Order Quantity Determination Rounding Strategy

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for determining recommended order quantities of commodities fail to maintain consistency in total required quantities due to rounding up fractional parts, leading to significant variations in total order quantities across multiple commodities.

Innovation Solution

A device and method that determine recommended order quantities by selecting between rounded-up and rounded-down order quantities for each commodity based on the total required quantity of a commodity category, ensuring the total required quantity remains consistent.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If the fractional part of the required quantity is rounded up for each commodity, then the recommended order quantity conforms to the order unit, but the total order quantity varies significantly from the total required quantity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveorder quantity precisionVSAvoidtotal order quantity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the rounding process by commodity type, applying different rounding strategies (rounding up vs. rounding down) to different commodities within the same category based on their individual order units and fractional parts, rather than uniformly rounding all commodities

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the rounding parameter dynamically based on the order unit of each commodity and the fractional part of the required quantity, selecting between rounding up and rounding down to optimize the total order quantity while maintaining conformity to order units

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Measurement precision

If the required quantity is calculated in decimal units, then the calculation precision is improved, but the recommended order quantity must be converted to integer units

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverequired quantity precisionVSAvoidorder quantity precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary calculation of the required quantity in decimal units to achieve precise demand assessment, then applies rounding as a subsequent step to convert the precise decimal result into integer order quantities that conform to order units

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses the fractional part of the required quantity as an intermediary parameter to determine the optimal rounding strategy, where the fractional part serves as a basis for deciding whether to round up or down for each commodity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS11301805B2Recommended order quantity determining device, recommended order quantity determination method, and recommended order quantity determination program

Publication Date: 2022.04.12 NEC CORP

AI summary

A recommended order quantity determining device 80 includes a recommended order quantity determination unit 81. The recommended order quantity determination unit 81 determines a recommended order quantity of each commodity from a required quantity of the commodity expressed by a decimal, depending on an order unit of the commodity. The recommended order quantity determination unit 81 determines the recommended order quantity of each commodity, depending on a total required quantity of a commodity category including the commodity.