Automated line item detail report

• US 20040088223A1
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Published: 05/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ariba Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Ariba Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Harrington, Chris, Bryson, Michael D., Allamon, Jack
• Granted Patent: US 7,693,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A system and method of initiating an online auction. The system receives a request to acquire at least one line item using the online auction from a buyer and presents a data collection template to the buyer, where the data collection template is being used to collect data having a plurality of attributes relating to the line item being auctioned in the online auction. The system also generates, in response to at least one of the attributes of the data collected from the buyer, a report showing the data including at least one of the attributes relating to the line item and transmits the report to at least one supplier.

Claims

1. In a system for initiating an online auction, a method comprising:

receiving a request to acquire at least one line item from a buyer;

presenting a data collection template to the buyer, the data collection template being used to collect data having a plurality of attributes relating to the at least one line item being auctioned in the online auction;

generating, in response to at least one of the attributes of the data collected from the buyer, a report showing the data, including at least one of the attributes relating to the line item; and

transmitting the report to at least one supplier.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

populating the data collection template with the data having the attributes relating to the at least one line item using data from a database.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating the data collection template based on the request, the data collection template having a plurality of cells adaptable for collecting the data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises:

grouping a plurality of the line items into a lot, wherein at least one of the line items in the lot is different from at least one other of the line items in the lot.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the generating comprises:

showing in the report the data having at least one of the attributes relating to each one of the line items in the lot.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises:

acquiring the request via at least one of a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, and the Internet.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises:

sending the report via at least one of a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, and the Internet.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting comprises:

evaluating the request for the at least one line item received from the buyer;

generating the data collection template adaptable for collecting the data relating to the at least one line item; and

transmitting the data collection template to the buyer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises:

evaluating the data collected from the buyer;

selecting at least one of the attributes of the data; and

creating the report with the selected attribute.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises:

evaluating the request received from the buyer;

retrieving the data having the plurality of the attributes relating to the at least one line item from a database; and

creating the report using the data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises:

creating the report in at least one of an electronic copy and a hard copy.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises:

constructing a logo representing the supplier in the report.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises:

selecting the report from at least one of a Line Item Detail (LID) report, a lot listing report, a cost breakdown report, and a lot summary report.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the selecting comprises:

including at least one of the attributes relating to at least one line item in the LID report.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the including comprises:

choosing at least one of a number of quantity of the line item, a specification of the line item, and a price of the line item.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the choosing comprises:

including in the price at least one of a reserve price, a market price, a historic price, and a ceiling price.

17. A system for initiating an online auction, comprising:

means for receiving a request to acquire at least one line item from a buyer;

means for presenting a data collection template to the buyer, the data collection template being used to collect data having a plurality of attributes relating to the at least one line item being auctioned;

means for generating, in response to at least one of the attributes of the data collected from the buyer, a report showing the data including at least one of the attributes relating to the line item; and

means for transmitting the report to at least one supplier.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

means for populating the data collection template with the data having the attributes relating to the at least one line item using data from a database.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

means for creating the data collection template based on the request, the data collection template having a plurality of cells adaptable for collecting the data.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for receiving the request receives information via at least one of a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, and the Internet.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for transmitting the report sends the report via at least one of a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, and the Internet.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for presenting the data collection template evaluates the request for the at least one line item received from the buyer, generates the data collection template adaptable for collecting the data relating to the at least one line item, and transmits the data collection template to the buyer.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for generating the report evaluates the data collected from the buyer, selects at least one of the attributes of the data, and creates the report with the selected attribute.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for generating the report evaluates the request received from the buyer, retrieves the data having the plurality of the attributes relating to the at least one line item from a database, and creates the report using the data.

25. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for generating the report creates the report in at least one of an electronic copy and a hard copy.

26. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for generating the report constructs a logo representing the supplier in the report.

27. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for generating the report selects the report from at least one of a Line Item Detail (LID) report, a lot listing report, a cost breakdown report, and a lot summary report.

28. A machine readable medium for initiating an online auction, comprising:

a first machine readable code that receives a request to acquire at least one line item from a buyer;

a second machine readable code that presents a data collection template to the buyer, the data collection template being used to collect data having a plurality of attributes relating to the at least one line item being auctioned;

a third machine readable code that generates, in response to at least one of the attributes of the data collected from the buyer, a report showing the data including at least one of the attributes relating to the line item; and

a fourth machine readable code that transmits the report to at least one supplier.

29. The machine readable medium of claim 28, further comprising:

a fifth machine readable code that populates the data collection template with the data having the attributes relating to the at least one line item using data from a database.

30. The machine readable medium of claim 28, further comprising:

a fifth machine readable code that creates the data collection template based on the request, the data collection template having a plurality of cells adaptable for collecting the data.

31. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the first machine readable code receives information via at least one of a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, and the Internet.

32. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the fourth machine readable code sends the report via at least one of a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, and the Internet.

33. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the second machine readable code evaluates the request for the at least one line item received from the buyer, generates the data collection template adaptable for collecting the data relating to the at least one line item, and transmits the data collection template to the buyer.

34. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the third machine readable code evaluates the data collected from the buyer, selects at least one of the attributes of the data, and creates the report with the selected attribute.

35. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the third machine readable code evaluates the request received from the buyer, retrieves the data having the plurality of the attributes relating to the at least one line item from a database, and creates the report using the data.

36. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the third machine readable code creates the report in at least one of an electronic copy and a hard copy.

37. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the third machine readable code constructs a logo representing the supplier in the report.

38. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the third machine readable code selects the report from at least one of a Line Item Detail (LID) report, a lot listing report, a cost breakdown report, and a lot summary report.

39. In a system for an online auction, a method comprising:

receiving a request from a first computer system communicatively coupled to a network, the request relating to at least one line item;

generating, in response to the request, a line item detail template including a plurality of cells adaptable for receiving inputted data having a plurality of attributes specifically relating to the line item;

presenting the line item detail template to the first computer system;

accepting the line item detail template with the inputted data from the first computer system;

creating a line item detail report using the line item detail template with the inputted data; and

transmitting the line item detail report to a second computer communicatively coupled to the network.

40. In a system for conducting an online auction, a method comprising:

acquiring at a server computer system a request to purchase at least one line item from a buyer computer system via a network;

presenting a data collection template to the buyer computer system via the network, the data collection template having a plurality of cells adaptable for collecting data relating to the line item; and

receiving the data collection template from the buyer computer system via the network.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the presenting comprises:

transmitting the data collection template in at least one of a HyperText Markup Language format and a Extensible Markup Langue (XLM) format.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the receiving comprises:

obtaining the data collection template in at least one of a HyperText Markup Language format and a Extensible Markup Langue (XLM) format.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein the presenting comprises:

creating the data collection template that follows Microsoft Excel®

spreadsheet application.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the presenting comprises:

creating the data collection template that includes a set of customized Microsoft Excel®

Macros that facilitate collection of the data.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the creating comprises:

including customized Microsoft Excel®

Macros that perform at least one of a generation of the data collection template, an importation of the data collection template, a validation the data collection template, an application of selected formulas to the data collection template, and a searching of duplicate records from the data collection template.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the performing comprises:

having at least one of the customized Microsoft Excel®

Macros to execute at least two distinct functions, one of which is executable at the buyer computer system and other is executable at the server computer system.