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A method is provided for inventory management which includes an initial step of receiving a customer request for an inventory item and then generating a table or menu of one or more inventory items that most closely correspond to the customer request using a price forecasting system. Based on negoti

A method is provided for inventory management which includes an initial step of receiving a customer request for an inventory item and then generating a table or menu of one or more inventory items that most closely correspond to the customer request using a price forecasting system. Based on negotiations concerning price, timing and other typical concerns, an item is selected from the table and a price quotation associated with the selected inventory item is generated using the price forecasting system, which price quotation has been predetermined by a yield management system using a pricing strategy. The customer information associated with the customer request is input into a traffic billing system. Information needed for price recalculation associated with the customer request is input into the yield management system. The yield management system recalculates pricing data with in a manner consistent with a pricing strategy implemented by the yield management system, so that price changes caused by a reduction in available inventory due to the customer request are taken into account, and the pricing data accessed by the price forecasting system when a price quotation is generated is updated prior to repeating the process for a subsequent customer request. This method provides more accurate pricing than known systems where order information must be entered manually before a price recalculation can take place, and the yield management system overestimates the amount of available inventory. If the customer request comprises a reservation having an associated probability of later becoming an order, the reservation is taken into account when recalculating prices based on available inventory. Such a process may be integrated for an enterprise made up of a number of member stations each having associated inventory for sale.

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[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A computer-implemented inventory management system for an enterprise which includes a number of member stations, each member station being a separate business entity having a geographic location and a market area, and having associated advertising inventory for sale, wh

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A computer-implemented inventory management system for an enterprise which includes a number of member stations, each member station being a separate business entity having a geographic location and a market area, and having associated advertising inventory for sale, wherein the inventory comprises segments of advertising time associated with future time periods, comprising:price forecasting program logic that generates a visually viewable table of one or more advertising time segments that meet specified customer request criteria;yield management program logic for generating and maintaining advertising time segment inventory pricing information for use by the price forecasting system in accordance with a pricing strategy;traffic billing program logic for generating confirmations of orders for inventory and for maintaining scheduling, processing and accounting information in data files relating to such orders;a network permitting access to time segment inventory pricing information of multiple member stations; anda system for accessing inventory information of multiple stations in response to a customer request so that the table of inventory time segments generated by the price forecasting program logic that meets the specified customer criteria can include inventory items from some or all member stations which meet such criteria.