Methods and systems for performing an availability check for a product

1 . A method of performing an availability check for a product to determine whether the product is available for a customer at a predetermined time, the method comprising:

providing a processor device;

storing an original forecast for a period of time up to and including the predetermined time;

determining a time integrated forecast value for the original forecast; and

using the time integrated forecast values in the availability check.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time integrated forecast value comprises the sum of products together with a characteristic value combination for each product, which are available at the predetermined time and during the period of time up to and including the predetermined time.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time integrated forecast value is a key figure.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining is carried out for a series of time buckets, wherein a time bucket defines a period of time.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the original forecast includes a characteristic value combination which defines the product.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the original forecast includes a value for each time bucket; the determining includes:

starting with an earliest time for the original forecast, and adding to the values of the original forecast for the predetermined time, the values of a previous time bucket of the key figure for each characteristic value combination separately.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , including the steps of:

a) taking a predetermined characteristic value combination, which defines the product;

b) reading the value for the predetermined characteristic value combination for a first time bucket of the forecasting period from the original forecast key figure;

c) adding to the value of step b), the value of a previous time bucket of the time integrated forecast key figure, if the previous time bucket is the first time bucket, the value of the time integrated forecast key figure is set at zero;

d) writing the sum of step c) for the predetermined characteristic value combination and the time bucket as read in step b) to the time integrated forecast key figure; and

e) go to step b) for a next time bucket, if the last time bucket is reached start at step a) for a next predetermined characteristic value combination.

8 . A computer system for performing an availability check for a product to determine whether the product is available for a customer at a predetermined time, the system comprising:

a processor device arranged to receive and process data relating to the product;

a storage element for storing an original forecast for a period of time up to and including the predetermined time; and

a determining module, wherein, in response to the determining module, the processor is arranged to determine a time integrated forecast value for the original forecast, and wherein, in response to a user action, the processor device is arranged to perform the availability check on the basis of the time integrated forecast values.

9 . An availability check apparatus for performing an availability check for a product to determine whether the product is available for a customer at a predetermined time, the apparatus comprises a storage medium having recorded therein processor readable code processable to perform the availability check, the processor readable code comprising storing code for storing an original forecast for a period of time up to and including the predetermined time, and determining code for determining a time integrated forecast value for the original forecast, wherein in response to the determining code, the apparatus is arranged to perform the availability check on the basis of the time integrated forecast values.