Method and Apparatus for Consumer Procurement Aggregation
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Abstract
A method, system and computer program for accumulating information relating to product demand and consumption for each of a plurality of end users by a buying group representing a single purchase in bulk to disintermediate the supply chain, accumulating the received product demand into a predictive demand schedule by an expert service provider, and transmitting the accumulated predictive product demand schedule to a manufacturer/original source of the product by the expert service provider. Product availability information based upon the accumulated predictive product demand is received from the manufacturer/original source of the product, and is provided to the plurality of end users. One or more product orders are received, the product is ordered from the manufacturer/original source of the product, all aspects of the supply chain being managed by the expert service provider, and the product is shipped to one or more of the plurality of end users.
68 Citations
40 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program causing a general purpose computer to perform a method for providing a supply chain as a service, comprising the steps of:
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accumulating information relating to product demand and consumption for each of a plurality of end users by a buying group representing a single purchase in bulk to disintermediate the supply chain; accumulating the received product demand into a predictive demand schedule by an expert service provider on behalf of the buying group; transmitting the accumulated predictive product demand schedule to a manufacturer/original source of the product by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group; receiving product availability information based upon the accumulated predictive product demand from the manufacturer/original source of the product by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group; providing the product availability information to the plurality of end users by the buying group; receiving one or more product orders from one or more of the plurality of end users in accordance with the product availability information; ordering product from the manufacturer/original source of the product and managing all aspects of the supply chain in accordance with the received one or more product orders by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group; and shipping the product from the manufacturer/original source of the product to one or more of the plurality of end users in accordance with the received product order for each of the end users. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A single enterprise resource planning (ERP) system incorporating information seamlessly, predicatively between end users, logistics and fulfillment providers and manufacturers or original sources of goods and services, comprising:
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an input for receiving information by a computer system operated by an expert service provider on behalf of a buying group relating to product demand and consumption for each of a plurality of end users; a predictive engine implemented by a computer processor of the computer system operated by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group for accumulating the received product demand into one or more demand schedules; an output for transmitting by the computer system on behalf of the expert service provider the one or more demand schedules to a manufacturer/original source of the product; an optimization engine for receiving product availability information via the input of the computer system from the manufacturer/original source of the product, and for determining one or more options for ordering the products by the computer processor of the computer system; a procurement system implemented by the expert service provider on the computer processor of the computer system for providing the product availability information and the one or more options for ordering the products to the plurality of end users on behalf of the buying group, for ordering product by the one or more end users from the manufacturer/original source of the product in accordance with the procurement system, and for managing shipping the product from the manufacturer/original source of the product to one or more of the plurality of end users by the expert service provider in accordance with the received product order information for each of the end users. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program causing a general purpose computer to perform a method for providing a supply chain as a service, comprising the steps of:
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aggregating specific demand for products and services from multiple individual entities by a buying group to reach one of a desired volume and frequency level; transmitting the accumulated aggregated product and services demand by an expert service provider on behalf of the buying group to a manufacturer/original source of the product and service; receiving product and service availability information by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group based upon the accumulated predictive product and service demand from the manufacturer/original source of the product and service; providing the product and service availability information to the plurality of individual entities by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group; receiving one or more product and service orders from one or more of the plurality of individual entities by the buying group; ordering product and services by the expert service provider on behalf of the buying group from the manufacturer/original source of the product and services in accordance with the received one or more product and services orders, thereby disintermediating the supply chain and allowing for procurement of product and services directly from manufacturers and original sources of products and services; and shipping the product and service directly from the manufacturer/original source of the product and service to one or more of the plurality of individual entities in accordance with the received product and service order information for each of the end users for each of the plurality of individual entities if it is determined that the product and service order therefore are greater than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification