Enhanced trade compliance system: mass amendment

• US 20060080347A1
• Filed: 08/29/2005
• Published: 04/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Potts, Tom, Peach, Laurie, Holmes, Frederic, Halterman, Matt, Strong, Charlene, Swirt, Mark, Thorn, Denise, Uy, Anthony
• Granted Patent: US 7,987,209 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for implementing mass amendments that affect many line items and span many entries in a trade compliance system. Mass amendment functions allow a data field that is repeated in a plurality of records in the trade compliance system to be corrected without redundant data entry. A copy of the records that contain the data field is made. The copy may be exported into an external spreadsheet. A global edit, which makes the same correction in each repetition of the data field, is performed on the copy. The edited copy is uploaded into a database in the trade compliance system, to update the records while still preserving the data that existed in the data field prior to the global edit.

Claims

1. A method of correcting a data field that is repeated in a plurality of records in a trade compliance system, without having to repetitively enter a correction in each instance of the data field, the method comprising:

making a copy of the plurality of records in which the data field is repeated;

modifying the copy of the records by performing a global edit that makes an identical correction in each repetition of the data field, without redundant data entry; and

uploading the edited copy of the records into a database of the trade compliance system, thereby updating the records while preserving existing data that was contained within the repeated data field prior to the global edit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of preserving any intervening edits that were made on the repeated data field prior to the global edit.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the acts of:

marking each of the records with a version number; and

incrementing the version number of each of the records by one unit, when that record is updated.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of generating and storing tracking data that track, for each record in the trade compliance system, an edit history of all edits that are made to that record, the edit history allowing any edited record to be re-created in its unedited state, or in any intervening edited state.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of submitting, before making the copy, a query to seek for all records in the trade compliance system that contain information relevant to the data field;

and

wherein making the copy of the plurality of records comprises making a copy of the records retrieved as a result of the query.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of modifying the copy comprises:

exporting the copy into an external spreadsheet; and

making the global edit by using one or more editing features of the spreadsheet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of uploading the edited copy into the database comprises importing the edited copy from the spreadsheet to the database.

9. The method of claim 1,

wherein the database comprises an entry history database that is configured to store data relating to imported goods, and is further configured to generate and store entry history data that track a history of data entries that have been made in the trade compliance system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data relating to the imported goods include at least one of:

one or more customs forms submitted by a customs broker to a customs agency and having a format promulgated by the customs agency;

one or more HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) codes that are assigned to the imported goods;

an amount of duty that was paid for the imported goods;

a quantity of the imported goods;

a price of the imported goods; and

shipment information relating to shipments of the imported goods, including time of the shipments, and bills of lading associated with the shipments.

11. The method of claim 6,

wherein information comprises at least one of:

a quantity of imported goods;

an invoice price of the imported goods;

an amount of duty that was paid for the imported goods; and

a HTS code assigned to one or more of the imported goods.

4. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of making a copy of the plurality of records comprises:

including in the copy a version number of each record that is copied; and

for each of the records, only making a copy of a version having a latest version number.

12. A trade compliance system, comprising:

a database configured to store data relating to imported goods, the database further configured to store entry history data that track a history of data entries that have been made in the trade compliance system; and

a processing system coupled to the database and configured to enable a data field that is repeated in a plurality of records in the database to be corrected without need for repetitive entry of correction in each instance of the data field.

13. The trade compliance system of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

make a copy of the plurality of the records in which the data field is repeated;

modify the copy of the records by performing a single global edit that makes an identical correction in each repetition of the data field without redundant data entry; and

update the plurality of records by uploading the edited copy of the records into the database, while preserving existing data that was contained within the repeated data field prior to the global edit.

14. The trade compliance system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further configured to preserve any intervening edits that were made on the repeated data field prior to the global edit.

15. The trade compliance system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further configured to mark each record in the trade compliance system with a version number so as to avoid inconsistent edits, and to increment the version number of each record by one unit, when that record is updated.

16. The trade compliance system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

include in the copy a version number of each record that is copied; and

only make a copy of a version having a latest version number, for each of the plurality of records.

17. The trade compliance system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further configured to generate and store tracking data that track, for each record in the trade compliance system, an edit history of all edits that are made to that record, the edit history allowing any edited record to be re-created in its unedited state, or in any intervening edited state.

18. The trade compliance system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further configured to submit, before making the copy, a query to seek for all records in the database that are relevant to specific information about the imported goods, and to make a copy of the records that are retrieved as a result of the query.

19. The trade compliance system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further configured to modify the copy of the records by:

exporting the copy into a spreadsheet; and

making the global edit by using one or more editing features of the spreadsheet.

20. The trade compliance system of claim 19, wherein the processing system is further configured to upload the edited copy into the database by importing the edited copy from the spreadsheet to the database.

21. The trade compliance system of claim 18, wherein the specific information includes at least one of:

one or more customs forms submitted by a customs broker to a customs agency and having a format promulgated by the customs agency;

one or more HTS codes that are assigned to the imported goods;

an amount of duty that was paid for the imported goods;

a quantity of the imported goods;

a price of the imported goods; and

shipment information relating to shipments of the imported goods, including time of the shipments, and bills of lading associated with the shipments.

22. A computer-readable medium having stored therein computer-readable instructions for a processor, wherein the instructions, when read and implemented by the processor, cause the processor to:

make a copy of a plurality of records in a trade compliance system, wherein a data field is repeated in each one of the plurality of records;

modify the copy of the plurality of records by performing a global edit that makes an identical correction in each repetition of the data field, without redundant data entry; and

update the plurality of records by uploading the edited copy of the records into a database of the trade compliance system, while preserving existing data that was contained within the repeated data field prior to the global edit.

23. A trade compliance system, comprising:

means for storing data relating to imported goods, and for storing entry history data that track a history of data entries that have been made in the trade compliance system; and

processing means for enabling a data field that is repeated in a plurality of records in the database to be corrected without need for repetitive entry of correction in each instance of the data field.

24. The trade compliance system of claim 23, wherein the processing means comprise:

means for making a copy of the plurality of the records in which the data field is repeated;

means for modifying the copy by performing a single global edit that makes an identical correction in each repetition of the data field without redundant data entry; and

means for updating the plurality of records by uploading the edited copy of the records into the database, while preserving existing data that was contained within the repeated data field prior to the global edit.