System and method for purchasing products through bidding online

• US 20040205016A1
• Filed: 04/12/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Lin, Sun-Chang, Zhou, Shu-Ming, Hu, Xiao-Li, Cai, Jun
• Application Number:
  US10/823,100
• Publication Number:
  US 20040205016A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A system for purchasing products through bidding online includes an application server (13), a corporation website (12), a database (15), a plurality of client computers (10) and a plurality of supplier computers (17). The application server includes a supplier data management module (131) for maintaining basic information on suppliers and their products, and predetermining a plurality of selected suppliers according to information on products to be purchased; a price inquiring/quoting/price negotiating management module (132) for inquiring of prices, receiving quotations from selected suppliers, negotiating prices, and generating price-related records; an online bidding management module (133) for opening a bid, comparing bidding results to determine a winning supplier, and generating bid-related records; a contract management module (134) for signing and maintaining of procurement contracts. A method for purchasing products through bidding online is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for purchasing products through bidding online, the system comprising a corporation website, an application server, a database linking to the application server through a connection, a plurality of client computers linking to the corporation website through a network, and a plurality of supplier computers linking to the corporation website through an external network, wherein the application server comprises:

a supplier data management module for maintaining basic information on suppliers and their products, and for selecting a plurality of suitable suppliers according to information on products to be purchased;

a price inquiring/quoting/price negotiating management module for inquiring of prices, receiving quotations from selected suppliers, negotiating prices, and generating price-related records;

an online bidding management module for opening a bid, comparing bidding results according to price-related records, determining a winning supplier, granting a winning bid to the winning supplier, and generating bid-related records; and

a contract management module for signing procurement contracts with winning suppliers online, and for maintaining the procurement contracts.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the application server further comprises a procurement data management module for maintaining information on products to be purchased for a purchasing organization.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the application server further comprises a stock receiving and accounts balancing module for receiving and checking of products delivered by a winning supplier according to information on products to be purchased.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the price inquiring/quoting/price negotiating management module comprises:

a price inquiring sub-module for inquiring of prices of selected suppliers, and generating price inquiring records;

a quotation receiving sub-module for receiving quotations provided by inquired suppliers, and generating quoting records;

a price negotiating sub-module for negotiating prices with suppliers, and generating price negotiating records; and

a price-related record maintaining sub-module for adding, deleting and checking price-related records, said price-related records comprising price inquiring records, quoting records and price negotiating records.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the online bidding management module comprises:

a bid opening sub-module for opening a bid for selected suppliers logging on the corporation website to bid online, and generating a bid opening record;

a bid comparing sub-module for selecting a winning supplier according to quoting records, price negotiating records and information on products to be purchased, and for generating a bid comparing record;

a bid granting sub-module for granting a winning bid to a winning supplier, and generating a bid granting record; and

a bidding record maintaining sub-module for adding, deleting, modifying and searching bid-related records, said bid-related records comprising bid opening records, bid comparing records and bid granting records.

6. A method for purchasing products through bidding online, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving information on products to be purchased;

accessing basic data on corresponding suppliers that provide the products to be purchased, and selecting a plurality of suitable suppliers by comparing the information on the products to be purchased and the basic data on suppliers;

opening a bid online;

receiving bidding results from the selected suppliers;

comparing the bidding results to select a winning supplier; and

granting a winning bid to the winning supplier and notifying the winning supplier to deliver the products.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

signing a procurement contract with the winning supplier through the contract management module;

checking the products delivered by the winning supplier according to the information on the products to be purchased, and determining whether the quality of the products is satisfactory; and

calculating corresponding accounts if the quality of the products is satisfactory.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of opening a bid online comprises the steps of:

determining whether there is price information in the basic data on each of the selected suppliers;

inquiring of a price of a selected supplier if there is no price information in the basic data on that selected supplier; and

opening a bid online, generating a bid opening record and storing the bid opening record in a database, if and when there is price information in the basic data on all the selected suppliers.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of comparing the bidding results comprises the steps of:

determining whether there is need to negotiate price with any of the selected suppliers according to the bidding results;

negotiating price with one or more of the selected suppliers and generating one or more new bidding results, if price negotiating is needed; and

comparing the bidding results to select a winning supplier according to the quoting records, the price negotiating records and the information on the products to be purchased, generating a bid comparing record, and storing the bid comparing record in the database.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of granting a winning bid to the winning supplier comprises the step of comparing the other selected suppliers and selecting a new winning supplier if the winning supplier does not accept the grant.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein the step of checking the products delivered by the winning supplier further comprises the step of notifying the winning supplier that the products must be re-delivered or that the products will be returned, if the quality of the products delivered is not satisfactory.