Component Inventory Allocation Using Parts Demand and Priority
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production planning system fails to account for components made up of multiple parts, leading to potential out-of-stock situations.
Innovation Solution
An inventory management method that calculates the inventory of components based on their parts, considering demand and priority to prevent stockouts by using a component configuration master and prioritizing parts allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the production planning system only tracks parts inventory without considering component-level assembly, then the inventory management is simple, but components may run out of stock even when individual parts are available
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments inventory tracking into two hierarchical levels: parts level (individual components) and assembly level (grouped components). The component configuration master file divides the bill of materials into parts information and component information, allowing separate tracking and management of each level to prevent stockouts while maintaining organized complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary allocation of parts to components based on the component configuration master before actual production demands arise. By pre-defining component compositions and allocating parts to components in advance, the system ensures component availability is secured proactively rather than reactively
2Reliability
If the system allocates parts without considering priority, then parts distribution is straightforward, but critical components may not receive sufficient parts during shortages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different priority levels to different components based on their criticality to production. The component configuration master includes priority information for each component, allowing the system to differentiate and allocate parts preferentially to high-priority components during shortages rather than treating all components equally
3Measurement precision
If production planning does not calculate component-level available supplies, then planning is faster, but accuracy of production scheduling deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculation of component available supplies by multiplying parts inventory by the component configuration ratios before production planning begins. This pre-calculation step ensures accurate component-level availability data is ready when needed for production scheduling, eliminating the need for time-consuming calculations during the planning process itself
Data Source
AI summary
An inventory management method includes: obtaining, by a computer, the number of parts in inventory that is the number in inventory for parts of a component constituting an object; obtaining, by the computer, demand information or demand and priority information of the object; and obtaining, by the computer, the number of available supplies of each of a plurality of the component based on a component configuration master indicating a correspondence relationship between the component and one or more of the parts, the demand information or demand and priority information, and the number of parts in inventory.