Collective procurement management system

• US 7,124,107 B1
• Filed: 06/07/1999
• Issued: 10/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cimpress Schweiz GmbH (Cimpress Plc)
• Original Assignee: Freewebs Incorporated (Cimpress Plc)
• Inventors: Pishevar, Shervin, Morris, Drew E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kyle, Charles R.
• Application Number:
  US09/326,646
• Time in Patent Office: 2,689 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A collective procurement management system which permits multiple potential purchasers of a specific item or service to submit orders for the item or service on an ongoing basis. As orders enter the system, they are grouped such that potential purchasers are may “cooperate” in generating a collective bulk order so that all participants may obtain discount/volume pricing. Once a threshold level of order volume is obtained as a result of multiple orders, the grouped order is submitted to the supplier for fulfillment. The order is then fulfilled at a volume pricing level although individual portions of the collective order are routed to a plurality of purchasers. The present invention also includes a Reverse Auction Process (RAP) which, in one embodiment, operates to allow potential purchasers to select a product or service and set a maximum price that they are willing to pay for the same. Following submission of this information to the system, possibly including orders for the same item from other potential buyers, potential vendors bid to supply the item to the relevant buyers requesting the item.

Claims

1. A collective procurement management system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory storing a plurality of processing instructions that enable the processor to;

generate a profile for each of a plurality of purchasers based on their purchasing characteristics over a period of time, the profile characteristics including types of items ordered, quantities of items ordered, location and shipping needs;

generate a profile for each of a plurality of sellers based on types of items provided, industry type, payment methods used, order shipment time and credit rating;

provide to each of the plurality of sellers a macro for automatically uploading a catalog of items available for purchase, including a minimum price and a minimum order size of each of the items;

provide the minimum price and the minimum order size to the plurality of purchasers prior to a submission of a purchase request;

receive a purchase request from each of the plurality of purchasers for an item, each purchase request including at least one separate purchase price for the item, a separate quantity of the item, and a separate delivery condition for the item;

receive, from each of a plurality of sellers, a bid for a supply commitment for the item, each bid including a plurality of supply prices for the item, each supply price corresponding to a quantity of the item to be included in an order;

group said plurality of purchase requests, based on the item and the purchase price, into a collective procurement order;

identify at least one of the plurality of sellers for supplying the item for the collective procurement order based on the received bids;

identify a final supply price for the collective procurement order based on the ordered quantity of the item in the collective procurement order and the received bids; and

fulfill said collective procurement order by matching at least one of the identified suppliers to at least one of said plurality of purchasers, based on a comparison of the profile of each purchaser with the profile of each identified supplier, and further based on each requested purchase price and received delivery condition compared to the supply commitment received for each identified supplier, at least one of said purchase requests being fulfilled at the final supply price when the final supply price is lower than the purchase price included in said purchase request.

2. The system of claim 1, said memory further comprising an inventory database including a listing of at least one item available for purchase by the plurality of purchasers.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor groups each purchase request based on a similar item requested by the plurality of purchasers.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor groups each purchase request only if the purchase requests specify the same item.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor fulfills the collective procurement order if the plurality of purchase requests satisfy at least one threshold condition.

6. The system of claim 5, said threshold condition including a minimum number of purchasers in the collective procurement order.

7. The system of claim 5, said threshold condition including a minimum quantity of requested items in the collective procurement order.

8. The system of claim 5, said threshold condition including a minimum total order price for the collective procurement order, the total order price based on the plurality of purchase prices and a number of requested items in the collective procurement order.

22. The system of claim 1, said plurality of purchasers comprising at least two purchasers providing different purchase prices.

9. A method for fulfilling a collective procurement order between at least one supplier and a plurality of purchasers, the method comprising:

generating a profile for each of a plurality of purchasers based on their purchasing characteristics over a period of time, the profile characteristics including types of items ordered, quantities of items ordered, location and shipping needs;

generating a profile for each of a plurality of sellers based on types of items provided, industry type, payment methods used, order shipment time and credit rating;

providing to each of the plurality of sellers a macro for automatically uploading a catalog of items available for purchase, including a minimum price and a minimum order size of each of the items;

providing the minimum price and the minimum order size to the plurality of purchasers prior to a submission of a purchase request;

receiving a purchase request from each of a plurality of purchasers for an identified item, the purchase request including at least one separate purchase price, a separate quantity of the identified item, and a separate delivery condition for the identified item;

receiving from each of a plurality of sellers, a bid for a supply commitment for the identified item, each bid including a plurality of supply prices for the identified item, each supply price corresponding to a quantity of the identified item to be included in an order;

grouping said plurality of purchase requests, based on the identified item and the purchase price, into a collective procurement order;

identifying at least one of the plurality of sellers for supplying the identified item for the collective procurement order, based on the received bids;

identifying a final supply price for the collective procurement order based on the quantity of the identified item in the collective procurement order and the received bids; and

fulfilling said collective procurement order by matching at least one of the identified suppliers to at least one of said plurality of purchasers, based on a comparison of the profile of each purchaser with the profile of each identified supplier, and further based on each requested purchase price and received delivery condition compared to the supply commitment received for each identified supplier, at least one of said purchase requests being fulfilled at the final supply price when the final supply price is lower than the purchase price included in said purchase request.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein each of said suppliers fulfill at least a portion of each purchase request.

11. The method of claim 9, said fulfilling further comprising:

fulfilling the collective procurement order only if a minimum total quantity of the identified item is ordered from the plurality of purchase requests.

12. The method of claim 9, said fulfilling further comprising:

fulfilling said collective procurement order only if a minimum number of purchasers are grouped.

13. The method of claim 9, said fulfilling further comprising:

fulfilling the collective procurement order only if a minimum total order price is established for the collective procurement order, based on the plurality of purchase requests.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein said purchase price received from each of said purchasers includes a plurality of prices, each price corresponding to different quantities of the identified item in the purchase request.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising

receiving at least one acceptable price from the at least one supplier, each acceptable price corresponding to a total quantity of the identified item in the collective procurement order.

16. The method of claim 9, each said purchase request specifying at least one additional purchase condition in connection with the identified item.

23. The method of claim 9, said plurality of purchasers comprising at least two purchasers providing different purchase prices.

17. An apparatus for completing collective procurement management orders, comprising:

means for generating a profile for each of a plurality of purchasers based on their purchasing characteristics over a period of time, the profile characteristics including types of items ordered, quantities of items ordered, location and shipping needs;

means for generating a profile for each of a plurality of sellers based on types of items provided, industry type, payment methods used, order shipment time and credit rating;

means for providing to each of the plurality of sellers a macro for automatically uploading a catalog of items available for purchase, including a minimum price and a minimum order size of each of the items;

means for providing the minimum price and the minimum order size to the plurality of purchasers prior to a submission of a purchase request;

means for receiving a purchase request from each of a plurality of purchasers for an identified item, the purchase request including at least one separate purchase price, a separate quantity of the identified item, and a separate delivery condition for the identified item;

means for receiving, from each of a plurality of sellers, a bid for a supply commitment for the identified item, each bid including a plurality of supply prices for the identified item, each supply price corresponding to a quantity of the identified item to be included in an order;

means for grouping said plurality of purchase requests, based on the identified item and the purchase price, into a collective procurement order;

means for identifying at least one of the plurality of sellers for supplying the identified item for the collective procurement order, based on the received bids;

means for identifying a final supply price for the collective procurement order based on the quantity of the identified item in the collective procurement order and the received bids; and

means for fulfilling said collective procurement order by matching at least one of the identified suppliers to at least one of said plurality of purchasers, based on a comparison of the profile of each purchaser with the profile of each identified supplier, and further based on each requested purchase price and received delivery condition compared to the supply commitment received for each identified supplier, at least one of said purchase requests being fulfilled at the final supply price when the final supply price is lower than the purchase price included in said purchase request.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, said purchase request including at least one additional purchase criteria.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for notifying at least one purchaser of a pending collective procurement order based upon profile information of the purchaser.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for identifying, to the at least one supplier, a number of purchase requests forming said collective procurement order, wherein said supply price is based on the number of purchase requests.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for notifying the plurality of purchasers of an amount of time remaining prior to a closing of the collective procurement order.