Framework for implementing trade preference agreements

• US 8,799,141 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2011
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Zhang, Eryi, Drouin, Philippe, Thierer, Jochen, Frankenhauser, Uwe, Stier, Andreas
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi, Hani M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Graham, Clement B
• Application Number:
  US13/305,249
• Publication Number:
  US 20130138545A1
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/36.R, 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

A preference management framework allows for the management of vendor-based vendor declarations and of vendor declarations for customer'"'"'s purposes, preference determination based on preference agreements, the provision of statements regarding the preference eligibility of goods based on preference determinations, and the printing of several preference related documents according to the relevant agreements. The framework is flexible enough for users to easily develop their own preference schemes for new preference agreements. Users may first define (or modify) their responsible areas for preference management by assigning (or removing) administrative units of a business to themselves. Then the users may begin the preference processing by choosing one of their assigned administrative units and any preference agreements relevant to that administrative unit may be automatically determined for possible following steps in preference processes which can now be started.

Claims

1. A method for managing trade preferences in business systems, comprising:

performing the following using a processor;

receiving input from a user of a trade services system connected to at least one business system, displaying information regarding which administrative units of a business are assigned to the user of the trade services system based on the user'"'"'s input and information from the at least one business system;

modifying the information regarding which administrative units of the business are assigned to the user of the trade services system based on the input from the user;

selecting at least one administrative unit of the business that is assigned to the user of the trade services system for preference processing based on the input from the user;

displaying information regarding which legal units of the business and which trade preference rule sets of the trade services system are relevant to the selected administrative unit for preference processing;

selecting at least one relevant legal unit of the business and one relevant trade preference rule set of the trade services system for preference processing based on the input from the user; and

implementing a sequence of preference processing steps based on the selected legal unit of the business, the selected trade preference rule set and the input from the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected vendor that supplies goods to the business.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the monitoring or processing of vendor declarations includes requesting or sending reminders for vendor declarations from the selected vendor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected good traded by the business.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes a determination of a preference status for a selected good.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determination of a preference status for the selected good is based on vendor declarations received from vendors who supply the business with the selected good and the selected preference rule set.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the preference rule set includes internal values used for automatic preference processing and external values used to represent the selected preference rule set for preference analysis and document processing.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the external values and the internal values are mapped to each other such that an external preference indicator is mapped to an internal preference indicator which is mapped to an internal preference status which is in turn mapped to an external preference status.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the external values for representing the selected preference rule set or the mappings between the external and internal values are created or modified based on input from the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected customer that is supplied with goods by the business.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the monitoring or processing of vendor declarations includes sending vendor declarations to the selected customer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected customer is based on a determination of the preference status of a selected good supplied to the customer by the business.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to perform a method for managing trade preferences in business systems, comprising:

receiving input from a user of a trade services system connected to at least one business system, displaying information regarding which administrative units of a business are assigned to the user of the trade services system based on the user'"'"'s input and information from the at least one business system;

modifying the information regarding which administrative units of the business are assigned to the user of the trade services system based on the input from the user;

selecting at least one administrative unit of the business that is assigned to the user of the trade services system for preference processing based on the input from the user;

displaying information regarding which legal units of the business and which trade preference rule sets of the trade services system are relevant to the selected administrative unit for preference processing;

selecting at least one relevant legal unit of the business and one relevant trade preference rule set of the trade services system for preference processing based on the input from the user; and

implementing a sequence of preference processing steps based on the selected legal unit of the business, the selected trade preference rule set and the input from the user.

14. A system for managing trade preferences in business systems, comprising:

at least one business system including at least one processor; and

a trade services system including at least one processor and at least one data base and connected to the at least one business system, the trade services system configured to;

receive input from a user of a trade services system connected to at least one business system,

display information regarding which administrative units of a business are assigned to the user of the trade services system based on the user'"'"'s input and information from the at least one business system;

modify the information regarding which administrative units of the business are assigned to the user of the trade services system based on the input from the user;

select at least one administrative unit of the business that is assigned to the user of the trade services system for preference processing based on the input from the user;

display information regarding which legal units of the business and which trade preference rule sets of the trade services system are relevant to the selected administrative unit for preference processing;

select at least one legal unit of the business and one trade preference rule set of the trade services system for preference processing based on the input from the user; and

implement a sequence of preference processing steps based on the selected legal unit of the business, the selected trade preference rule set and the input from the user.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected vendor that supplies a selected good to the business and the monitoring or processing of vendor declarations includes requesting or sending reminders for vendor declarations from the selected vendor.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes a determination of a preference status for a selected good and the determination of a preference status for the selected good is based on vendor declarations received from vendors who supply the business with the selected good and the selected preference rule set.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the preference rule set includes internal values used for automatic preference processing and external values used to represent the selected preference rule set for preference analysis and document processing.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the external values and the internal values are mapped to each other such that an external preference indicator is mapped to an internal preference indicator which is mapped to an internal preference status which is in turn mapped to an external preference status.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the sequence of preference processing steps includes monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected customer that is supplied with goods by the business and the monitoring or processing of vendor declarations includes sending vendor declarations to the selected customer.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the monitoring or processing of vendor declarations for a selected customer is based on a determination of the preference status of a selected good supplied to the customer by the business.