Supply Chain Plan Problem Tracking Across Cycles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current supply chain planning applications fail to account for the lifecycle of problems across planning cycles and the effects of corrective actions, leading to inadequate problem management and limited insight into root causes, especially over long periods.
Innovation Solution
A method that accesses and stores plan problem data across planning cycles, allowing for comparison and updating of problems, and automatically diagnoses root causes by simulating replans to identify critical constraints, providing a seamless integration of supply chain planning and execution management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If planners manually track and compare problems across planning cycles, then problem management completeness improves, but time consumption and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically performs problem tracking, comparison, and analysis across planning cycles without requiring manual planner intervention. The problem management system self-updates by comparing new plan problems against historical data, automatically identifying recurring problems and their root causes, thereby achieving complete problem management with minimal time investment from planners.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of problem tracking and comparison with an automated computational system. The system uses computer-implemented algorithms to automatically compare plan problems across cycles, identify patterns, and determine root causes, substituting human manual analysis with automated mechanical processing that is both faster and more complete.
2Productivity
If planners focus only on high-priority problems in each planning cycle, then immediate problem resolution improves, but recurring and long-term problems remain unaddressed
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by automatically comparing current plan problems with historical problems from previous planning cycles. This feedback mechanism identifies recurring problems and their root causes that span multiple cycles, ensuring that focusing on high-priority immediate problems does not cause loss of information about long-term recurring issues. The feedback loop provides planners with insights into problem patterns and effectiveness of corrective actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of plan problems by automatically comparing them against historical data before planners need to make decisions. This preliminary action identifies recurring problems and their root causes in advance, so when planners do address problems, they have complete information about both immediate and long-term issues, enabling more effective problem resolution.
3Speed
If planning sessions are held frequently to improve responsiveness, then problem detection speed increases, but the complexity of tracking and managing problems across cycles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The problem management system performs self-service by automatically comparing problems across multiple planning cycles without requiring additional manual effort from planners. Even as planning session frequency increases and more problems are generated, the system autonomously tracks, compares, and analyzes problems across cycles, maintaining simplicity while supporting high-speed frequent planning sessions.
4Reliability
If multiple planners are assigned to handle diverse plan problems, then problem coverage improves, but coordination complexity and operational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides self-service problem management by automatically identifying, tracking, and analyzing problems across planning cycles without requiring multiple planners to coordinate. The automated system handles the complexity of tracking diverse problems and their interrelationships, enabling comprehensive problem coverage while eliminating the coordination overhead that would arise from assigning multiple planners to different problems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing plan problems across planning cycles includes accessing a first plan generated in a first planning session of a first planning cycle, identifying one or more first plan problems reflected in the first plan, and storing and persisting plan problem data associated with the one or more first plan problems for access in one or more successive planning cycles. The method includes accessing a second plan generated in a second planning session of a second planning cycle subsequent to the first planning cycle, identifying one or more second plan problems reflected in the second plan, and comparing the one or more first plan problems identified for the first planning cycle with the one or more second plan problems identified for the second planning cycle. The method includes determining, for each second plan problem identified for the second planning cycle, whether the second plan problem corresponds to any first plan problem identified for the first planning cycle. The method includes updating the plan problem data for the corresponding first plan problem to reflect the identification of the second plan problem for the second planning cycle if a second plan problem identified for the second planning cycle corresponds to a first plan problem identified for the first planning cycle. The method includes storing and persisting plan problem data associated with the new plan problem for access in one or more successive planning cycles if a second plan problem identified for the second planning cycle is a new plan problem not corresponding to a first plan problem identified for the first planning cycle.