data generated by each user terminal processing device to generate individual inventory management information.
3. The inventory management system as described in claim 1, wherein, Each inventory quantity also corresponds to one or more of the sales personnel and includes one or more liability amounts corresponding to each of the sales personnel; the client processing device transmits a goods exchange request corresponding to a goods data and including an exchange quantity to the inventory management server, and the inventory management server updates the liability amount of the inventory data related to the goods data corresponding to the goods exchange request based on the goods exchange request.
4. The inventory management system as described in claim 1, wherein, Each inventory quantity also corresponds to one or more of the sales personnel and includes one or more responsibility amounts corresponding to each of the sales personnel, and one or more in-stock times corresponding to each of the responsibility amounts; the inventory management server generates a judgment result based on the in-stock times, the overall inventory management information indication related to the same goods data, and the individual inventory management information, the judgment result indicating whether it is necessary to update the sales personnel corresponding to one or more of the responsibility amounts.
5. The inventory management system as described in claim 4, wherein, When the inventory management server determines that the overall inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the overall inventory management information cannot be purchased, and one of the individual inventory management information indicates that the goods related to the goods information corresponding to the individual inventory management information can be purchased, and the responsibility amount corresponding to the goods information is greater than a preset inventory quantity threshold, and the in-stock time corresponding to the responsibility amount corresponding to one of the individual inventory management information is greater than a preset inventory time threshold, the determination result indicates that it is recommended to update the sales personnel corresponding to the responsibility amount.