PARTS RECOMMENDATION AND PROCUREMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20160078403A1
• Filed: 09/14/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transtar Industries, Inc. (Speedstar Holding Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Maxx Innovations, LLC
• Inventors: Chaikin, Bryan, DeMille, Tom, Sethi, Neil
• Granted Patent: US 11,017,351 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders

Abstract

A system and method for recommending and procuring parts to repair a malfunctioning vehicle is disclosed. A recommendation and procurement application can: take information from a vehicle'"'"'s on-board diagnostic system and recommend a list of parts required to repair the malfunctioning vehicle; find the recommended parts available for purchase via the Internet; retrieve information on such recommended parts; arrange the information in a format most useable to a technician that is to repair the vehicle; and allow the technician to purchase or otherwise procure such recommended parts to facilitate repair of the malfunctioning vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for recommending and procuring a part comprising:

receiving vehicle data comprising a vehicle identification number (VIN) of a vehicle and a diagnostic code of the vehicle;

searching a codes database using the diagnostic code to identify maintenance information associated with the diagnostic code;

accessing a parts database comprising parts data associated with vehicle identification information and a weighting factor, wherein the parts data is compiled from multiple sources, and wherein the multiple sources comprise original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts data and aftermarket parts data;

comparing, automatically with one or more processors, the VIN of the vehicle and the vehicle identification information associated with the parts data to identify compatible parts from the parts data;

recommending a recommended part from the compatible parts based upon the maintenance information and the weighting factor associated with the compatible parts;

receiving a selection of a selected part;

processing an order for the selected part;

correlating, automatically with the one or more processors, the selected part and the VIN of the vehicle; and

adjusting the weighting factor associated with the compatible parts based upon the selected part and the VIN of the vehicle that are correlated.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising correlating, automatically with the one or more processors, attributes of the vehicle with attributes of the recommended part.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the attributes of the vehicle comprise year of the vehicle, make of the vehicle, model of the vehicle, residual value of the vehicle, mileage of the vehicle, condition of the vehicle, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the attributes of the recommended part comprises cost of the recommended part, quality of the recommended part, and function of the recommended part.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommended part is selected from the compatible parts based upon recommendation rules.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the recommendation rules recommend parts based upon warranty status of the vehicle, age of the vehicle, condition of the vehicle, budget, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising sorting the compatible parts, the recommended parts, or both based upon factors.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the factors comprise age of the vehicle, condition of vehicle, anticipated service life of the vehicle, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising filtering the compatible parts, the recommended parts, or both based upon factors.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the weighting factor is adjusted to deemphasize the compatible parts that are not selected.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the weighting factor is adjusted to emphasize the selected part.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising

receiving login credentials associated with a registered user;

and

filtering the compatible parts, the recommended parts, or both based upon stored preferences associated with the registered user.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the stored preferences comprise a manufacturer preference, a distributor preference, a price category, a purchase history, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle identification information comprises year of the vehicle, make of the vehicle, model of the vehicle, origination point of the vehicle, or a combination thereof.

15. A system for recommending and procuring a part comprising a diagnostic interface device communicatively coupled to a computing device, wherein the computing device comprises one or more processors communicatively coupled to memory and a display, and wherein the one or more processors execute machine readable instructions to:

receive a diagnostic code of an vehicle from the diagnostic interface device;

receive vehicle data comprising a vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle;

search a codes database using the diagnostic code to identify maintenance information associated with the diagnostic code;

access a parts database comprising parts data associated with vehicle identification information and a weighting factor, wherein the parts data is compiled from multiple sources, and wherein the multiple sources comprise original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts data and aftermarket parts data;

compare the VIN of the vehicle and the vehicle identification information associated with the parts data to identify compatible parts from the parts data;

select recommended parts from the compatible parts based upon the maintenance information and the weighting factor associated with the compatible parts;

provide the recommended parts upon the display;

receiving a selection indicative of a selected part of the recommended parts;

process an order for the selected part;

correlate the selected part and the VIN of the vehicle; and

adjust the weighting factor associated with the compatible parts based upon the selected part and the VIN of the vehicle that are correlated.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein diagnostic interface device interfaces with an on-board diagnostic system of the vehicle according to an industry standard protocol.

17. A system for recommending and procuring parts comprising a computer server and a plurality of computing devices, wherein:

each of the computing devices execute machine readable instructions to;

access a parts database comprising parts data associated with vehicle identification information;

compare a vehicle identification number (VIN) of an vehicle and the vehicle identification information associated with the parts data to identify compatible parts from the parts data;

select recommended parts from the compatible parts based upon maintenance information;

receive a selection indicative of a selected part of the recommended parts;

correlate the selected part, the VIN of the automobile and the maintenance information; and

the computer server executes machine readable server instructions to;

receive, from the computing devices, the selected part, the VIN of the vehicle and the maintenance information that are correlated;

compile the selected part, the VIN of the vehicle and the maintenance information that are correlated into aggregated data; and

analyze the aggregated data to determine baseline cost for a repair associated with the maintenance information.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein:

each of the computing devices execute the machine readable instructions to;

receive authorization data indicative of authorization of the repair associated with the maintenance information;

correlate the authorization data and the VIN of the vehicle; and

the computer server executes the machine readable server instructions to;

receive, from the computing devices, the authorization data correlated to the VIN of the vehicle; and

compile the authorization data into the aggregated data.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the parts data is compiled from multiple sources, and wherein the multiple sources comprise original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts data and aftermarket parts data.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein each of the computing devices execute the machine readable instructions to:

provide the recommended parts upon the display;

receive a selection indicative of the selected part via the recommended parts; and

process an order for the selected part.