Automated notification of part revisions for outside suppliers

• US 20050091099A1
• Filed: 11/23/2004
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vetco Gray Incorporated (Baker Hughes Company)
• Original Assignee: Vetco Gray Incorporated (Baker Hughes Company)
• Inventors: Bratcher, William R., Krueger, Paul J., Wooton, Wayne Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 8,027,856 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/343
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

Revision of a part specification document, such as a drawing, a part specification, or a bill or materials, prompts execution of an automated notification process. A unique part number associated with the revised part specification document is employed in searching open purchasing documents for purchase orders or request for quotes containing the part number. Electronic mail addresses for outside supplier contacts are kept in the database and linked to the supplier master of the open purchasing documents containing the part number. An electronic mail notification of the part specification document revision is generated and transmitted to each electronic mail address identified as being associated with an open purchasing document containing the subject part number. The revision notification includes a link to the revised part specification document to enable the outside supplier to access the document and review the revisions. A response period during which the outside supplier is expected to access the revised document may be set, with an alert being generated if one or more outside suppliers receiving the revision notification fails to review the changes within the selected response period.

Claims

1. A method of notifying relevant parties of revisions, comprising:

responsive to detecting a revision to a part specification document, identifying a unique part number associated with the part specification document;

searching all purchasing documents for the part number;

identifying each electronic mail address associated with any purchasing document containing the part number;

generating an electronic mail message notification of the revision to the part specification document; and

transmitting the electronic mail message notification to all electronic mail addresses associated with a purchasing document containing the part number.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring access to part specification documents including drawings, part specifications, and bills of materials for revisions to the part specification documents.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning the unique part number to at least one product purchased from at least one outside supplier, wherein the step of searching all purchasing documents for the part number further comprises searching open purchase orders and open requests for quotes for the part number, wherein the relevant parties comprise the at least one outside supplier, wherein at least one of the electronic mail addresses associated with the purchase orders and the requests for quotes comprises an electronic mail address of the at least one outside supplier, and wherein the method further comprises terminating access to part number information by the at least one outside supplier responsive to closing at least one of the open purchase orders and open requests for quotes having the part number.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating an electronic mail message notification of the revision to the part specification document further comprises:

generating an message containing a uniform resource locator link to the part specification document.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

setting a response period;

monitoring access to the part specification document during the response period; and

responsive to determining that at least one recipient of the electronic mail message notification failed to access the part specification document during the response period, transmitting an alert to a designated electronic mail address.

6. A method of notifying relevant parties of document revisions, comprising:

monitoring access to a plurality of part specification documents for creation, deletion, or release of a revision to any part specification document; and

responsive to detecting creation, deletion, or release of a revision to any part specification document,

automatically identifying each outside supplier associated with at least one purchasing document including a part number from a part specification document for which the revision was created, deleted, or released, and

automatically notifying each identified outside supplier of the revision.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of automatically notifying each identified outside supplier of the revision further comprises:

notifying an outside supplier associated with more than one purchasing document including the part number from the part specification document only once.

8. A system for notifying relevant parties of revisions, comprising:

means, responsive to detecting a revision to a part specification document, for identifying a unique part number associated with the part specification document;

means for searching all purchasing documents for the part number;

means for identifying each electronic mail address associated with any purchasing document containing the part number;

means for generating an electronic mail message notification of the revision to the part specification document; and

means for transmitting the electronic mail message notification to all electronic mail addresses associated with a purchasing document containing the part number.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

means for monitoring access to part specification documents including drawings, part specifications, and bills of materials for revisions to the part specification documents.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the means for searching all purchasing documents for the part number further comprises:

means for searching purchase orders and requests for quotes for the part number.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the means for generating an electronic mail message notification of the revision to the part specification document further comprises:

means for generating a message containing a uniform resource locator link to the part specification document to allow access to the part specification document by a notified relevant party.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for setting a response period;

means for monitoring access to the part specification document during the response period; and

means, responsive to determining that at least one recipient of the electronic mail message notification failed to access the part specification document during the response period, for transmitting an alert to a designated electronic mail address.

13. A system for notifying relevant parties of document revisions, comprising:

a document management utility executing within a server and monitoring access to a plurality of part specification documents for creation, deletion, or release of a revision to any part specification document; and

a notification agent executing within the server and, responsive to detecting creation, deletion, or release of a revision to any part specification document,

automatically identifying each outside supplier associated with at least one purchasing document including a part number from a part specification document for which the revision was created, deleted, or released, and

automatically notifying each identified outside supplier of the revision.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the notification agent notifies an outside supplier associated with more than one purchasing document including the part number from the part specification document, and wherein the system further comprises means for terminating access to part number information by the outside supplier responsive to closing all of the purchasing documents having the part number.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a queue into which the document management utility inputs revision entries for processing by the notification agent.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

an electronic mail message containing a link to the part specification document for which the revision was created, deleted, or released, wherein the electronic mail message is transmitted to each identified outside supplier as notification of the revision.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a network connecting a workstation to the server, wherein an editor executing within the workstation enables a user to create, delete, or release of the revision to a part specification document under the control of the document management utility.

18. An article of manufacture for notifying relevant parties of revisions, the article of manufacture comprising computer readable storage media including program logic embedded therein that causes control circuitry to perform the steps of:

(a) responsive to detecting a revision to a part specification document, identifying a unique part number associated with the part specification document;

(b) searching all purchasing documents for the part number;

(c) identifying each electronic mail address associated with any purchasing document containing the part number;

(d) generating an electronic mail message notification of the revision to the part specification document; and

(e) transmitting the electronic mail message notification to all electronic mail addresses associated with a purchasing document containing the part number.

19. A computer program product within a computer usable medium for notifying relevant parties of document revisions, comprising:

instructions for monitoring access to a plurality of part specification documents for creation, deletion, or release of a revision to any part specification document; and

instructions, responsive to detecting creation, deletion, or release of a revision to any part specification document,

for automatically identifying each outside supplier associated with at least one purchasing document including a part number from a part specification document for which the revision was created, deleted, or released, and

for automatically notifying each identified outside supplier of the revision.