A manufacturer typically receives orders for different products from multiple customers. These orders may identify a quantity of each product ordered and a date by which each product should be delivered. Using these orders, the manufacturer typically engages in a task called “master production scheduling,” during which the manufacturer determines which products to produce during a particular production period, how much of each product to produce during that production period, and when during that production period each product will be produced. For example, the schedule might specify that the manufacturer will produce one thousand units of a first product during each of the first and third days of a production period and two thousand units of a second product during each of the second, fourth, and fifth days of the production period. A problem with conventional techniques is that the schedule typically fails to identify which product orders correspond to the products being produced during the production period. Using the above example, six customers may have ordered the second product, but the schedule fails to identify which customer or customers will receive the product produced on the second day of the production period. As a result, customers may be unable to learn when the manufacturer will produce products for their particular order or orders, and the manufacturer may be unaware of which customer's order it is filling at any given time.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds