System and method for managing a procurement process
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of determining financial relationships between multiple business divisions, the method performed using a computer system comprising one or more processing units and one or more memory units, the method comprising:
- (a) using the computer system, collecting procurement data from a plurality of data sources, the procurement data including information regarding a plurality of procurement events;
wherein one or more of the data sources has an associated source-specific product catalog;
(b) using the computer system, storing in memory a global catalog specifying, for each of a plurality of products, mapping relationships between source-specific product attributes specified by the one or more source-specific product catalogs and one or more generic attributes specified by the global catalog;
(c) using the computer system, mapping the source-specific attributes associated with products identified by the collected procurement data to the corresponding generic attributes using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog stored in memory;
(d) using the computer system, for each of a plurality of business divisions of a business entity, generating a set of spend formulas for determining spending associated with that business division;
(e) using the computer system, generating a set of supplier intelligence business rules regarding a procurement process, each supplier intelligence business rule interrelating at least one spend formula associated with a first one of the business divisions with at least one spend formula associated with a second one of the business divisions;
(f) using the computer system, analyzing at least a portion of the procurement data using one or more of the set of supplier intelligence business rules to determine an analysis identifying the financial effects of a decision made by the first business division on the second business division;
wherein the analysis includes identifying information regarding particular products based on the generic attributes associated with the one or more products as determined using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog; and
(g) using the computer system, displaying on a display device results of the analysis identifying the financial effects of the decision made by the first business division on the second business division.
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Abstract
A method of managing contracts is provided. The method includes storing a storing a plurality of electronic contracts including unstructured text. The method further includes determining one or more linguistic patterns associated with a business parameter and generating linguistic rules based on the one or more linguistic patterns. The method further includes extracting particular information regarding the business parameter from the plurality of contracts using one or more of the linguistic rules. The method further includes generating a visual output based on at least a portion of the extracted information.
161 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of determining financial relationships between multiple business divisions, the method performed using a computer system comprising one or more processing units and one or more memory units, the method comprising:
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(a) using the computer system, collecting procurement data from a plurality of data sources, the procurement data including information regarding a plurality of procurement events;
wherein one or more of the data sources has an associated source-specific product catalog;(b) using the computer system, storing in memory a global catalog specifying, for each of a plurality of products, mapping relationships between source-specific product attributes specified by the one or more source-specific product catalogs and one or more generic attributes specified by the global catalog; (c) using the computer system, mapping the source-specific attributes associated with products identified by the collected procurement data to the corresponding generic attributes using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog stored in memory; (d) using the computer system, for each of a plurality of business divisions of a business entity, generating a set of spend formulas for determining spending associated with that business division; (e) using the computer system, generating a set of supplier intelligence business rules regarding a procurement process, each supplier intelligence business rule interrelating at least one spend formula associated with a first one of the business divisions with at least one spend formula associated with a second one of the business divisions; (f) using the computer system, analyzing at least a portion of the procurement data using one or more of the set of supplier intelligence business rules to determine an analysis identifying the financial effects of a decision made by the first business division on the second business division;
wherein the analysis includes identifying information regarding particular products based on the generic attributes associated with the one or more products as determined using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog; and(g) using the computer system, displaying on a display device results of the analysis identifying the financial effects of the decision made by the first business division on the second business division. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Software for determining financial relationships between multiple business divisions, the software being embodied in computer-readable media and when executed operable to:
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collect procurement data from a plurality of data sources, the procurement data including information regarding a plurality of procurement events; wherein one or more of the data sources has an associated source-specific product catalog; cause storage in memory of a global catalog specifying, for each of a plurality of products, mapping relationships between source-specific product attributes specified by the one or more source-specific product catalogs and one or more generic attributes specified by the global catalog; map the source-specific attributes associated with products identified by the collected procurement data to the corresponding generic attributes using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog stored in memory; for each of a plurality of business divisions of a business entity, generate a set of spend formulas for determining spending associated with that business division; generate a set of supplier intelligence business rules regarding a procurement process, each supplier intelligence business rule interrelating at least one spend formula associated with a first one of the business divisions with at least one spend formula associated with a second one of the business divisions; and analyze at least a portion of the procurement data using one or more of the set of supplier intelligence business rules to determine the financial effects of a decision made by the first business division on the second business division; wherein the analysis includes identifying information regarding particular products based on the generic attributes associated with the one or more products as determined using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for determining financial relationships between multiple business divisions, comprising:
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a procurement data warehouse including at least one data storage medium operable to electronically collect procurement data from a plurality of data sources, the procurement data including information regarding a plurality of procurement events; wherein one or more of the data sources has an associated source-specific product catalog; a global catalog module including at least one processor and electronically communicatively coupled to the procurement data warehouse end, the global catalog module operable to; store in memory a global catalog specifying, for each of a plurality of products, mapping relationships between source-specific product attributes specified by the one or more source-specific product catalogs and one or more generic attributes specified by the global catalog; and map the source-specific attributes associated with products identified by the electronically collected procurement data to the corresponding generic attributes using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog stored in memory; a supplier intelligence business rules database operable to store a set of supplier intelligence business rules, each supplier intelligence business rule generated based on a variety of business parameters and interrelating at least one spend formula associated with a first one of the business divisions with at least one spend formula associated with a second one of the business divisions; and a supplier intelligence analysis module including at least one processor and electronically communicatively coupled to the procurement data warehouse and the supplier intelligence business rules database, the supplier intelligence analysis module operable to analyze at least a portion of the electronically collected procurement data using one or more of the set of supplier intelligence business rules to determine the financial effects of a decision made by the first business division on the second business division; wherein the analysis includes identifying information regarding particular products based on the generic attributes associated with the one or more products as determined using the mapping relationships specified in the global catalog. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification