Supply chain and inventory risk management system

Abstract

A system and method for supply chain and inventory risk management that supplies inventory from a manufacturer to a plurality of customers. An owner entity of the system is transferred a plurality of customer agreements which describe requirements for the distribution of the inventory to the customers in agreed-upon amounts in exchange for agreed-upon payments. Transfer of the customer agreements allows an electronic system of the owner entity to forecast and place orders purchasing from the manufacturer the amount of inventory that will be needed by the customers. Further, the transfer of the agreements increases the certainty that inventory purchased by the owner will be sold to the customer. The electronic owner system may also commission the services of a logistics agent that is capable of providing shipping and handling services customized to high-risk inventory, such as electronic components, increasing the owner's profit on the sale of the inventory.

1 . A supply chain and inventory risk management system for supplying inventory manufactured by a manufacturing entity to a plurality of customers, said management system comprising:
 a plurality of customer agreements between the manufacturer and the customers, said customer agreements requiring distribution of the inventory to the customers in agreed-upon amounts in exchange for agreed-upon payments; and   an owner entity capable of being transferred the customer agreements and of forecasting amounts of the inventory needed to supply the customers using the agreed-upon amounts defined in the customer agreements and further capable taking title to the forecasted amounts of inventory from the manufacturer at the forecasted times as the owner entity purchases and takes title to the forecasted amounts of inventory from the manufacturer at the forecasted times; and   said owner entity additionally capable of distributing the agreed-upon amounts of inventory to the customers in accordance with the customer agreements and also capable of receiving the agreed-upon payments from the customers in exchange for the inventory wherein transfer of the customer agreements facilitates purchase of the agreed-upon amounts of inventory by the customers at the agreed-upon payment.   
     
     
         2 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the forecasted amounts are larger than the agreed-upon amounts to be supplied to any one of the customers. 
     
     
         3 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the customer agreements further require distribution of the inventory to the customers at agreed-upon times and wherein the owner entity is further capable of forecasting timing of purchases from the manufacturer using the agreed-upon times of the customer agreements. 
     
     
         4 . A management system of  claim 3 , wherein the forecasted purchase times are more frequent than the agreed-upon times. 
     
     
         5 . A management system of  claim 3 , wherein the forecasted purchase times are less frequent than the agreed-upon times. 
     
     
         6 . A management system of  claim 1 , further comprising a financing entity capable of creating the owner entity and further capable of financing purchase of the inventory by the owner entity. 
     
     
         7 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the owner entity further includes a logistics agent capable of managing distribution of the inventory to the customers. 
     
     
         8 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the owner entity further includes a hub in geographical proximity to the customer and at which the owner entity is capable of taking physical possession of the inventory purchased from the manufacturer. 
     
     
         9 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the agreed-upon payments are more per inventory unit than payments to the manufacturer facilitating profitable sale of the inventory by the owner entity to the customer. 
     
     
         10 . A management system of  claim 9 , wherein the owner entity is further capable of taking physical possession to the inventory purchased from the manufacturer concurrent with taking title to the inventory. 
     
     
         11 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the inventory is a high-risk inventory. 
     
     
         12 . A management system of  claim 14 , wherein the high-risk inventory has any one of a plurality of high-risk characteristics including being damage prone, prone to obsolescence, perishable, fragile, sensitive to adverse environmental conditions or customized to suit the customers. 
     
     
         13 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the customer agreements include any one of purchase orders, contractual agreements, non-contractual agreements and forecasts of customer sales. 
     
     
         14 . A management system of  claim 1 , wherein the customer agreements include a supply chain management agreement which describes logistical requirements for storage and handling of the inventory. 
     
     
         15 . A method of managing inventory in a supply chain and risks associated with the inventory, said method comprising:
 receiving transfer of a plurality of customer agreements between a manufacturer and a plurality of customers from the manufacturer by an owner computer system, said customer agreements requiring distribution of the inventory to the customers in agreed-upon amounts in exchange for agreed-upon payments per inventory unit;   forecasting amounts of the inventory needed to supply the customers using the agreed-upon amounts defined in the customer agreements using the owner computer system;   purchasing the forecasted amounts of inventory by taking title to the forecasted amounts of inventory from the manufacturer;   distributing the agreed-upon amounts of inventory to the customers in accordance with the customer agreements; and   receiving the agreed-upon payments from the customers in exchange for distributing the inventory to the customers by the owner computer system.   
     
     
         16 . A management method of  claim 15 , wherein distributing the inventory further includes distributing the inventory at times agreed upon in the customer agreements. 
     
     
         17 . A management method of  claim 16 , wherein forecasting further includes forecasting timing of purchases from the manufacturer using the agreed-upon times of the customer agreements. 
     
     
         18 . A management method of  claim 15 , further comprising storing the inventory after purchase from the manufacturer and before distribution to the customers. 
     
     
         19 . A management method of  claim 15 , wherein the customer agreements include customer sales forecasts and purchase orders. 
     
     
         20 . A management method of  claim 19 , wherein forecasting includes projecting long-term customer needs using the customer sales forecasts and projecting short-term customer needs using the purchase orders. 
     
     
         21 . A management method of  claim 20 , wherein the purchase orders include cancelable and non-cancelable purchase orders and wherein projecting short-term customer needs includes determining minimum fulfillment rates and periods using the non-cancelable purchase orders. 
     
     
         22 . A method of managing inventory in a supply chain and risks associated with the inventory, said method comprising:
 receiving transfer of a plurality of customer agreements between a manufacturer and a plurality of customers from the manufacturer, said customer agreements requiring distribution of the inventory to the customers in agreed-upon amounts in exchange for agreed-upon payments per inventory unit;   forecasting amounts of the inventory needed to supply the customers using the agreed-upon amounts defined in the customer agreements;   purchasing the forecasted amounts of inventory by transferring funds to the manufacturer and by receiving title to the forecasted amounts of inventory from the manufacturer;   engaging a logistics agent to pick up the inventory at the owner and distribute the agreed-upon amounts of inventory to the customers in accordance with the customer agreements; and   receiving the agreed-upon payments from the customers for the inventory after distributing the inventory to the customers.   
     
     
         23 . A management method of  claim 22 , wherein title to the inventory passes to the owner concurrent with delivery of the goods to the owner by the logistics agent. 
     
     
         24 . A management method of  claim 22 , wherein title to the inventory passes to the customer concurrent with receipt of the goods from the logistics agent.