Multiple-platform estimating and automatic quoting for network-based parts resale

• US 20050144095A1
• Filed: 11/02/2004
• Published: 06/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Claims Services Group LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: PS Holdings LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Davis, Deathe, Scruton, Jay F., Davis, Orson P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,835,945 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A part location system is described that utilizes computer-based techniques for bringing together repair facilities and suppliers to increase the efficiency of locating recycled, used or aftermarket parts using a computer network, such as the Internet. The part location system receives an electronic estimate from one of the repair facilities, parses the estimate to extract pertinent information regarding parts needed in the repair process, and automatically generates an RFQ using the pertinent information extracted from the estimate. The part location system communicates the RFQ to a number of suppliers. The part location system electronically receives quotes from the suppliers and presents the quotes to the repair facility, which determines whether to accept any of the quotes. The part location system maintains an audit log, which may be used to track the effort used to obtain recycled or aftermarket products.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an estimate from a repair facility over a communication network;

parsing the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the repair facility;

automatically generating a request for quote (RFQ) using the information extracted from the estimate; and

sending the RFQ to suppliers via the communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a user interface through which the repair facility submits the estimate.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the user interface presented to the user comprises a window for inputting the estimate, and further comprising receiving a copy of the estimate in the window.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the estimate from the repair facility comprises receiving an electronic attachment of the estimate from the repair facility.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the estimate from the repair facility comprises extracting an Estimating Management Standard (EMS) file from an estimating platform used by the repair facility.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein parsing the estimate further comprises parsing the estimate to extract vehicle information in addition to the list of parts.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering information of a personal nature from the estimate.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering from the list of parts those parts identified to be purchased new.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying combinations of parts from the list of parts that form an aggregate part; and

including the aggregate part in the RFQ.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an image of a part from the repair facility over the communication network; and

embedding the image in the RFQ.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a subset of suppliers to which to send the RFQ; and

sending the RFQ to the selected subset of suppliers.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein selecting the subset of suppliers to which to send the RFQ comprises selecting suppliers identified by the repair facility.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein selecting suppliers to which to send the RFQ comprises selecting suppliers identified by an insurance company.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein selecting suppliers to which to send the RFQ comprises selecting suppliers based on one of a geographic location and a type of part carried by the suppliers.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a quote from at least one of the suppliers for one or more parts identified in the RFQ; and

presenting the quote to the repair facility associated with the RFQ.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving a quote from one of the suppliers comprises receiving a quote directly from an employee of one of the suppliers.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving a quote form one of the suppliers comprises:

accessing an inventory associated with one of the suppliers; and

identifying a quote price from the inventory.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving quotes from a plurality of suppliers;

arranging the quotes from the suppliers according to part; and

presenting the quotes to the repair facility.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving quotes from a plurality of suppliers;

arranging the quotes from the suppliers according to suppliers; and

presenting the quotes to the repair facility.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility would like to accept the quote;

automatically generating a purchase order for the part associated with the accepted quote; and

sending the purchase order to the one of the suppliers that submitted the quote.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving quotes for multiple parts from one of the suppliers;

receiving input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility accepts more than one of the quotes from the one of the suppliers; and

automatically generating a purchase order for all the parts associated with the accepted quotes from the one of the suppliers.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising maintaining an audit log that tracks the generated RFQ, the resulting quotes, and the quotes accepted by the repair facility.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing a summary of the audit log to an auditor.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving audit criteria from an auditor;

retrieving information from the audit log based on the audit criteria; and

presenting the auditor with the information retrieved from the audit log.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the audit criteria includes at least one of a city, shop name, parts manager, date, and time.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising presenting the auditor with information regarding RFQs currently open.

27. A device comprising:

a communication interface to couple the device to a computer network; and

a control unit comprising;

a parsing engine that receives an estimate from a remote repair facility over the computer network and parses the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the remote repair facility; and

a request for quote (RFQ) manager that automatically generating an RFQ using the information extracted from the estimate and sends the RFQ to suppliers via the computer network.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the control unit further comprises a user interface module to present a user interface to the remote repair facility to allow the remote repair facility to input the estimate.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein the remote repair facility inputs a copy of the estimate in a window of the user interface.

30. The device of claim 28, wherein the parsing engine receives an electronic attachment of the estimate from the remote repair facility via the user interface.

31. The device of claim 27, wherein the parsing engine receives an Estimating Management Standard (EMS) file from an estimating platform used by the repair facility.

32. The device of claim 27, wherein the parsing engine parses the estimate to extract vehicle information in addition to the list of parts.

33. The device of claim 27, wherein the parsing engine filters information of a personal nature from the estimate.

34. The device of claim 27, wherein the parsing engine filters from the list of parts those parts identified to be purchased new.

35. The device of claim 27, wherein the parsing engine identifies combinations of parts from the list of parts that form an aggregate part.

36. The device of claim 27, wherein the RFQ management module selects a subset of suppliers to which to send the RFQ and sends the RFQ to the selected subset of suppliers.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the RFQ management module selects suppliers identified by the repair facility.

38. The device of claim 36, wherein the RFQ management module selects suppliers identified by an insurance company.

39. The device of claim 36, wherein the RFQ management module selects suppliers based on one of a geographic location and a type of part carried by the suppliers.

40. The device of claim 27, wherein the RFQ management module receives a quote from at least one of the suppliers for one or more parts identified in the RFQ and presents the quote to the repair facility associated with the RFQ.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein the RFQ management module receives the quote directly from an employee of one of the suppliers.

42. The device of claim 40, wherein the RFQ management module accesses an inventory associated with one of the suppliers and identifies a quote price from the inventory.

43. The device of claim 40, wherein the quote comprises a first quote from a first supplier, and wherein the RFQ management module receives quotes from multiples suppliers, arranges the quotes from the suppliers according to part and presents the quotes to the repair facility.

44. The device of claim 40, wherein the quote comprises a first quote from a first supplier, and wherein the RFQ management module receives quotes from multiple other suppliers, arranges the quotes from the suppliers according to suppliers and presents the quotes to the repair facility.

45. The device of claim 40, wherein the RFQ management module receives input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility would like to accept the quote, automatically generates a purchase order for the part corresponding to the accepted quote and sends the purchase order to the one of the suppliers that submitted the quote.

46. The device of claim 45, wherein the quote comprises a first quote from a supplier, and further wherein the RFQ management module receives a second quote from the supplier, receives input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility accepts both the quotes from the supplier, and automatically generates a purchase order for all the parts associated with the accepted quotes from the supplier.

47. The device of claim 45, wherein the control unit maintains an audit log that tracks the generated RFQ, the resulting quotes, and the quotes accepted by the repair facility.

48. The device of claim 47, wherein the control unit provides a summary of the audit log to an auditor.

49. The device of claim 47, wherein the control unit receives audit criteria from an auditor, retrieves information from the audit log based on the audit criteria and presents the auditor with the information retrieved from the audit log.

50. The device of claim 49, wherein the audit criteria includes at least one of a city, shop name, parts manager, date, and time.

51. A system comprising:

a repair facility coupled to a computer network;

a plurality of suppliers coupled to the computer network; and

a part location device coupled to the computer network, wherein the part location device comprises a control unit that comprises;

a parsing engine that receives an estimate from a remote repair facility over the computer network and parses the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the remote repair facility, and

a request for quote (RFQ) management module executed by the control unit to automatically generate an RFQ using the information extracted from the estimate and sends the RFQ to suppliers via the computer network.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the control unit further comprises a user interface module to present a user interface to the repair facility to allow the repair facility to input the estimate.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the repair facility inputs a copy of the estimate in a window of the user interface.

54. The system of claim 52, wherein the parsing engine receives an electronic attachment of the estimate from the repair facility via the user interface.

55. The system of claim 51, wherein the parsing engine receives an Estimating Management Standard (EMS) file from an estimating platform used by the repair facility.

56. The system of claim 51, wherein the parsing engine parses the estimate to extract vehicle information in addition to the list of parts.

57. The system of claim 51, wherein the parsing engine filters information of a personal nature from the estimate.

58. The system of claim 51, wherein the parsing engine filters from the list of parts those parts identified to be purchased new.

59. The system of claim 51, wherein the parsing engine identifies combinations of parts from the list of parts that form an aggregate part.

60. The system of claim 51, wherein the RFQ management module selects a subset of suppliers to which to send the RFQ and sends the RFQ to the selected subset of suppliers.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the RFQ management module selects suppliers identified by one of the repair facility and an insurance company.

62. The system of claim 60, wherein the RFQ management module selects suppliers based on one of a geographic location and a type of part carried by the suppliers.

63. The system of claim 51, wherein the RFQ management module receives a quote from at least one of the suppliers for one or more parts identified in the RFQ and presents the quote to the repair facility associated with the RFQ.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein the RFQ management module receives the quote directly from an employee of one of the suppliers.

65. The system of claim 63, wherein the RFQ management module accesses an inventory associated with one of the suppliers and identifies a quote price from the inventory.

66. The system of claim 63, wherein the quote comprises a first quote from a first supplier, and wherein the RFQ management module receives quotes from multiple other suppliers, arranges the quotes from the suppliers according to part and presents the quotes to the repair facility.

67. The system of claim 63, wherein the quote comprises a first quote from a first supplier, and wherein the RFQ management module receives quotes from multiple other suppliers, arranges the quotes from the suppliers according to suppliers and presents the quotes to the repair facility.

68. The system of claim 63, wherein the RFQ management module receives input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility would like to accept the quote, automatically generates a purchase order for the part associated with the accepted quote and sends the purchase order to the one of the suppliers that submitted the quote.

69. The system of claim 68, wherein the quote comprises a first quote from the supplier, and further wherein the RFQ management module receives a second quote from the supplier, receives input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility accepts both the quotes from the supplier, and automatically generates a purchase order for all the parts associated with the accepted quotes from the supplier.

70. The system of claim 68, wherein the control unit maintains an audit log that tracks the generated RFQ, the resulting quotes, and the quotes accepted by the repair facility.

71. The system of claim 70, wherein the control unit provides a summary of the audit log to an auditor.

72. The system of claim 70, wherein the control unit receives audit criteria from an auditor, retrieves information from the audit log based on the audit criteria and presents the auditor with the information retrieved from the audit log.

73. The system of claim 72, wherein the audit criteria includes at least one of a city, shop name, parts manager, date, and time.

74. The system of claim 51, wherein the computer network comprises at least one of a Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), and Wireless LAN

75. The system of claim 51, wherein the suppliers comprise at least one of recyclers, used part dealers, and aftermarket vendors.

76. The system of claim 51, wherein the repair facility comprises a first repair facility, and further comprising a second repair facility.

77. A computer-readable medium, comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

receive an estimate from a repair facility over a communication network;

parse the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the repair facility;

automatically generate a request for quote (RFQ) using the information extracted from the estimate; and

send the RFQ to suppliers via the communication network.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein instructions to cause the processor to parse the estimate include instruction to parse to extract vehicle information in addition to the list of parts.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to filter information of a personal nature from the estimate.

80. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to filter from the list of parts those parts identified to be purchased new.

81. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to

identify combinations of parts from the list of parts that form an aggregate part;

and

include the aggregate part in the RFQ.

82. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

select a subset of suppliers to which to send the RFQ; and

send the RFQ to the selected subset of suppliers.

83. The computer-readable medium of claim 82, wherein instructions to cause the processor to select the subset of suppliers include instruction to select suppliers identified by one of the repair facility and an insurance company.

84. The computer-readable medium of claim 82, wherein instructions to cause the processor to select the subset of suppliers include instruction to select suppliers based on one of a geographic location and a type of part carried by the suppliers.

85. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

receive a quote from at least one of the suppliers for one or more parts identified in the RFQ; and

present the quote to the repair facility associated with the RFQ.

86. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, wherein instructions to cause the processor to receive a quote from one of the suppliers include instruction to receive a quote directly from an employee of one of the suppliers.

87. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

receive quotes from a plurality of suppliers;

arrange the quotes from the suppliers according to one of part and supplier; and

present the quotes to the repair facility.

88. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

receive input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility would like to accept the quote;

automatically generate a purchase order for the part associated with the accepted quote; and

send the purchase order to the one of the suppliers that submitted the quote.

89. The computer-readable medium of claim 88, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

receive quotes for multiple parts from one of the suppliers;

receive input from the repair facility indicating that the repair facility accepts more than one of the quotes from the one of the suppliers; and

automatically generate a purchase order for all the parts associated with the accepted quotes from the one of the suppliers.

90. The computer-readable medium of claim 88, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to maintain an audit log that tracks the generated RFQ, the resulting quotes, and the quotes accepted by the repair facility.

91. The computer-readable medium of claim 90, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to provide a summary of the audit log to an auditor.

92. The computer-readable medium of claim 90, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

receiving audit criteria from an auditor;

retrieving information from the audit log based on the audit criteria; and

presenting the auditor with the information retrieved from the audit log.

93. A method comprising:

maintaining an audit log for a computer-based system to track electronic RFQs generated by the system for one or more repair facilities, quotes received by the system from suppliers for each of the RFQs, and the quotes accepted and declined by the repair facilities; and

electronically presenting at least a portion of the audit log to an auditor via a communication network.

94. The method of claim 93, presenting at least a portion of the audit log to an auditor comprises providing a summary of the audit log to an auditor.

95. The method of claim 93, further comprising:

receiving audit criteria from an auditor;

retrieving information from the audit log based on the audit criteria; and

presenting the auditor with the information retrieved from the audit log.

96. The method of claim 95, wherein the audit criteria includes at least one of a city, repair facility name, parts manager, date, and time.

97. The method of claim 93, further comprising presenting the auditor with information regarding the portion of the RFQs that are currently in the bidding process.

98. The method of claim 93, further comprising:

receiving an estimate from one of the repair facilities over the communication network;

parsing the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the repair facility;

automatically generating a request for quote (RFQ) using the information extracted from the estimate; and

sending the RFQ to a portion of the suppliers via the communication network.

99. A method comprising:

receiving an estimate from a repair facility;

parsing the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the repair facility;

filtering at least a portion of the parts that do not meet a set of rules provided by an insurance company; and

automatically generating a request for quote (RFQ) using the information extracted from the estimate.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein filtering the parts that do not meet a set of rules provided by the insurance company comprises filtering the parts that the insurance company requires to be purchased new.

101. A method comprising:

receiving an estimate from a repair facility;

parsing the estimate to extract information that identifies a list of parts needed by the repair facility;

identifying combinations of parts from the list of parts that form an aggregate part; and

automatically generating a request for quote (RFQ) using the information extracted from the estimate and the identified aggregate parts.