Buyer-side consolidation of compatible purchase orders
US008655736B2
(12) United States Patent
(10) Patent N0.: (45) Date of Patent:
Bharadwaj et a1. (54)
Feb. 18, 2014
BUYER-SIDE CONSOLIDATION OF
6,970,825 B1
COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDERS
7,222,087 B1 *
5/2007
7,668,727 B2 * 7,720,712 B1* 7,792,705 B2 *
2/2010 Mitchell et al. 5/2010 Allocca et al. 9/2010 BeZos et al.
(75) Inventors: Suresh P. BharadWaj, Frisco, TX (US);
Sumesh George, Bangalore (IN); Hariharan Noorani, Bangalore (IN)
(73) Assignee: Infosys Limited, Bangalore (IN) (*)
US 8,655,736 B2
Notice:
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35
11/2005 Altendahl et al. BeZos et al.
............. .. 705/26.81
2002/0049622 A1 *
4/2002
2002/0055831 A1 2002/0065642 A1 2002/0111785 A1
5/2002 SWoboda 5/2002 SWoboda 8/2002 SWoboda et al.
2003/0037034 A1*
2/2003
2003/0097287 A1
5/2003 FranZ et al.
2004/0153379 A1*
8/2004
705/330 .. 705/27.1 705/26.81
Lettich et al. ................... .. 705/7
Daniels et al. .................. .. 707/1
Joyce et al. ................... .. 705/28
(Continued)
U.S.C. 154(b) by 1029 days.
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
(21) Appl. No.: 11/965,717 WO
(22) Filed: (65)
(30)
(52)
Before They Occur?” SETLabs Brie?ngs, vol. 5, No. 3, Jul.-Sep. 2007, pp. 63-70.
(Continued)
(IN) ......................... .. 1215/CHE/2007
Int. Cl. G06Q 30/00 G06Q 10/00
....................................... .. 705/26.1; 705/7.26
Field of Classi?cation Search USPC .............................. .. 705/26i27, 26.14272, 7
See application ?le for complete search history. (56)
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,960,411 A * 6,167,378 A *
9/1995 Lu et a1. 9/1998 Svoronos et al. 9/1999 Hartman et al. ......... .. 705/2681 12/2000 Webber, Jr. ................ .. 705/725
6,529,797 B2
3/2003 Williams et al.
6,615,226 B1* 6,907,315 B1*
9/2003 6/2005
Hartman et al. ............ .. 715/205 Hartman et al. ............ .. 700/216
‘ Vendor
El Warehouse
(57) ABSTRACT Systems and methods of buyer-side consolidation of compat ible purchase orders are described herein. Purchase orders
can be identi?ed for consolidation using spatial and temporal proximity parameters. Purchase orders can be modi?ed by changing a ship date or a delivery date and the changing can be based on a buyer input. Shipments can be consolidated based on the purchase order modi?cations and less than
References Cited
5,450,317 A 5,802,161 A
Primary Examiner * Jason Dunham Assistant Examiner * Ethan D Civan
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Klarquist Sparkman, LLP
(2012.01) (2012.01)
U.S. Cl. USPC
(58)
Bharadwaj et al., “Can Transportation Costs be Stemmed Even
Dec. 18, 2008
Foreign Application Priority Data
Jun. 12,2007
7/2003
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Prior Publication Data US 2008/0312991A1
(51)
WO/03/032227
Dec. 27, 2007
@ Store
truckload shipments can be reduced. Consolidated shipments can be associated With different requested delivery dates, different suppliers, and/or different buyers. Buyer-side con solidation of compatible purchase orders can occur before purchase orders are processed by a transportation manage ment system.
25 Claims, 27 Drawing Sheets
US 8,655,736 B2 Page 2 (56)
Bharadwaj et al., “Supply Chain TransformationiLogistics Optimi
References Cited
zation (Improve your odds with Infosys Predictability),” PowerPoint U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 2004/0193502 A1 2005/0086153 A1 2006/0036507 A1
9/2004 Heitner et al. 4/2005 Scott
2006/0129462 A1*
6/2006
2006/0173749 A1*
8/2006 Ward et a1. ..
presentation, emailed to two client representatives on Jun. 26, 2006, and discussed via telephone conference between the two client rep resentatives and three Infosys employees on Jun. 28, 2006, 14 pages.
2/2006 Pujar et al. Panklet a1. ................... .. 705/26
2006/0287926 A1* 12/2006 Mitchell et a1.
Bharadwaj et al., “Supply Chain Transformation SolutioniLogis tics Optimization (Win in the ?at world),” PowerPoint presentation
705/26
provided to a Gartner analyst (Dwight Klappich) on May 9, 2007, 15
705/26
pages.
2007/0061222 A1*
3/2007
.. 705/26
Email from Suresh Prahlad Bharadwaj sent on May 9, 2007, to
2007/0106570 A1*
5/2007 Hartman et al.
705/26
2007/0106781 A1* 2008/0004982 A1* 2009/0030770 A1*
5/2007 Hancock et al. 1/2008 Bezos et al. 1/2009 Hersh et al. .
. 709/223 .. 705/26 705/9
[email protected], RE: Higher Freight Costs Increase Need for Transportation Management Solutions, with the PowerPoint presentation “Supply Chain Transformation Solutioni Logistics Optimization” attached when emailed, 2 pages.
2010/0185532 A1* 2010/0274610 A1*
7/2010 10/2010
Allocca et a1. .
Allocca et al. ................ .. 705/27 Andersen et al. ............... .. 705/8
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Bharadwaj et al., “Infosys Supply Chain Transformation Solutions,”
“HighJump Transportation Advantage: On-Demand Transportation Management,” HighJump Software, 2007, 12 pages. Klappich, “Higher Freight Costs Increase Need for Transportation Management Solutions,” Gartner, Jan. 2006, 5 pages. “Transportation Management,” Manhattan Associates, 2006, 6
Infosys White Papers, Nov. 2007, 10 pages. Bharadwaj et al., “Leveraging Internal Visibility to Reduce Item Landed Costs,” Infosys White Papers, Nov. 2007, 10 pages. Bharadwaj, “Never Pay Retail,” APICS Magazine, Jan. 2007, pp.
pages.
40-42.
* cited by examiner
“Information Delivers,” Oracle, 2006, 12 pages. “The E2e Advantage,” RedPrairie, 2008, 8 pages.
US. Patent
Feb. 18,2014
Sheet 1 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
BUYERAGENT
BUYERAGENT
11_0
E
PURCHASE ORDERS
PURCHASE ORDERS
M
1i
PURCHASE ORDER RECORD PROCESSOR
E
RECORDS
E
CONSOLIDATED PURCHASE ORDERS
E
100
| | TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT 1 SYSTEM | E9 |
l | | | |
FIG. 1
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 2 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 200
/
RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
L22
MODIFY AT LEAST ONE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD
&
FIG. 2
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 3 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
BUYER AGENT
BUYER AGENT
m
m PURCHASE ORDERS
E SUGGESTED MODIFICATION
PURCHASE ORDERS SUGGESTED
m
MODIFICATION
E
& FEEDBACK
FEEDBACK
iii
w
PRE-PROCESSOR
Q59
RECORDS
@
MODIFIED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
5B 300
I I | TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT I | SYSTEM |
I I
_3_§Q
I I
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 4 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 400
/ RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER(S) FROM BUYER
AGENT(S) M
I PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORD(S) AND
GENERATE SUGGESTED MODIFICATION(S) TO PURCHASE ORDER RECORD(S)
@
I PROVIDE THE BUYER AGENT(S) WITH THE
SUGGESTED MODIFICATION(S)
@
I RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM BUYER AGENTS(S) REGARDING THE SUGGESTED MODIFICATION(S)
£12
I MODIFY THE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD(S) BASED ON THE FEEDBACK
£9
FIG. 4
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 6 6f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
600
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
LOGISTICS PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM
QZQ PROCESS PARAMETERS
E
MODIFIED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
w
FIG. 6
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 7 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
700
/
RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
l APPLY PROCESS PARAMETERS TO THE
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS TO DETERMINE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
12_0
MODIFY AT LEAST ONE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD
ZlQ
FIG. 7
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 8 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 800
/ RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS FROM A BUYER
.819
I IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
RECEIVE AUTHORIZATION FROM THE BUYER TO MODIFY A COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD
?iQ
MODIFY THE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD BASED ON THE AUTHORIZATION
w
FIG. 8
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 9 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
(O (.0 O | U
(0 N
Elm
FIG. 9
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 10 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1000
DATE —2
DATE —1
DATE -0
DATE +1
DATE +2
BUYER 1
BUYER2
1010
DATE -2
DATE -1
DATE -0
DATE +1
DATE +2
BUYER 1
BUYER2
FIG. 10
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 11 0127
US 8,655,736 B2 1100
/
PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS FOR BACKHAUL OPPORTUNITIES 11 10
I PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS ACCORDING TO SPATIAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
1122
I PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS ACCORDING TO TEMPORAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
@
FIG. 11
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 12 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1200
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS 1210
BACKHAUL PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM
@ PROCESS PARAMETERS
STORE DELIVERY
LOAD BU||_D|NG PROCESSOR
123g
SCHEDULES
E
E9
MODIFIED DELIVERY
SCHEDULES 1260
FIG. 12
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 13 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 1300
/ SELECT A STORE AND A CORRESPONDING DELIVERY SCHEDULE 1310
I COMPARE THE SELECTED DELIVERY SCHEDULE WITH STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
M
I IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON THE COMPARING 1330
I DETERMINE WHETHER REQUESTED DATES OF COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS CAN BE CHANGED
1250
I BASED ON THE DETERMINING, CHANGE THE REQUESTED DATE OF THE COMPATIBLE RECORD TO BE THE DELIVERY DATE OF THE STORE
E50
FIG. 13
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 14 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1400
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS 1410
PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM 1420
SPATIAL PROCESS PARAMETERS 1430
LOAD BUILDING PROCESSOR 1440
CONSOLIDATED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
l‘?
FIG. 14
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 15 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 1500
SELECT A PURCHASE ORDER RECORD TO BE A PRIMARY RECORD 1510
PROCESS THE PRIMARY RECORD AND STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS USING A SPATIAL PROCESS PARAMETER 152D
IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON THE PROCESSING 1530
CONSOLIDATE ONE OR MORE OF THE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS AND THE PRIMARY RECORD
l??
FIG. 15
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 16 6f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1600
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS 1610
PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM 1620
TEMPORAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
LOAD BUILDING PROCESSOR 1640
1630
—
SUGGESTED PURCHASE ORDER RECORD MODIFICATIONS
1i
FIG. 16
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 17 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1700
SELECTA PURCHASE ORDER RECORD TO BE A PRIMARY RECORD 1710
I PROCESS THE PRIMARY RECORD AND STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS USING PROCESS PARAMETERS
£22
I IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON THE PROCESSING 1730
I DETERMINE WHETHER REQUESTED DATES OF COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS CAN BE CHANGED
1H1
I BASED ON THE DETERMINING, CHANGE A REQUESTED DATE OF A COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD TO BE A REQUESTED DATE OF THE PRIMARY RECORD 1750
FIG. 17
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 18 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 1800
SELECT A FIRST PURCHASE ORDER RECORD HAVING A FIRST TARGET SHIP DATE 1810
I PROCESS STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON TEMPORAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
m
GENERATE A SUGGESTED TARGET SHIP DATE
BASED ON THE PROCESSING 1830
I PROVIDE A USER WITH THE SUGGESTED TARGET SHIP DATE 1840
I CHANGE THE FIRST TARGET SHIP DATE TO THE SUGGESTED TARGET SHIP DATE 1850
FIG. 18
(12) United States Patent
(10) Patent N0.: (45) Date of Patent:
Bharadwaj et a1. (54)
Feb. 18, 2014
BUYER-SIDE CONSOLIDATION OF
6,970,825 B1
COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDERS
7,222,087 B1 *
5/2007
7,668,727 B2 * 7,720,712 B1* 7,792,705 B2 *
2/2010 Mitchell et al. 5/2010 Allocca et al. 9/2010 BeZos et al.
(75) Inventors: Suresh P. BharadWaj, Frisco, TX (US);
Sumesh George, Bangalore (IN); Hariharan Noorani, Bangalore (IN)
(73) Assignee: Infosys Limited, Bangalore (IN) (*)
US 8,655,736 B2
Notice:
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35
11/2005 Altendahl et al. BeZos et al.
............. .. 705/26.81
2002/0049622 A1 *
4/2002
2002/0055831 A1 2002/0065642 A1 2002/0111785 A1
5/2002 SWoboda 5/2002 SWoboda 8/2002 SWoboda et al.
2003/0037034 A1*
2/2003
2003/0097287 A1
5/2003 FranZ et al.
2004/0153379 A1*
8/2004
705/330 .. 705/27.1 705/26.81
Lettich et al. ................... .. 705/7
Daniels et al. .................. .. 707/1
Joyce et al. ................... .. 705/28
(Continued)
U.S.C. 154(b) by 1029 days.
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
(21) Appl. No.: 11/965,717 WO
(22) Filed: (65)
(30)
(52)
Before They Occur?” SETLabs Brie?ngs, vol. 5, No. 3, Jul.-Sep. 2007, pp. 63-70.
(Continued)
(IN) ......................... .. 1215/CHE/2007
Int. Cl. G06Q 30/00 G06Q 10/00
....................................... .. 705/26.1; 705/7.26
Field of Classi?cation Search USPC .............................. .. 705/26i27, 26.14272, 7
See application ?le for complete search history. (56)
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,960,411 A * 6,167,378 A *
9/1995 Lu et a1. 9/1998 Svoronos et al. 9/1999 Hartman et al. ......... .. 705/2681 12/2000 Webber, Jr. ................ .. 705/725
6,529,797 B2
3/2003 Williams et al.
6,615,226 B1* 6,907,315 B1*
9/2003 6/2005
Hartman et al. ............ .. 715/205 Hartman et al. ............ .. 700/216
‘ Vendor
El Warehouse
(57) ABSTRACT Systems and methods of buyer-side consolidation of compat ible purchase orders are described herein. Purchase orders
can be identi?ed for consolidation using spatial and temporal proximity parameters. Purchase orders can be modi?ed by changing a ship date or a delivery date and the changing can be based on a buyer input. Shipments can be consolidated based on the purchase order modi?cations and less than
References Cited
5,450,317 A 5,802,161 A
Primary Examiner * Jason Dunham Assistant Examiner * Ethan D Civan
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Klarquist Sparkman, LLP
(2012.01) (2012.01)
U.S. Cl. USPC
(58)
Bharadwaj et al., “Can Transportation Costs be Stemmed Even
Dec. 18, 2008
Foreign Application Priority Data
Jun. 12,2007
7/2003
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Prior Publication Data US 2008/0312991A1
(51)
WO/03/032227
Dec. 27, 2007
@ Store
truckload shipments can be reduced. Consolidated shipments can be associated With different requested delivery dates, different suppliers, and/or different buyers. Buyer-side con solidation of compatible purchase orders can occur before purchase orders are processed by a transportation manage ment system.
25 Claims, 27 Drawing Sheets
US 8,655,736 B2 Page 2 (56)
Bharadwaj et al., “Supply Chain TransformationiLogistics Optimi
References Cited
zation (Improve your odds with Infosys Predictability),” PowerPoint U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 2004/0193502 A1 2005/0086153 A1 2006/0036507 A1
9/2004 Heitner et al. 4/2005 Scott
2006/0129462 A1*
6/2006
2006/0173749 A1*
8/2006 Ward et a1. ..
presentation, emailed to two client representatives on Jun. 26, 2006, and discussed via telephone conference between the two client rep resentatives and three Infosys employees on Jun. 28, 2006, 14 pages.
2/2006 Pujar et al. Panklet a1. ................... .. 705/26
2006/0287926 A1* 12/2006 Mitchell et a1.
Bharadwaj et al., “Supply Chain Transformation SolutioniLogis tics Optimization (Win in the ?at world),” PowerPoint presentation
705/26
provided to a Gartner analyst (Dwight Klappich) on May 9, 2007, 15
705/26
pages.
2007/0061222 A1*
3/2007
.. 705/26
Email from Suresh Prahlad Bharadwaj sent on May 9, 2007, to
2007/0106570 A1*
5/2007 Hartman et al.
705/26
2007/0106781 A1* 2008/0004982 A1* 2009/0030770 A1*
5/2007 Hancock et al. 1/2008 Bezos et al. 1/2009 Hersh et al. .
. 709/223 .. 705/26 705/9
[email protected], RE: Higher Freight Costs Increase Need for Transportation Management Solutions, with the PowerPoint presentation “Supply Chain Transformation Solutioni Logistics Optimization” attached when emailed, 2 pages.
2010/0185532 A1* 2010/0274610 A1*
7/2010 10/2010
Allocca et a1. .
Allocca et al. ................ .. 705/27 Andersen et al. ............... .. 705/8
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Bharadwaj et al., “Infosys Supply Chain Transformation Solutions,”
“HighJump Transportation Advantage: On-Demand Transportation Management,” HighJump Software, 2007, 12 pages. Klappich, “Higher Freight Costs Increase Need for Transportation Management Solutions,” Gartner, Jan. 2006, 5 pages. “Transportation Management,” Manhattan Associates, 2006, 6
Infosys White Papers, Nov. 2007, 10 pages. Bharadwaj et al., “Leveraging Internal Visibility to Reduce Item Landed Costs,” Infosys White Papers, Nov. 2007, 10 pages. Bharadwaj, “Never Pay Retail,” APICS Magazine, Jan. 2007, pp.
pages.
40-42.
* cited by examiner
“Information Delivers,” Oracle, 2006, 12 pages. “The E2e Advantage,” RedPrairie, 2008, 8 pages.
US. Patent
Feb. 18,2014
Sheet 1 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
BUYERAGENT
BUYERAGENT
11_0
E
PURCHASE ORDERS
PURCHASE ORDERS
M
1i
PURCHASE ORDER RECORD PROCESSOR
E
RECORDS
E
CONSOLIDATED PURCHASE ORDERS
E
100
| | TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT 1 SYSTEM | E9 |
l | | | |
FIG. 1
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 2 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 200
/
RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
L22
MODIFY AT LEAST ONE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD
&
FIG. 2
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 3 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
BUYER AGENT
BUYER AGENT
m
m PURCHASE ORDERS
E SUGGESTED MODIFICATION
PURCHASE ORDERS SUGGESTED
m
MODIFICATION
E
& FEEDBACK
FEEDBACK
iii
w
PRE-PROCESSOR
Q59
RECORDS
@
MODIFIED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
5B 300
I I | TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT I | SYSTEM |
I I
_3_§Q
I I
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 4 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 400
/ RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER(S) FROM BUYER
AGENT(S) M
I PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORD(S) AND
GENERATE SUGGESTED MODIFICATION(S) TO PURCHASE ORDER RECORD(S)
@
I PROVIDE THE BUYER AGENT(S) WITH THE
SUGGESTED MODIFICATION(S)
@
I RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM BUYER AGENTS(S) REGARDING THE SUGGESTED MODIFICATION(S)
£12
I MODIFY THE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD(S) BASED ON THE FEEDBACK
£9
FIG. 4
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 6 6f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
600
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
LOGISTICS PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM
QZQ PROCESS PARAMETERS
E
MODIFIED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
w
FIG. 6
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 7 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
700
/
RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
l APPLY PROCESS PARAMETERS TO THE
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS TO DETERMINE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
12_0
MODIFY AT LEAST ONE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD
ZlQ
FIG. 7
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 8 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 800
/ RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS FROM A BUYER
.819
I IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
m
RECEIVE AUTHORIZATION FROM THE BUYER TO MODIFY A COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD
?iQ
MODIFY THE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD BASED ON THE AUTHORIZATION
w
FIG. 8
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 9 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
(O (.0 O | U
(0 N
Elm
FIG. 9
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 10 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1000
DATE —2
DATE —1
DATE -0
DATE +1
DATE +2
BUYER 1
BUYER2
1010
DATE -2
DATE -1
DATE -0
DATE +1
DATE +2
BUYER 1
BUYER2
FIG. 10
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 11 0127
US 8,655,736 B2 1100
/
PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS FOR BACKHAUL OPPORTUNITIES 11 10
I PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS ACCORDING TO SPATIAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
1122
I PROCESS PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS ACCORDING TO TEMPORAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
@
FIG. 11
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 12 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1200
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS 1210
BACKHAUL PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM
@ PROCESS PARAMETERS
STORE DELIVERY
LOAD BU||_D|NG PROCESSOR
123g
SCHEDULES
E
E9
MODIFIED DELIVERY
SCHEDULES 1260
FIG. 12
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 13 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 1300
/ SELECT A STORE AND A CORRESPONDING DELIVERY SCHEDULE 1310
I COMPARE THE SELECTED DELIVERY SCHEDULE WITH STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
M
I IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON THE COMPARING 1330
I DETERMINE WHETHER REQUESTED DATES OF COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS CAN BE CHANGED
1250
I BASED ON THE DETERMINING, CHANGE THE REQUESTED DATE OF THE COMPATIBLE RECORD TO BE THE DELIVERY DATE OF THE STORE
E50
FIG. 13
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 14 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1400
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS 1410
PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM 1420
SPATIAL PROCESS PARAMETERS 1430
LOAD BUILDING PROCESSOR 1440
CONSOLIDATED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS
l‘?
FIG. 14
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 15 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 1500
SELECT A PURCHASE ORDER RECORD TO BE A PRIMARY RECORD 1510
PROCESS THE PRIMARY RECORD AND STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS USING A SPATIAL PROCESS PARAMETER 152D
IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON THE PROCESSING 1530
CONSOLIDATE ONE OR MORE OF THE COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS AND THE PRIMARY RECORD
l??
FIG. 15
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 16 6f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1600
PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS 1610
PRE-PROCESSING SYSTEM 1620
TEMPORAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
LOAD BUILDING PROCESSOR 1640
1630
—
SUGGESTED PURCHASE ORDER RECORD MODIFICATIONS
1i
FIG. 16
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 17 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2
1700
SELECTA PURCHASE ORDER RECORD TO BE A PRIMARY RECORD 1710
I PROCESS THE PRIMARY RECORD AND STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS USING PROCESS PARAMETERS
£22
I IDENTIFY COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON THE PROCESSING 1730
I DETERMINE WHETHER REQUESTED DATES OF COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS CAN BE CHANGED
1H1
I BASED ON THE DETERMINING, CHANGE A REQUESTED DATE OF A COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDER RECORD TO BE A REQUESTED DATE OF THE PRIMARY RECORD 1750
FIG. 17
US. Patent
Feb. 18, 2014
Sheet 18 0f 27
US 8,655,736 B2 1800
SELECT A FIRST PURCHASE ORDER RECORD HAVING A FIRST TARGET SHIP DATE 1810
I PROCESS STORED PURCHASE ORDER RECORDS BASED ON TEMPORAL PROCESS PARAMETERS
m
GENERATE A SUGGESTED TARGET SHIP DATE
BASED ON THE PROCESSING 1830
I PROVIDE A USER WITH THE SUGGESTED TARGET SHIP DATE 1840
I CHANGE THE FIRST TARGET SHIP DATE TO THE SUGGESTED TARGET SHIP DATE 1850
FIG. 18
