Granted Patent B2

US 8,302,861 · App. 11/752,140 · Granted Nov 6, 2012

Abstract

Claims (30)

1. A computer implemented method of managing inventory, the method comprising:

responsive to determining that a latency value indicative of a transaction latency associated with transactions involving an item is acceptable, updating, following a transaction involving the item, an inventory value indicative of a quantity of the item according to a first inventory update method wherein the first inventory update method alters a locked inventory record;

responsive to determining that the inventory value is below an inventory threshold, updating the inventory value following the transaction according to the first inventory update method regardless of the transaction latency; and

responsive to determining that the inventory value is not below the inventory threshold and that the latency value is unacceptable, updating the inventory value following the transaction according to a second inventory update method wherein the second inventory update method alters a proxy for the locked inventory record.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the latency value is acceptable includes determining that the latency value is less than a specified threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first inventory update method includes acquiring a lock corresponding to the locked inventory record, modifying the record, and thereafter releasing the lock.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein altering the proxy for the locked inventory record does not include accessing a lock.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inventory threshold represents a level of inventory sufficient to meet demand for a predetermined critical duration.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to the transaction raising an exception, updating the inventory value according to the first inventory update method regardless of the inventory value.

7. A data processing system suitable for use in an inventory management environment, comprising:

a processor having access to a computer readable medium, the computer readable medium including inventory management instructions, the inventory management instructions, executable by the processor, to:

monitor transactions that alter inventory quantity of an item;

determine a latency value indicative of a transaction latency associated with the transactions;

responsive to determining that the latency value is acceptable, update an inventory value, indicative of a quantity of the item in inventory, according to a first inventory update method wherein the first inventory update method includes updating a locked record of the inventory value;

responsive to determining that the inventory value is not below an inventory threshold and that the latency value is unacceptable, update the inventory value according to a second inventory update method wherein the second inventory update method includes updating a non-locked proxy of the inventory value; and

responsive to determining that the inventory value is below the inventory threshold, update the inventory value according to the first inventory update method regardless of the latency value.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the latency value indicates a worst case transaction latency for a set of recent transactions.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the latency value represents an average transaction latency for a set of recent transactions.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the inventory threshold represents a level of inventory sufficient to meet an expected demand for the item for a predetermined critical duration.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer executable program instructions for managing inventory updates, the program instructions including instructions to:

determine a transaction response time associated with transactions for an item of inventory;

determine a selected inventory update method from a first inventory update method and a second inventory update method based at least in part on the transaction response time;

respond to detecting a level of inventory below a critical threshold by selecting the first inventory update method as the selected inventory update method regardless of the transaction response time; and

respond to a particular transaction for the item of inventory by modifying an inventory record according to the selected inventory update method;

wherein the first inventory update method includes updating a locked record of an inventory value indicative of a quantity of the item in inventory and wherein the second inventory update method includes updating a freely accessible proxy for the inventory value.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to determine the selected inventory update method include instructions to select the second inventory update method when the transaction response time is below a response threshold.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the first inventory update method includes acquiring a lock corresponding to the locked record of the inventory value, modifying the locked record, and thereafter releasing the releasing the locked record.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the critical threshold represents a level of inventory sufficient to meet demand for a predetermined critical duration.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , further comprising, program instructions to respond to a particular transaction raising an exception by selecting the first inventory update method regardless of the transaction response time.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the particular transaction raises the exception when a number of items associated with the particular transaction exceeds an expected number of items per transaction.

Assignments (9)