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WO2001063526A1 - Procede et systeme permettant de creer et d'utiliser un reseau commercial d'egal a egal - Google Patents

Procede et systeme permettant de creer et d'utiliser un reseau commercial d'egal a egal Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001063526A1
WO2001063526A1 PCT/US2001/005609 US0105609W WO0163526A1 WO 2001063526 A1 WO2001063526 A1 WO 2001063526A1 US 0105609 W US0105609 W US 0105609W WO 0163526 A1 WO0163526 A1 WO 0163526A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
trading
node
network
frading
request
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2001/005609
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Philip J. Hayes
Aidan J. Mckenna
Bruce M. Mclaren
Original Assignee
Openwebs Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Openwebs Corporation filed Critical Openwebs Corporation
Priority to AU2001239817A priority Critical patent/AU2001239817A1/en
Publication of WO2001063526A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001063526A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to a computer-based method and system for trading goods and services.
  • the system and method of the present invention provides an electronic platform that enables any participant in a trading network to trade with any other participant in the trading network according to its own individual trading rules.
  • EDI Electronic Data Interchange
  • IBM share is a clone of any other. There are questions of quality, delivery promises and other differentiators.
  • VAN Value Added Network
  • PO Box Post Office Box
  • exchange usually operated as an independent business, and the exchange “holds” the messages in numbered “mailboxes” until they are picked up by the addressees when they electronically
  • B2C Business to Consumer
  • B2B Business to Business
  • eBusiness electronic trading
  • the Internet is a compelling electronic commerce platform for many reasons. Access to the Internet is ubiquitous. Even the simplest networked computer capable of running a browser provides a real-time window to the entire Internet. The transaction process - deciding what to buy/sell, actually buying or selling, and the trade settlement -can be done in a very efficient manner using the Internet. Information on the Internet is easily updated, and is instantaneously available to all interested parties. Buyers and sellers can share important information about each aspect of the transaction decision. As participation in electronic markets increases, so too do choices and opportunities to consummate transactions in a manner that more efficiently meets the needs of buyers, sellers, and market makers. The more consumers and businesses that are connected to the Internet, the greater its value: the so-called "network effect”. Early E-commerce on the Internet
  • Offering products online in a static catalog format is, nevertheless, a substantial improvement over older means such as telephones, faxes etc. It is a comfortable way for early electronic market participants to leverage some of the benefits of Internet commerce.
  • Sellers can post price lists, catalogs, and sales brochures already in use. Buyers can peruse information from anywhere and make a purchase at any time.
  • catalog markets are single-source; i.e., they only allow customers to obtain information and products from one seller. Some electronic catalogs have been updated to include information about competing products; however, many of these systems are biased towards the seller offering the electronic catalog or market.
  • static prices and lack of availability information of catalog markets are a disadvantage. Market conditions are constantly changing, and access to the Internet can provide virtually instantaneous knowledge about market demand. Static catalog markets do not take advantage of real-time market or supply information. Therefore, more dynamic models of e- commerce, such as online auctions and exchanges, were introduced. Through online auctions and exchanges, buyers and sellers are given the ability to buy and sell goods and services over the Internet in an environment where price and availability change with supply and demand.
  • FreeMarkets are by far the most common form of B2B auction and represent almost all the dollar volume of auction business. This is generally because manufacturers are unwilling to offer their finished goods, particularly quality branded offerings, on an open auction site. On such sites, price becomes the lowest common denominator and the manufacturers are unable to earn any premium for brand, quality, superior service or the many other important attributes that separate the leading enterprises from their low cost imitators.
  • the Exchange Model on the Internet is generally because manufacturers are unwilling to offer their finished goods, particularly quality branded offerings, on an open auction site. On such sites, price becomes the lowest common denominator and the manufacturers are unable to earn any premium for brand, quality, superior service or the many other important attributes that separate the leading enterprises from their low cost imitators.
  • the Exchange Model based on a central facility into which all transactions are tunneled and executed, has been widely implemented as a way to do e-commerce over the Internet in the form of electronic exchanges (sometimes called "eMarketplaces") for many industries.
  • Electronic exchanges have been created for a wide array of industries.
  • Dotcoms that designed Websites to act for an industry (like Metals) or series of industries (like Automotive) in a manner similar to the service provided by the original exchanges, the securities businesses.
  • these Dotcoms or eMarketplaces have failed to attract the traffic that they had been expecting and many of the businesses are failing.
  • An electronic B2B exchange allows multiple buyers and multiple sellers to simultaneously conduct trading within a single marketplace.
  • An electronic exchange is therefore less buyer-centric or seller-centric than an online auction, although many electronic exchanges are run by interested parties instead of disinterested third-party market makers.
  • the large automakers, GM, Ford, and Daimler/Chrysler have created a marketplace called Covisnt for buying from their suppliers.
  • B2B exchange Participants in the simplest and most common kind of B2B exchange interact with the exchange site directly via an Internet browser.
  • the exchange site is responsible for matching buyers' bids and sellers' offerings, according to criteria set by the exchange.
  • exchanges are centralized and controlled by a single organization and a fixed set of rules of engagement.
  • the organization running the exchange is not neutral to the outcome of the exchange's transactions, raising questions of fairness and confidentiality.
  • the trading network of the present invention improves buyer and seller satisfaction: buyers can choose an option from a range of alternatives based upon a number of preferences they may have including but not limited to, seller, brand and the best price; sellers can choose to offer an option based upon their preferences which can include a series of criteria including but not limited to, buyer, optimal inventory levels and the best margins.
  • the trading network of the present invention uses computer-to-computer connectivity for real-time execution of orders. It allows for peer-to-peer trading, and lets participants establish individual trading rules. It allows a participating buyer to respond to offerings made anywhere on the network, and assists the buyer in examining potential product offerings and evaluating terms offered, all automatically, tempered to the exact preferences of this buyer at this time.
  • the method and system of the present invention puts e-commerce inside core business systems.
  • a participant in the trading network of the present invention can search for inventory among other trading partners - from the same system that it searches its own inventory.
  • a participant no longer must exit its POS application, or log on to a browser-based website to find the information or products it needs.
  • POS POS
  • Inventory Inventory
  • Browsing Browsing
  • Trading there is no need to keep switching backwards and forwards between different systems such as POS, Inventory, Browsing, and Trading.
  • the whole job is handled, in the background by the computer from a single entry of the operator.
  • Computer-to-computer connectivity also means that participants are connected to real-time inventory information, thereby ensuring that the information is up-to- date.
  • the trading network of the present invention enables retailers, distributors and manufacturers to trade with each other on a peer-to-peer basis. That means that each participant, small and large, powerful and weak, has the same access and visibility to every other participant. Distributors can buy from or sell to other distributors. Teen on the network can trade directly with anyone else. This type of peer-to-peer trading allows ecommerce conducted using the inventive system to enjoy the full benefit of the network effect.
  • trading network of the present invention One benefit of the trading network of the present invention is that businesses can compete on non-price variables, such as brand, product, service, functionality, delivery, and most importantly, relationship or contractual obligation.
  • Another benefit of the trading network of the present invention is that each participant's fulfillment capability is expanded because the power of the entire channel is leveraged. Businesses can fulfill more orders without increasing inventory levels.
  • One embodiment of the invention comprises a method of fulfilling a request on a trading network comprised of a plurality of trading partners, comprising the steps of sending a request to at least one trading partner, whereby the request is sent only to trading partners chosen by a trading rule; receiving at least one response to the request from the at least one trading partner; ranking the at least one responses according to an evaluation rule; and accepting one of the at least one responses.
  • Another embodiment of the invention comprises a method for a node in a trading network to respond to a request for a specified quantity of specified goods, comprising the steps of: receiving a request; determining whether to respond to the request according to a trading rule; generating a response according to said determination, wherein said response includes at least one node preference; and responding to the request with the generated response.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention comprises a method for a requesting node to determine which of a plurality of offers to accept, comprising the steps of receiving a plurality of offers; ranking said offers using an evaluation rule; and determining whether to accept an offer.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides for a trading network that comprised a plurality of nodes, wherein at least one node is a different type of entity than at least one other node; wherein any node participating in the trading network can trade with any other node in the trading network; wherein each node has a set of private, individual trading rales that govern that node's trading behavior; and wherein a first node may send a trading request to at least one second node according to the first node's trading rules, and the at least one second node determines whether to respond to the trading request according to each of the at least one second node's trading rules.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for a node in a trading network to make a request to at least one other node on the trading network, comprising the steps of: calculating a score for each of a plurality of trading nodes on the trading network using at least one rule established by the requesting node; for each of the plurality of trading nodes, determining if the calculated score meets a minimum threshold; and sending a request from a requesting node to any trading nodes that have a minimum score; wherein the trading network makes the determination and automatically sends the requests to the trading nodes with a minimum score.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the trading network of the present invention
  • Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a central repository used in the trading network of the present invention
  • Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for one embodiment of a node in the trading network of the present invention
  • Figs. 4A-4D are block diagrams illustrating some of the internode messaging used by the trading network of the present invention to process a transaction
  • Fig. 5 is a screen display illustrating an example of offers to sell ranked by the trading network of the present invention
  • Figs. 6A-6C are block flow diagrams illustrating an example of a purchase request transaction using the trading rules of the trading network of the present invention
  • Figs. 7A-C are block flow diagrams illustrating an example of a purchase request transaction using the trading rales of the trading network of the present invention
  • Figs. 8A-B are block flow diagrams illustrating an example of a purchase request transaction using the trading rales of the trading network of the present invention
  • Figs. 9A-B illustrate examples of some of the types of messages used by the trading network of the present invention.
  • Fig. 10 is a block flow diagram illustrating an example of a transaction that uses internode and infranode messaging by the trading network of the present invention to process the transaction.
  • any reference in the specification to "one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention.
  • the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
  • the embodiments of the invention provide for a trading network that permits commercial activity to be conducted electronically between autonomous independent businesses that electronically collaborate with one another to provide goods and services to their customers.
  • Members of this network may be manufacturers, distributors and retailers, for example.
  • the network is comprised of a variety of types of businesses, and is not dominated by any one type of organization.
  • a central node In traditional exchange-based trading, a central node typically controls distribution and market making. In this type of frading, a participant is required to expose information to others through the central node.
  • no one single member controls other members or the network, and each participant controls its own internal information.
  • no member has any knowledge of any other member's preferences, rales or criteria. The member can observe another member's response or request but cannot infer from them anything about the other member's rales of engagement. This is an important point of differentiation between the present invention and the exchange model used by most Dotcoms.
  • Decisions in the trading network of the present invention - such as choosing potential buyers or suppliers, responding to offers to buy or sell, prioritizing options - are generally governed by each participant's personal and private trading rales. With these rules, potential sellers may customize pricing based on the potential buyer, for example.
  • the trading rales ensure a personalized sourcing solution; the inventive system enables participants to buy from and sell to others electronically in whatever sequence, with whatever priority and on whatever terms they decide.
  • Participants in the frading network of the present invention preferably have the ability to both buy and sell, although they may choose to deploy rules that effectively make them a buyer- only or a seller-only.
  • a participant initiates a purchase using the inventive system by sending a purchase request to other participants in the network. These recipient participants may then respond to the purchase request with offers to sell.
  • a participant may initiate a sale using the inventive system by sending a sale request to other participants. Participants may respond with offers to buy.
  • the frading network of the present invention referably supports both purchase requests and sale requests, although individual participants may choose to use only one.
  • the trading network may support other types of requests and fransactions, such as unsolicited offers to sell, inventory inquiries, invoicing (for orders placed outside the frading network, for example), advanced shipping notices and firm orders, for example.
  • fransactions there are many different types of fransactions that may be supported by the frading network of the present invention.
  • trading network 100 is essentially a collection of nodes 10, 20, 30, etc, each node representing an independent business entity.
  • a node may be a retailer, a distributor, or a manufacturer, for example.
  • the nodes are preferably connected with each other over the Internet 15, although any type of computer network, such as a private Intranet, may be used, hi the case of an Internet connection the participants, in effect, are all connected to each other on a one-to-one basis, although the only physical connection required for any individual participant is a single connection to the Internet itself.
  • the Internet is a peer-to-peer network and it automatically "finds" appropriate choices for a participant based upon the information stored by the Intelligent Trading Module.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a central repository connected to the frading network.
  • Central repository 200 does not typically participate directly in trading activities, rather, it supports network activities and maintains information about each of the nodes.
  • the frading network does not include a central repository.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of an architecture for a central repository used by the inventive system.
  • Central repository 200 may be used to maintain a variety of information. It typically stores administrative information 210, such as communication and contact information for each of the trading nodes in the network. Since communi cation within the inventive frading network is typically via the Internet, contact information may include Internet Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).
  • the cenfral repository may also store a centralized listing of standard or industry information 220 that is used by the nodes when trading.
  • the Central repository may store standard manufacturer part numbers. This type of information niay be used for validation of part numbers used in requests or offers from frading partners, for example, or for allowing dealers to determine potential substitutions for items they do not carry.
  • the Central repository may also provide a place to accumulate measurable performance data 230.
  • the Cenfral repository may collect information on delivery performance by nodes. The Central Repository could then provide performance data back to participants, as a value-added service. For example, if the Central Repository accumulated and stored delivery performance data, a network participant that required exceptional delivery from its suppliers could then obtain up-to-date, accurate information regarding how well potential suppliers have met delivery deadlines in the past from the Cenfral Repository.
  • a participant may choose not to share performance data with the repository, in which case a potential partner who has a preference for such data may reduce that participant's score in a frading rule from what it might otherwise have been.
  • participants can trade in accordance with their secretly held preferences but others who choose not to show how they match up on one or more criterion can still participate but are penalized in the eyes of the particular other potential partner.
  • the performance data may be provided as a general rating.
  • a participant's delivery performance data for all fransactions. conducted through the system of the present invention could be evaluated and scored into an overall rating.
  • performance data may be provided on a more individualized basis by evaluating only the performance between two specific participants. For example, a retailer may be interested in how well a particular distributor has met that retailer's delivery deadlines. In this case, only the distributor's delivery performance in connection with that retailer is considered when rating the delivery performance of the distributor.
  • the Central repository may also store standard settings for certain rale parameters 240, subject to the qualification that a participant may choose not to share any information with the repository but still retain a position of good standing on the network.
  • these standard rale parameter settings are intended to be used by a particular group. For example, a manufacturer may stipulate rale parameters that cause its own brands to be ranked more favorably than others in deciding which items to sell or which to buy. The manufacturer then might offer incentives to get its dealers to use its rule specifications. Buying groups or large wholesalers may have standard rale parameters for use by group members or associated retailers.
  • a node that uses the standard rale specification may have a setting that automatically accepts updates, or a node may get an update and then be able to decide whether to accept the change.
  • a node may have three components: an ERP/POS system 310, an Intelligent Trading Module 320 and a Message Broker 330.
  • the Intelligent Trading Module and the Message Broker are software components specific to the trading network of the present invention, while the ERP/POS system is typically a legacy system at the node, and is integrated into the frading network of the present invention.
  • the ERP/POS system 310 is an integrated enterprise system that provides ERP
  • the ERP/POS system 310 typically has accounting, inventory, pricing and warehouse management capabilities.
  • the ERP system is extended to exchange messages with the Intelligent Trading Module. Typically, these messages include requests, for available quantities and prices of particular inventory items and responses to the requests, acceptance of orders, confirmations, and requests to initiate frading activity and acceptance of the results of those requests.
  • Intelligent Trading Module 320 is a software component that makes frading decisions for the node using the frading rales. For example, the Intelligent Trading Module may decide with which nodes it will trade, whether it will make an offer to sell in response to a request for purchase, how many items to buy or sell, and under what conditions items will be bought or sold. The Intelligent Trading Module may make these decisions automatically, or it may prioritize options for displaying to an end-user to make a final frading decision. In one embodiment, the Intelligent Trading Module does not perform any processing or store any data that is a normal function of an ERP/POS system, such as processing or data related to product availability, pricing, tax and shipping charges.
  • the Intelligent Trading Module determines pricing, inventory quantity-on-hand, tax and shipping cost information as needed by communicating with the ERP/POS system. Likewise, the intelligent Trading Module may transmit Purchase Orders and other orders to the ERP/POS system. The Intelligent Trading Module receives requests from the ERP/POS system to search for goods on the frading network of the present invention, communicates the results of those searches back to the ERP/POS system, and receives ERP/POS requests to accept particular offers to sell.
  • Intelligent Trading Module 320 and ERP/POS system 310 may communicate with each other via messages that are routed tlirough Message Broker 330.
  • the message broker 330 may be a separate software component, or message broker functionality may be integrated into the Intelligent Trading Module and/or the ERP/POS system. Communication between the Intelligent Trading Module 320 and other nodes in the frading network is typically handled by the message broker.
  • the Intelligent Trading Module 320 also typically communicates with the Central Repository tlirough the message broker.
  • Message Broker 320 is a separate software module that facilitates information traveling between two or more resources (e.g. different partners or software components within a single node). Use of the Message Broker 320 allows the communicating resources to operate independently and differently (e.g. under different operating systems).
  • the message broker may transform data from one form to another between the resources.
  • commercially available message broker software may be used as the message broker component in the present invention.
  • One example is Microsoft BizTalk Server.
  • custom message broker software may be developed for use with the system of the present invention.
  • the message broker component of the present invention is intended to cover any method of transmitting messages from one trading partner to another or between software modules within a single node.
  • Message Processing Communication between nodes in the trading network of the present invention is accomplished by sending messages between nodes. These messages are preferably private, and may be encrypted. The messages may be encrypted through use of Public Key Infrastructure methods. In one embodiment, internode messages travel over the open Internet using standard http protocol. Alternatively, the messages may travel over a private network. Typically, a node receiving a message from another node is able to identify the sending node. In one embodiment, communications are in the form of XML messages. XML
  • XML Extensible Markup Language
  • a dealer object may correspond to a business entity on the frading network.
  • a business with multiple selling or stocking locations may be represented by a single dealer object.
  • Dealer attributes are typically stored in the Cenfral Repository. These attributes may include a dealer LD and a dealer name.
  • Another example of a type of object that may be used in the messages is a part number description. Attributes may include manufacturer name and a unique part number. This object will also typically include different attributes for different types of commodities.
  • a Purchase Request message may be sent by a prospective buyer to one or more potential sellers to request a specific item.
  • the purchase request merely asks if the seller is willing to sell items as specified.
  • the purchase request may be a firm offer to buy.
  • the fields included in a purchase request of the present invention may include a reference number, sent time, buyer, seller, ship-to address, quantity, part number description, generic product description, required delivery date, and whether partial fulfillment of the order is acceptable, for example.
  • Other fields that may be used in a purchase request will be obvious to one skilled in the art and are intended to come within the scope of the present invention.
  • internode messages may include offers to sell (unsolicited, or in response to a purchase request), offer acceptances (in response to an offer to sell or an offer to buy, typically representing a commitment to purchase according to the specification of that offer), acceptance responses (typically sent in response to an offer acceptance confirming or disconfirming the sender's commitment), purchase orders (typically an unsolicited commitment to purchase according to delivery terms and prices previously established), purchase order responses (confirming or disconfirming the purchase order), invoices (typically sent by a seller to a buyer subsequent to an acceptance confirmation or purchase order response; typically represents a request for payment), and advanced shipping notices (typically sent by a seller to a buyer subsequent to an acceptance confirmation or purchase order response giving notice that the order is being shipped).
  • offers to sell unsolicited, or in response to a purchase request
  • offer acceptances in response to an offer to sell or an offer to buy, typically representing a commitment to purchase according to the specification of that offer
  • acceptance responses typically sent in response to an offer acceptance confirming or disconfirming the sender's commitment
  • Fig. 9A illustrates several different types of internode messages that may be used by the trading network of the present invention, and fields that these messages may include. Other types of messages and fields will be known to those skilled in the art and are intended to come within the scope of the present invention.
  • Figs. 4A-4D illustrate some of the messages that may be sent between nodes in a typical purchase transaction scenario using the trading network of the present invention. This example illustrates the process for fulfilling a purchase request, however, as will be obvious to one skilled in the art, similar processes can be used for other types of fransactions.
  • Node A may be a retailer desiring to purchase a specified set of goods
  • Nodes B, C, D and E may be distributors.
  • Node A may send a purchase request 70, 71, 72 to Nodes B, C and D inquiring if they are willing to sell a specified set of goods.
  • Nodes B and C may respond to Node A with non-binding offers to sell 80, 81 that are responsive to the purchase requests 70, 71.
  • An offer to sell typically includes the full price of the goods offered, including tax and shipping charges, and typically includes specific part numbers.
  • Node A may respond to Node C with an acceptance 90 of the offer to sell 81 that commits Node A to buy according to the price specified in offer 81. Then, as shown in Fig. 4D, Node C may send a confirmation of an acceptance of the offer to sell 95 back to Node A. This confirmation commits Node C and indicates initiation of the process of fulfillment. Node C may also send an invoice and an advance shipment notice to Node A.
  • the present invention may also support infranode messaging, typically between a node's ERP system and the Intelligent Trading Module of the present invention.
  • the Intelligent Trading Module may send an inventory inquiry message to the ERP system.
  • An inventory inquiry message allows the Intelligent Trading Module to determine inventory status of a particular inventory item or the status of all inventory items that meet a generic description.
  • the inventory inquiry message may include identification, sent time, part number and generic product description on fields, for example.
  • Fig. 9B illustrates some several types of infranode messages that may be used by the frading network of the present invention, and fields they may include. Other types of infranode messages and fields are possible, and are intended to come within the scope of the present invention.
  • the trading network of the present invention may support messages between nodes and the cenfral repository. These messages may be used to maintain network information and allow new nodes to join the network, for example.
  • Node-repository messages may include message for a node update, node removal or a node list request. Other types of node-repository messages will be obvious to one skilled in the art and are intended to come within the scope of the present invention.
  • Fig. 10 illustrates an example transaction that illustrates use infranode messaging as well as internode messaging to process a transaction.
  • the purchase request transaction is initiated by a user at Node A using Node A's ERP system.
  • purchase requests may be automatically generated by the system according to a frading rule. As shown in Fig.
  • a user at Node A may use the ERP system 1001 to first cause a purchase inquiry to be sent to the Intelligent Trading Module 1002. This is shown by purchase need 1010 in Fig. 10.
  • the Intelligent Trading Module 1002 on Node A uses the node's frading rales to determine to which network participants to send a purchase request, and sends a Purchase request to those nodes, as shown by Purchase request 1020 in Fig. 10.
  • a frading partner (Node B) receives purchase request 1020, its Intelligent Trading Module 1005 may send an Inventory/Price Inquiry message 1030 to its local ERP system 1009. This message is used to determine available inventory and current pricing of the specified products.
  • the local ERP system 1009 may respond with an Inventory/Price Response message 1035 that specifies price and availability of relevant inventory items.
  • Node B's Intelligent Trading Module 1005 determines which, if any, of the inventory items to offer in an Offer to Sell message 1040 back to Node A.
  • Node A After Node A receives one or more Offers to Sell, its Intelligent Trading Module 1002 then evaluates the offers and may pass the offers on to Node A's ERP system 1001 in ranked order tlirough a Purchase Options message 1050 for selection by the user who first initiated the frading sequence. The selection made by the user is then passed back to the Intelligent Trading Module through a Purchase Selection message 1055. In this example, the user is making the selection, however, as described earlier, selections may be made automatically by the system.
  • the Intelligent Trading Module 1002 then generates an Offer Acceptance message 1060 to the corresponding frading partner of the selected offer.
  • Node B made the Offer that was selected by the user.
  • Node B may check to see if inventory is still available by sending an Inventory Inquiry message 1070 to its ERP 1009, and then receiving a corresponding Inventory Response 1075 from the ERP 1009. If inventory is still sufficient, the Intelligent Trading Module 1005 may generate an order by sending an Order Request 1080 to its ERP system 1009. The ERP system 1009 may then send back a Order Response message 1085, and the Intelligent Trading Module 1009 sends the Acceptance Response 1090 to Node A to confirm (or disconfirm) the order.
  • Node A Once Node A receives the Acceptance Response, its intelligent Trading Module may send a Purchase Response 1095 to is ERP 1001 confirming the purchase to the user who initiated the transaction.
  • Every participant in the trading network of the present invention has an individual set of frading rales. These rales typically control trading decisions. There are generally two categories of trading rules per node - Buy-Side frading rules which control the purchasing behavior of a node, and Sell-Side frading rales that control the selling behavior of a node.
  • Buy-Side trading rales define the preferences of a node in a purchasing situation. Buy- Side rales may address preferences for buying a particular brand(s), buying from a particular dealer(s), buying from a particular class of dealers, buying from a geographically proximate dealer, price thresholds, delivery time thresholds, and whether an entire purchase should be made from a single dealer, for example.
  • One retailer in the frading network of the present invention may prefer to purchase goods from certain distributors. This retailer can establish a preferred trading partner rale that identifies the preferred distributors. As another example, a retailer may prefer to purchase from the geographically closest distributor or manufacturer, and may establish a frading rule such that distributors and manufacturers within a 10-mile radius of the retailer are considered "preferred.”
  • Buy-Side trading rules may be further divided into control rales and evaluation rules.
  • Control rules determine which nodes with which to frade, and evaluation rules determine which offers to display to the user, or alternatively, which offer to automatically accept.
  • a rule may be both a control rule and an evaluation rale.
  • Sell-side trading rales define the preferences of a seller (typically a distributor) in a purchasing situation.
  • Sell-side rules may address preferences for selling a particular brand(s), not selling to particular dealers, selling (or not selling) to a class of dealers, pricing (typically different for partner nodes than for competitor nodes), inventory minimum thresholds, and acceptable payment and credit records of frading partners, for example.
  • a manufacturer may prefer to sell to certain competitor distributors only under the condition of a significant product mark-up.
  • the manufacturer may establish a trading rale that marks up the price to these distributors.
  • Similar types of rales may be established for other types of fransactions. Although the description herein focuses on fulfilling purchase requests using the trading network of the present invention, the scope of the invention is intended to cover any type of transaction that may be conducted using the frading network of the present invention. As discussed above, the decisions made by the frading network of the present invention may be based on various criteria, including partner preference, brand preference, geographical distance, etc. Furthermore, each participant may base decisions on different criteria. For example, participants may establish specific frading rales for specific frading partners. The rales are very flexible and customizable. The frading rules are very powerful. By shaping who does business with whom, and on what terms, these rales can transform business relationships and alter market share.
  • Formulating these rales provides a real competitive advantage to a dealer or distributor trying to buy or sell more intelligently or to a manufacturer or distributor who wishes to influence downstream business partners.
  • the frading network of the present invention ensures that these rules are not made known to other participants in the frading network of the present invention.
  • the rules are only accessible to the node for which they are defined. One node cannot view the rales of another node, in a preferred embodiment, unless the other node chooses to share the rules. Therefore, participants in the network expose only a minimum amount of information to other members of the network.
  • the trading rales may be set up when participants join the frading network of the present invention and the rules can be updated at any time.
  • the frading network of the present invention may also "learn" certain rules for a node. That is, the frading network may use a history of transactions to determine preferences for a node. For example, if a node buys a certain amount from a particular supplier, the supplier may be categorized by the frading network as a "preferred trading partner" for that node.
  • One common use of both Buy-Side rales and Sell-Side rules is to identify preferred frading partners.
  • a frading partner that is within a 10-mile radius may be "preferred”; a partner that primarily sells a particular brand may also be “preferred.”
  • a frading rule may indicate that the geographical distance preference is more important than the brand preference, and therefore the frading network will rank a response from a geographically preferred partner higher than a response from a brand preferred partner, all other factors being equal.
  • a node may be categorized as "Non-preferred.” Such a categorization may, for example, allow a node to completely prohibit sales to any Non-preferred trading partners.
  • a proximity rule In a proximity rale, a partner that is within a certain geographical distance may be preferred. In order for a node to know which Partners are within certain distance, the central repository preferably keeps a predefined table containing this information. When applying the proximity rule, the Intelligent Trading Module will then use the information stored at the central repository to determine proximity in real-time. Alternatively, the node may perform this calculation or store the information. In another alternative embodiment, nodes may be classified as "local dealers", if they have locations within certain enumerated regions, such as a list of counties.
  • Another common trading rule concerns the price markup. It is common for one business to establish a set markup for sales to another business that is a certain percentage above a universally established price. For instance, when one node decides to sell to a particular retailer at a 20% markup, the markup is preferably applied to the node's price found in its ERP or POS system. (Price is typically the responsibility of a node's ERP or POS system).
  • Nodes in the frading network of the present invention typically have many frading rules. Applying each rale individually may result in different offers to sell (or buy) being preferred by a node.
  • the trading network of the present invention may handle such conflicts in a number of different ways. For example, each rale may be given a priority, and conflicts are handled by yielding to the highest priority rale. Alternatively, each rule may be given a weight, and the responses to inquiries are weighed according to the sum of the weight of the rales. Priorities and/or weights may be set by users when rales are defined. Alternatively, priorities and weights may be learned by the trading network (i.e. the Intelligent Trading Module), through observation of the node's purchasing behavior.
  • a scoring methodology may be used. For example, a node may prefer dealers that are close by, and prefer not to deal with trading partners that are more than 20 miles away at all. In this case, the node may establish a rule that gives trading partner that is within 1 mile is given a score of 100, a partner that is within 10 miles given a score of 75, a partner within 15 miles a score of 50, and partners that are between 15 and 20 miles from the requesting node are given a score of 0. In addition, if the node is more than 20 miles away, the node establishes a rale to not frade with the partner at all. In addition, the node prefers brand M- centric trading partners.
  • a trading partner is a brand M-centric frading partner, it gets a score of 100, if it is not, it gets a score of 0. Finally, the node prefers lower priced offers, and has established a rule that scores the absolute value of values on a scale of 0 - 100.
  • the node has established weights for each of the rules.
  • the proximity of a trading partner is very important to this node; therefore this rale has a weight of 10. Pricing is less important, and is given a weight of 5.
  • the brand-centric rule is given a weight of 2.
  • Node 3 is located 22 miles from the requesting node, is not a brand M-centric partner, and is given a pricing score of 90.
  • Node 4 is located 11 miles from the requesting node, is not a brand M-centric partner, and is given a price score of 60.
  • Node 3 0 (because the requesting node does not want to deal with nodes > 20 miles away)
  • Node 4 (10 X 50) + (2 X 0) + (5 X 60) - 800
  • Node 1 has the least preferred price of these 4 offers, it is the preferred offer by the requesting node.
  • This example demonstrates how non-price factors can influence trading decisions made with the trading network of the present invention.
  • Retailer X has established several widget Buy-Side rules 610, and each node has established their own widget Sell-Side rales 621, 622, 623, 624 and 625. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that many additional rales could be established; the rales shown are intended to illustrate specific features of the frading network of the present invention.
  • the Buy-Side and Sell-side rales used in this example apply to widgets.
  • the nodes may set up different rules for different commodities. They may even set up different rules for different brands of the same commodity.
  • Retailer X In this example, a consumer goes to Retailer X seeking to purchase five widgets. Retailer X is connected to the frading network of the present invention.
  • Retailer X does not have any widgets in its own inventory.
  • the customer representative at Retailer X may then initiate a "spot search" across the frading network of the present invention for the 5 widgets, hi this example, suppose also that Partners 1 and 4 are within a 10-mile radius of Retailer X.
  • Partners 1-5 are contacted through the frading network of the present invention with a purchase request 601.
  • Partners 2, 3 and 5 are "preferred partners", and Partners 1 and 4 fall within the 10-mile radius required by another of Retailer X's Buy-Side rales.
  • Partner 6 does not fall within either of these two rales, it is not a preferred frading partner and is therefore not contacted.
  • the trading network of the present invention makes the decision as to which frading partners to contact automatically. The user at Retailer X using the frading network of the present invention does not have to make these decisions - he simply enters the inquiry into the system, the system does the rest.
  • Partner 4 does not respond to the request by Retailer X because it has established a Sell-Side rale 624 that restricts sales to Retailers X, Y and Z.
  • Partner 4 could respond to the request, but decline to make an Offer to Sell in the response. Again, the response, or lack of response, is automatically generated by the trading network of the present invention. No human intervention or decision-making is required.
  • Partner 5 has only 8 widgets in stock. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 6B, Partner 5 does not respond (or responds in the negative) to Retailer X's request because it has a Sell-Side rale 625 that only allows sales if its widget inventory after the sale will be greater than 5. Since Partner 5 currently only has 8 widgets in its inventory 635, a sale of 5 widgets will deplete the inventory below its required minimum.
  • Such inventory rales may be set up for each commodity that a node sells, or one rale may be set up to apply everything the nodes sells.
  • Partner 5's Intelligent Trading Module inquires of Partner 5's ERP/POS system as to the current inventory.
  • Partners 2 and 3 each have a variety of widgets in their inventory from different manufacturers and both respond to the request with offers to sell 612 and 613. Both Partners 2 and 3 have Sell-Side rales 622, 623 that specify markups on sales to Retailer X, and the responses 612, 613 from Partners 2 and 3 include these markups.
  • Partner 1 sells only Brand M widgets, and marks up the price to Retailer X 5%. It responds 611 to the request with an offer to sell with the 5% markup.
  • the responses from Partners 2 and 3 are given a lower precedence than Partner 1, even though Partners 2 and 3 are "preferred" nodes according to Retailer X's Buy- Side rales.
  • the rules could alternatively be established to give the "preferred" status of a Partner greater weight in the comparison. If this were the case, the system may rank the responses differently.
  • the customer service representative at Retailer X tells the consumer that Brand M widgets are available, and the customer places an order for the widgets. As shown in Fig 6C, Retailer X sends an order 641 to Partner 1 for the five Brand M widgets.
  • the ordering process using the frading network of the present invention is automatic, and is discussed in more detail below.
  • Fig. 5 is an example screenshot illustrating the offers to sell in an actual implementation of the inventive system. This particular implementation is for a tire retailing system. It shows eight offers of tires 520 from three different frading partners 530. The system has ranked the offers as shown in the score column 540. The offers were generated in response to an initial purchase request for tires of a certain size.
  • Retailer Y has only 2 gizmos in stock 740, a Retailer Y representative queries the trading network of the present invention for 4 additional gizmos.
  • Retailer Y has a Buy-Side rule 710 that limits the number of responses that it will accept before displaying purchase options to the user. Partners 1-N are contacted by the frading network in the search for 4 gizmos. Because Retailer Y has a Buy-Side rule 710 "Prefer Acme-Centric Partners", the request for 4 gizmos 711 is sent to all N members of the trading network who are classified as Acme- Centric.
  • Partners may be classified as "Acme-centric" (or any other classification) upon registration with the network, or may be automatically classified by the system. For example, all dealers that sell more than a certain percentage of a certain brand of gizmos may be classified as a Brand-centric partner.
  • Partner 1 responds first with an offer to sell 2 gizmos 751. Since Partner 1 only has 2 gizmos in stock (inventory 741), it cannot offer to fulfill the entire request. Partner 2 then responds with an offer to sell 2 gizmos ' /t>2. Since Partner 2 nas t ⁇ e Sell- Side rale 722 that requires that remaining inventory after a sale be at least 10, it can only offer to sell 2 of its 12 gizmos.
  • Partner 3 then replies with an offer to sell 4 gizmos 753, and marks up the price of the gizmos 15%) according to its Sell-Side rule 723.
  • Fig. 7B illustrates the first three responses 751, 752, 753 received by Retailer Y in this example.
  • responses could be limited by time instead of number of responses.
  • a rale could specify that the search can only proceed for 2 seconds. At the end of this period, the system makes decisions based on the responses that have been received.
  • a disjunction between number of responses and time limit could be applied; e.g. stop processing responses after 2 seconds or 3 responses, whichever comes first.
  • a requesting node may specify whether a request must be completely fulfilled or can be partially fulfilled by a trading partner. Further, the requesting node may specify a minimum threshold of items that must be offered for partial fulfillment. For example, a business is highly unlikely to want to fulfill a request for 100 items with suborders from 100 different vendors.
  • the current responses from Partners 1, 2 and 3 are displayed to the user at the node Retailer Y.
  • the system could automatically choose the highest ranked response without displaying any of the responses to the user.
  • the user at Retailer Y informs the customer that the request can be filled by either 2 gizmos from each of Partners 1 and 2, or by the 4 gizmos from Partner 3, but at a markup.
  • the customer chooses to order the gizmos from Partners 1 and 2.
  • Retailer Y sends messages 761, 762 to Partners 1 and 2 to place the order, as shown in Fig. 7C.
  • Transient rules can override predefined, persistent rales.
  • Transient rales are those that are defined for and applied to only a single transaction, or set of transactions.
  • a customer requests a gadget at a cut-rate price from Retailer Z.
  • This customer is a long-term, loyal customer, and has been patronizing Retailer Z for many years. Therefore, the staff as Retailer Z has a strong incentive to accommodate this customer.
  • Partners 1 and 2 are typically favored by Retailer Z, and the system has automatically classified them as "Preferred" partners 801, 802 of Retailer Z.
  • Partner 3 has not been classified as a "Preferred” partner, but is within a 5-mile radius of Retailer Z, and has good delivery record.
  • Partner 3 's offer is ranked above offers from both Partners 1 and 2, although Partners 1 and 2 are favored by Retailer Z. The customer is thus given the opportunity to order the gadget at cost.
  • Transient rules allow nodes to override predefined rales to handle special circumstances. In some markets, this may not be a desired feature, as it may affect profits. However, for many vertical markets, the emphasis may be on allowing the customer a full and open choice, including finding the lowest cost item, no matter who the supplier is. Other types of rales not shown in these examples may also be used. For example, nodes may establish rales limiting trades to frading partners with good credit, payment or delivery records. Because the cenfral repository stores this type of information, it can determine which are preferred partners. In addition, since the information is real-time, a node's payment record or delivery record can constantly change. The trading network of the present invention is able to provide nodes with accurate, up-to-date information.
  • a node may establish a rule for classifying a trading partner as "Preferred” if that trading partner has a good delivery record with the node.
  • the frading partner could be classified as "Preferred” if it has an overall good delivery record, regardless of its past history with the node.
  • Another rule that may be used is a margin preference.
  • Margin refers to the difference between the amount a node pays for an item, and the amount for which it sells the item to another party. For example. Dealer A buys a tire for $30 and sells it for $45. The margin is 50%). As the seller, the higher the margin, the better.
  • a seller may set up a Sell-side trading rule that only allows sells above a certain margin.
  • Classifications are usually not global, but rather node-specific. "Preferred” and “Non- preferred” are typically relative to each particular node. Therefore, these classifications are typically stored local to each node.
  • nodes may be classified in a number of different ways. For example, a node may be classified as both "Preferred” and "Brand X-centric.”
  • the trading network of the present invention can be used in many situations, not just to send purchase requests for customers. For example, a retailer manager may need to restock the warehouse. He may use the inventive system to send multiple requests for those items that are not well stocked.
  • inventory replenishment may be an automated process. Replenishment could be automatically triggered when inventory is low and rules may be established to control the final purchase decisions.
  • a node may use the frading network of the present invention to make an unsolicited sales offer. This may be useful, for example, in the case of inventory overstock. As with inventory replenishment, unsolicited sales offers may be an automated process.
  • examples illustrate the value of peer-to-peer trading in a trading network, and the value of integrating the frading network with existing enterprise software.
  • the point-of-sale customer Since the system supplies access to a large trading network the point-of-sale customer is provided with a rich set of choices. The end-customer is afforded the opportunity to make a choice based on a wide variety of characteristics, such as brand, price and location. If a product is not available at the physical point-of-sale, a business in the frading network of the present invention can still rapidly respond to an order by trading with another business in the frading network.
  • the trading network of the present invention allows for a "virtual warehouse" so that all members can avoid over-stocking. This leads to price reduction and increased profitability.
  • Each business in the frading network of the present invention conducts business according to its own priorities and chooses the degree to which its private information is shared with other members of the network.
  • Each participant in the trading network of the present invention perceives itself as being the center of the whole network and can access the disclosed resources of any or all of the other members of the virtual enterprise.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé et un système comprenant une plate-forme électronique, qui permet à tout participant d'un réseau commercial de faire du commerce avec tout autre participant dudit réseau commercial en fonction de ses propres règles commerciales. Les règles commerciales sont individuelles et privées, et chaque participant peut utiliser une pluralité de règles qui gèrent le commerce. Lesdites règles commerciales peuvent comprendre les règles commerciales de l'acheteur qui gèrent la sélection d'un partenaire et l'évaluation de vente offerte, et les règles commerciales du vendeur qui gèrent la réponse d'un participant à une demande. Le système peut appliquer les règles commerciales de sorte que le processus d'achat soit automatisé, ou être utilisé pour classer les choix d'un participant en fonction de ses préférences. Le réseau commercial est, de préférence, intégré dans les systèmes internes des participants.
PCT/US2001/005609 2000-02-23 2001-02-23 Procede et systeme permettant de creer et d'utiliser un reseau commercial d'egal a egal WO2001063526A1 (fr)

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