Interactive user interface for displaying supply chain information

• US 9,280,267 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2013
• Issued: 03/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Morgan Stanley Services Group Inc. (Morgan Stanley)
• Original Assignee: Morgan Stanley
• Inventors: Hurewitz, Barry Scott, Harvey, Vaughn Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Ulrich, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US13/778,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20130275845A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,105 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/968 interface for database querying and retrieval

Abstract

An interactive user interface is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the interface includes a first field and at least one additional field. The first field lists a focal item and the at least one additional field contains a listing of items related to the focal item. Certain of the related items in the at least one additional field include a hyperlink which, when activated by the user, causes the item corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item listed in the first field, such that the at least one additional field transitions to list items related to the new focal item. The focal item may be, for example, an identifier corresponding to a company, and the at least one additional field may contain a listing of identifiers corresponding to companies that are customers, suppliers or competitors of the focal item company.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for presenting related company data via an interactive user interface, the system comprising:

a host system, the host system comprising at least one processor and operatively associated memory, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the host system to;

generate a user interface, wherein the user interface comprises;

a first field comprising a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company;

a second field comprising a plurality of supplier company identifiers that identify supplier companies that are suppliers to the focal company above a predetermined level, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of supplier company identifiers are spatially ordered within the second field according to the levels at which the corresponding supplier companies supply the focal company, and wherein a first supplier company identifier of the plurality of supplier company identifiers is associated with a supplier level indicator that indicates a level at which a first supplier company identified by the first supplier company identifier supplies the focal company;

serve the user interface to a client device;

receive from the client device an indication of a second supplier company identifier of the plurality of supplier company identifiers;

generate a repopulated user interface with a second supplier company corresponding to the second supplier company identifier positioned as a new focal company, wherein for the repopulated user interface;

the first field comprises an indicator of the new focal company; and

the second field comprises a second plurality of supplier company identifiers that identify supplier companies that are suppliers to the new focal company; and

serve the repopulated user interface to the client device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the level at which the first supplier company supplies the focal company is displayed as a portion of the first supplier company'"'"'s revenue generated from the focal company.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the portion of the first supplier company'"'"'s revenue generated from the focal company is displayed as a percentage of the first supplier company'"'"'s total revenue.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the supplier company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink, and wherein the receiving from the client device the indication of the second supplier company identifier of the plurality of supplier company identifiers comprises receiving an indication that a hyperlink associated with the second supplier company has been selected.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the host system to:

serve to the client device a company interface comprising indications of a plurality of companies including the focal company arranged into a hierarchy by industry; and

receive from the client device a selection of the indication of the focal company.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further comprises a third field, the third field comprising a plurality of customer company identifiers that identify customer companies that are customers of the focal company above a predetermined level, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of customer company identifiers are spatially ordered within the third field according to the levels at which the corresponding customer companies are customers of the focal company.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the host system to:

receive from the client device an indication of a first customer company identifier of the plurality of customer company identifiers;

generate a second repopulated user interface with a first customer company corresponding to the first customer company identifier positioned as a second new focal company, where for the second repopulated user interface;

the first field comprises an indication of the second new focal company; and

the second field comprises a third plurality of supplier company identifiers that identify supplier companies that are suppliers to the second new focal company; and

the third field comprises a second plurality of customer company identifiers that identify customer companies that are customers of the second new focal company.

8. A computer-implemented system for presenting related company data via an interactive user interface, the system comprising:

a host system, the host system comprising at least one processor and operatively associated memory, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the host system to;

generate a user interface, wherein the user interface comprises;

a first field comprising a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company;

a second field comprising a plurality of customer company identifiers that identify customer companies that are customers of the focal company above a predetermined level, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of customer company identifiers are spatially ordered within the second field according to the levels at which the corresponding customer companies are customers of the focal company, wherein a first customer company identifier of the plurality of customer company identifiers is associated with a customer level indicator that indicates a level at which a first customer company identified by the first customer company identifier is a customer of the focal company;

serve the user interface to a client device;

receive from the client device an indication of a second customer company identifier of the plurality of customer company identifiers;

generate a repopulated user interface with a second customer company corresponding to the second customer company identifier positioned as a new focal company, wherein after the repopulating;

the first field comprises an indicator of the new focal company; and

the second field comprises a second plurality of customer company identifiers that identify customer companies that are customers of the new focal company; and

serve the repopulated user interface to the client device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the level at which the first customer company is a customer of the focal company is displayed as a portion of the focal company'"'"'s revenue generated from the first customer company.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the portion of the focal company'"'"'s revenue generated from the first customer company is displayed as a percentage of the focal company'"'"'s total revenue.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the customer company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink, and wherein the receiving from the client device the indication of the second customer company identifier of the plurality of customer company identifiers comprises receive an indication that a hyperlink associated with the second customer company has been selected.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the host system to:

serve to the client device a company interface comprising indications of a plurality of companies including the focal company arranged into a hierarchy by industry; and

receive from the client device a selection of the indication of the focal company.