Patent Application
20070124217
The present invention relates to providing accurate information regarding available quantities for inventory items. In the business of tracking inventory items, notions of item availability vary greatly among users. For example, one view is that the quantity available for an item is the quantity “on hand,” i.e., in the warehouse. Another notion is that the quantity available is the on hand quantity minus quantity already committed, for example to pending sales or planned consumption in assembly creations. Thus, different inventory classes may make up the definition of quantity available for different users. However, existing tools require a user to conform to a predetermined definition of quantity available.
In addition, existing tools require the user to manually locate information about an item from different sources. For example, users of existing systems are required to embark on the time-intensive task of manually cross-referencing inventory lists, sales orders, purchase orders, and assembly lists to get the quantity available that best fits the user's definition. Thus, when using these tools the user must delay decisions, e.g., sales decisions, until a complete understanding of quantity available can be established, or make the decisions without complete quantity availability information.
In various embodiments, the present invention provides methods and systems for accessing and providing quantity availability information for inventory items The system includes a user interface for receiving user input and displaying quantity available information according to user preferences. The system and method allow the user to customize a quantity available definition and calculate quantity available for inventory items using the custom definition. The system dynamically updates the calculation as a result of changes to inventory classes making up the definition. The system also allows the user to enter new inventory items and track quantity information for inventory items.
The system provides numerous access points within inventory tracking software for displaying quantity available information to a user, which are made available when the user is most likely to need such information. Examples of access points include quotes, sales orders, purchase orders, and other inventory tracking forms. The system also provides multiple methods for triggering the display of quantity available information. For example, the user may hover, i.e., position a pointing device such as a mouse or a cursor over a link, over or click on an icon in a quantity field. In addition, the system provides multiple formats for the display. For example, a pop up or window may display minimal quantity available information, such as a total quantity available, or may display detailed information about the inventory classes and/or individual transactions going into the quantity available calculation.
The description in the specification is not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.
FIGS. 3B-C illustrate current availability windows of a user interface for providing quantity availability information for inventory items according to various embodiments of the present invention.
FIGS. 5A-C illustrate sales orders as examples of access points for providing quantity availability information for inventory items according to various embodiments of the present invention.
One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
To provide quantity availability information for inventory items to a user, input is received selecting one or more of a plurality of inventory classes to include in a quantity available calculation 120 for an inventory item, each class comprising a definition for a class metric;. If the method includes the preliminary step described above (110), the plurality of inventory classes can be those tracked as described above. In other embodiments, the plurality of inventory items may come from a separate source, for example internal or external data storage associated with various business transactions. The method as described focuses on a single inventory item; however, in one embodiment the process is performed for each inventory item that exists in the system.
In one embodiment, the plurality of inventory classes include quantity on hand, quantity on sales orders, quantity reserved for assemblies, quantity on purchase orders, and quantity on pending builds. The one or more of the plurality of inventory classes in one embodiment includes all of the plurality. In one embodiment selection of the one or more of the plurality is via user-selected preferences, e.g., a user interface screen is one means for this purpose. An example of a preferences screen 400 for this purpose is described in conjunction with
The quantity available is calculated 130 for the inventory item. In one embodiment the calculation adds the values of the one or more of the plurality of classes using a class metric definition for the classes selected as described above to come up with a total quantity available. In one embodiment, the quantity available calculation 130 is updated dynamically as changes occur in the metrics as defined by of the various inventory classes associated with the inventory item. The ability to dynamically update the quantity available data allows the user to always see the most current information, even after modifying the various metrics during the same session.
Input is then received requesting the quantity available for the inventory item 140. The request for quantity available takes various forms. In one embodiment, the request takes the form of a user click on an icon on a user interface associated with an inventory item quantity. For example, the icon may appear at various access points within a software application such as a quote, sales order, purchase order, or other forms associated with inventory tracking. In one embodiment, the icon appears only after a user enters an inventory item into a field and then tabs or clicks into a quantity column. In one embodiment, a portion of a user interface is one means for receiving the input. An example of this request is described in conjunction with
In another embodiment, the request is input by a user by hovering over an activated portion of a form associated with inventory tracking. For example, after a user enters an inventory item into a field, hovering over a quantity area of the form displays the quantity available information without clicking. An example of this request is described in conjunction with
In yet another embodiment, the request is implied as a result of entering a greater quantity than available. For example, when a user enters, e.g., via a form associated with inventory tracking, a quantity for an item exceeding the quantity available, a warning is displayed. The warning includes a details button that when clicked will provide quantity available information. An example of this request is described in conjunction with
Following any of the above-described requests, or another manner of request according to embodiments of the present invention, the quantity available is displayed 150 to the user for the inventory item. The display may take various forms. In one embodiment, the display is in the form of a tool tip, modal or non-modal window, or pop up displaying the total quantity available. An example of this type of display is shown in
The user computer 205 is of conventional design, and includes a processor, an addressable memory, and other conventional features (not illustrated) such as a display, local memory, input/output ports, and a network interface. In other embodiments one or more of the components of the user computer 205 may be located remotely and accessed via a network. The network interface and a network communication protocol provide access to a network and other computers, such as other user computers 205 or third party computers 215, along with access to the Internet, via a TCP/IP type connection, or to other network embodiments, such as a LAN, a WAN, a MAN, a wired or wireless network, a private network, a virtual private network, or other networks. In various embodiments the user computer 205 may be implemented on a computer running a Microsoft operating system, Mac OS, various flavors of Linux, UNIX, Palm OS, and/or other operating systems.
The third party computers 215, if present, also may be computer systems, similar to the user computer described above. For example, one embodiment of a third party computer 215 is a financial institution computer system. In this embodiment, the user software application 220 described herein may be a financial management software package capable of communicating with the financial institution computer system to access information from pre-existing user accounts (e.g., obtain account balances to determine available funds), and provide payment instructions for making payments to vendors.
The user computer 205 includes a software application 220, data store 225, and data cache 230. The software application 220 is comprised of a number of executable code portions and data files. These include code for creating and supporting a user interface 240 according to one embodiment of the present invention, as well as for supporting a method of providing quantity availability information for inventory items. In other embodiments, the software application 220 can be implemented as a stand-alone application outside of a financial management software package.
The software application 220 is responsible for orchestrating the processes performed according to the methods of the present invention. The software application 220 includes a metric selection module 245, a calculation module 250, a request module 255, a display module 260, and a tracking module 265 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The metric selection module 245 enables the system 200 to receive input selecting one or more of a plurality of inventory classes to include in a quantity available calculation for an inventory item, and is one means for so doing, as recited in the claims. In one embodiment selection of the one or more of the plurality is via user-selected preferences, e.g., by way of a user interface screen for this purpose.
The calculation module 250 enables the system 200 to calculate quantity available for the inventory item using the one or more of the plurality of inventory classes, and is one means for so doing, as recited in the claims. In one embodiment, the quantity available calculation is updated dynamically as changes occur in the values of the various inventory classes associated with the inventory item.
The request module 255 enables the system 200 to receive input triggering a request for the quantity available for the inventory item, and is one means for so doing, as recited in the claims. In one embodiment, the request is via a user click on an icon on a user interface associated with an inventory item quantity. In another embodiment, the request is by way of a user hovering over an activated portion of a form associated with inventory tracking. In yet another embodiment, the request is as a result of entering a greater quantity than available.
The display module 260 enables the system 200 to displaying the quantity available for the inventory item, and is one means for so doing, as recited in the claims. In one embodiment, the display is in the form of a tool tip, modal or non-modal window, or pop up displaying the total quantity available. In another embodiment, the display includes the inventory classes going into the calculation in addition to the total quantity available, displayed either as a window or a pop up. In yet another embodiment, greater detail about the quantity available calculation, inventory classes, and transactions associated with the metrics also are included in the display.
The tracking module 265 enables the system 200 to track the plurality of inventory classes for the inventory item, and is one means for so doing, as recited in the claims. In one embodiment, a running list is kept of the tracked inventory items.
The above software portions 245-265 need not be discrete software modules. The software configuration shown is meant only by way of example; other configurations are contemplated by and within the scope of the present invention.
The software application 220 may be provided to the user computer 205 on a computer readable media, or by electronic communication over the network 210 from one of the third party computers 215 or other distributors of software, for installation and execution thereon. Alternatively, the software application 220, data store 225, and data cache 230 can be hosted on a server computer, and accessed over the network 210 by the user, using for example a browser interface to the software application 220.
The data store 225 may be a relational database or any other type of database that stores the data used by the software application 220, for example account information in the financial management application embodiment referenced above. In another embodiment, the data includes inventory classes as described herein. The data store 225 may be accessible by the software application 220 through the user interface 240. Some data from the data store 225 may be added to the data cache 230 upon initialization of the software application 220. The software application 220 and the data store 225 may be stored and operated on a single computer or on separate computer systems communicating with each other through a network 210.
The data cache 230 is a standard cache of small, fast memory holding recently accessed data. The data cache 230 may include, for example, an inventory item list according to one embodiment of the present invention.
One skilled in the art will recognize that the system architecture illustrated in
User Interface Control
In the embodiment shown in
The quote page 305 includes a header 310 and a data area 315. The header 310 allows a user to enter customer and job information, address, date, quote number, and other administrative data related to the quote. The data area 315 includes rows of items 320 included in the quote. For each item, columns designate an item name 325, description 330, quantity 335, class 340, and total 345, e.g., a total cost. In one embodiment, the rows and columns of the data area 315 are resizable to grow when the quote 305 is resized. In addition, scroll bars appear if the number of rows exceeds available space in the data area 315. The various column 325-345 headers are sortable according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the user can interact with the columns and window according to known interaction techniques for window-based operating systems. For example, the user can drag edges to change the height and width; minimize, delete, and maximize; reposition/rearrange windows on the canvas by dragging the window title bar; drag the column margins to resize column width; and change the column arrangement.
In one embodiment, when a user enters an item 320 and tabs or clicks into the quantity column 335, an icon 350 appears in the quantity column 335. In one embodiment, the icon 350 appears only if the item 320 entered is an inventory item, i.e., an inventory part or assembly, but not if the item 320 is a non-inventory item or no item 320 is entered. Inventory items in one embodiment are items that one would buy, make, sell, harvest, or mine, whereas non-inventory items include are items for which an availability count is not usually kept, such as services or miscellaneous charges. The icon 350 allows the system to receive user input triggering a request for the quantity available for the inventory item. Clicking the icon 350 instructs the system to calculate quantity available for the inventory item 320 using various inventory classes and display quantity available to the user.
Upon clicking the icon 350, a current availability window 355 opens.
In one embodiment, if the user enters in the item name field 360 an item that is not an inventory or assembly item, an error message will appear. One such error message 705 is shown in
Referring again to
In one embodiment, users also may access detailed quantity available information for all items via an item list page 905, such as shown in
As the user enters additional quantities for items 320, the quantity available information updates for each item, respectively. The current availability window 355 also displays a show details button 380. In one embodiment, clicking the show details button 380 expands the current availability window 355.
An expanded current availability window 355* is shown in
In one embodiment, the show details selector 392 allows the user to choose what information to display in the transaction detail area 394, e.g., via a drop-down list. The default value of the show details selector 392 is purchase orders for inventory items 320 and sales orders for assembly items in one embodiment. The state of the show details selector 392 is persistent across, sessions in one embodiment, such that if the user selects sales orders in the show details selector 392, the next time the user accesses the expanded current availability window 355* the default value for the show details selector 392 will be sales orders. In addition, when a user selects a different transaction type from the show details selector 392, the expanded current availability window 355* refreshes to display corresponding information in the transaction detail area 394 according to one embodiment.
The transaction detail area 394 includes a transaction type number column 396, a date column 397, a customer name column 398, and a quantity column 399 in one embodiment. The transaction type number column 396 displays a header listing the transaction type selected from the show details selector 392 and lists rows of numbers of transactions corresponding to that transaction type. For example,
In one embodiment, the date column 397 displays a date corresponding to the transaction number displayed in the transaction type number column 396 of the same row. The customer name column 398 displays a customer name corresponding to the transaction number displayed in the transaction type number column 396 of the same row in one embodiment. The quantity column 399 displays, in one embodiment, a quantity of items corresponding to the transaction number displayed in the transaction type number column 396 of the same row. In other embodiments, the columns of the transaction detail area 394 comprise different column types, arrangements, and displays.
In one embodiment, the rows and columns of the transaction detail area 394 are resizable to grow when the expanded current availability window 355* is resized. In addition, scroll bars appear if the number of transactions exceeds available space in the transaction detail area 396. The various column 396-399 headers are sortable according to one embodiment. In addition, in one embodiment the individual transactions listed in the transaction detail area clickable. Clicking any row of a transaction opens a new window with additional details about the transaction.
The hide details button 390 reduces the expanded current availability window 355* to the standard current availability window 355 shown in
In other embodiments, other methods and formats for displaying quantity available information are used. For example,
The quantity available pop up 555 displays quantity availability information for the selected inventory item 320. Quantity available can be defined by the user via a preferences screen 400, which is described in greater detail in conjunction with
The quantity available pop up 555 displays quantity availability information for the selected inventory item 320. Quantity available can be defined by various inventory classes by the user via a preferences screen 400, which is described in greater detail in conjunction with
Referring again to
In another embodiment, a similar warning 625 includes a details button 635, as shown in
The quantity available preferences checkbox 410 allows the user to include or exclude certain metrics from the quantity available calculation. In one embodiment, the metrics include inventory classes. In one embodiment, the quantity available preferences checkbox 410 activates sub-checkboxes including a pending builds checkbox 420 and a sales orders checkbox 425. The pending builds checkbox 420, when checked, means that inventory items 320 that have been reserved for pending builds will be considered in the quantity available calculation, i.e., will be subtracted, and thus will appear in the quantity available area 370 of the current availability window 355. If the pending builds checkbox 420 is not checked, pending build information will not be included in the quantity available calculation and thus will be absent from the quantity available area 370. Likewise, the sales orders checkbox 425, when checked, means that inventory items 320 that have been reserved via sales orders will be considered in the quantity available calculation, i.e., will be subtracted, and thus will appear in the quantity available area 370 of the current availability window 355. If the sales orders checkbox 425 is not checked, sales order information will not be included in the quantity available calculation and thus will be absent from the quantity available area 370. In other embodiments, other metrics of a quantity available calculation may be included as checkboxes for selection by the user.
The warning preferences checkbox 415 allows the user to select from scenarios in which a warning will appear to the user, e.g., the warning 625 described in conjunction with
Workflow
Referring again to
The quantity available calculation includes various inventory classes as defined via a preferences screen 400 as shown in
Clicking the icon 350 opens a current availability window, e.g., 355 and 355* as shown in
Referring again to
The present invention has been described in particular detail with respect to one possible embodiment. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments. First, the particular naming of the components, capitalization of terms, the attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names, formats, or protocols. Further, the system may be implemented via a combination of hardware and software, as described, or entirely in hardware elements. Also, the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely exemplary, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components, and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component.
Some portions of above description present the features of the present invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or by functional names, without loss of generality.
Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
Certain aspects of the present invention include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the present invention could be embodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems.
The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium that can be accessed by the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.
The algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those of skill in the, along with equivalent variations. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein, and any references to specific languages are provided for invention of enablement and best mode of the present invention.
The present invention is well suited to a wide variety of computer network systems over numerous topologies. Within this field, the configuration and management of large networks comprise storage devices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computers and storage devices over a network, such as the Internet.
Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
