Apparatus and method for obtaining lowest bid from information product vendors

Abstract

A system and method for competitive bid selection from a plurality print and other customized information product vendors based on a database of vendor records, each record identifying a vendor, one or more buyers who approves the vendor for receipt of invitations to bid, and a vendor capability data representing production and economic capabilities of the vendor. A buyer's invitation for bid data is received, representing a specific print and other customized information product or service and an invitation to bid on that product or service, and a data identifying vendor requirements for producing the product is calculated. An vendor's invitation to bid is transmitted to the vendors from among those approved by the buyer associated with the buyer's invitation for bid having a vendor capability data meeting the calculated vendor requirements. Responding bids from the vendors are input into the database and ranked in order of price. The lowest price bid is identified and an order is issued to the selected vendor. Further, a bid information data is transmitted to each of the non-selected vendors, representing the identity of the selected vendor and the rank order value of the bids.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for competitive bidding by print information product vendors comprising steps of: 
 inputting a plurality of vendor records into a storage of a general purpose computer, each of said vendor records having a data field identifying a print information product vendor and a buyer identification data field identifying a buyer that said vendor is associated with;    inputting a buyer's invitation-for-bid data into said general purpose computer, said buyer's invitation-for-bid data having a buyer identification data, and having an invitation for bid on a print information product job from said buyer;    identifying at least one vendor record as qualified, based on a match of said buyer identification data and the buyer identification data field of said at least one vendor record;    transmitting a vendor's invitation-for-bid data to said at least one vendor;    inputting into said general purpose computer a plurality of bid data, each from one of said plurality of vendors to which said vendor's invitation-for-bid data was transmitted, each of said bid data representing a bid price;    identifying a bid data from said received bid data having the lowest represented bid price;    outputting a selected vendor data representing the identity of the vendor corresponding to the bid data identified by said identifying step; and    transmitting an order to the vendor represented by said selected vendor data.    
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1  further comprising a step of: 
 inserting a vendor capability data into at least one of said vendor records, said vendor capability data representing a set of vendor manufacturing capabilities of the print information product vendor identified by said record;  
 calculating a vendor requirement data from said buyer's invitation-for-bid data, said vendor requirement data representing a set vendor manufacturing capabilities required for performing said print information product job; and  
 comparing said vendor requirement data to the print information product records associated with the buyer from which said buyer's information-for-bid was received,  
 wherein said step of identifying at least one vendor record as qualified is based on said comparing and said match of said buyer identification data and the data field of said at least one vendor record identifying a buyer that said vendor is associated.  
 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1  further comprising steps of: 
 ranking said received bid data according to said represented bid price; and  
 transmitting an information data from said general purpose computer to other vendors identifying said selected vendor and the rank order value of said received bid data.  
 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 2  further comprising steps of: 
 ranking said received bid data according to said represented bid price; and  
 transmitting an information data from said general purpose computer to other vendors identifying said selected vendor and the rank order value of said received bid data.  
 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein said vendor capability data represents the identified vendor's capability to manufacture each of a plurality of different types of print information products.  
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 2 , further comprising steps of: 
 transmitting a request for vendor capability data to said at least one vendor associated with at least one of said buyers;    receiving a first formatted vendor capability data from said at least one vendor; and    converting said first formatted vendor capability data into said vendor capability data,    wherein said step of inputting a vendor capability data inputs said converted data.    
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 2  wherein said vendor capability data input for each of a plurality of printing vendors represents a set of vendor capabilities relating to objective and subjective parameters for each of a plurality of types of print information products.  
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising steps of: 
 inputting into said central data server a completion of job data;    transmitting from said central data server to said buyer an invoice for payment of said bid price;    inputting a payment from said buyer into an escrow account via electronic fund transfer;    subtracting a system access fee data and a licensing fee data from a data representing said payment deposited into said escrow account to generate a remainder payment data; and    transferring a payment from said escrow account to an account of said vendor corresponding to said remainder payment data.    
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 2 , further comprising steps of: 
 inputting into said central data server a completion of job data;    transmitting from said central data server to said buyer an invoice for payment of said bid price;    inputting a payment from said buyer into an escrow account via electronic fund transfer;    subtracting a system access fee data and a licensing fee data from a data representing said payment deposited into said escrow account to generate a remainder payment data; and    transferring a payment from said escrow account to an account of said vendor corresponding to said remainder payment data.    
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising a step of: 
 calculating a job milestone data based on said buyer's invitation-for-bid data.    
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 10  further comprising steps of: 
 generating a job progress verification request based on said job milestone data; and  
 entering a data into said central data server representing a job progress corresponding to said job progress verification request.  
 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 2 , further comprising a step of: 
 calculating a job milestone data based on said buyer's invitation-for-bid data.    
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12  further comprising steps of: 
 generating a job progress verification request based on said job milestone data; and  
 entering a data into said central data server representing a job progress corresponding to said job progress verification request.  
 
     
     
         14 . A system for competitive bidding by print information product vendors comprising: 
 means for inputting a plurality of vendor records into a storage of a general purpose computer, each of said vendor records having a data field identifying a print information product vendor and a buyer identification data field identifying a buyer that said vendor is associated with;    means for inputting a buyer's invitation-for-bid data into said general purpose computer, said buyer's invitation-for-bid data having a buyer identification data, and having an invitation for bid on a print information product job from said buyer;    means for identifying at least one vendor record as qualified, based on a match of said buyer identification data and the buyer identification data field of said at least one vendor record;    means for transmitting a vendor's invitation-for-bid data to said at least one vendors;    means for inputting into said general purpose computer a plurality of bid data, each from one of said plurality of vendors to which said vendor's invitation-for-bid data was transmitted, each of said bid data representing a bid price;    means for identifying a bid data from said received bid data having the lowest represented bid price;    means for outputting a selected vendor data representing the identity of the vendor corresponding to the bid data identified by said identifying means; and    means for transmitting an order to the vendor represented by said selected vendor data.    
     
     
         15 . A system according to  claim 14  further comprising: 
 means for inserting a vendor capability data into at least one of said vendor records, said vendor capability data representing a set of vendor manufacturing capabilities of the print information product vendor identified by said record;  
 means for calculating a vendor requirement data from said buyer's invitation-for-bid data, said vendor requirement data representing a set vendor manufacturing capabilities required for performing said print information product job; and  
 means for comparing said vendor requirement data to the print information product records associated with the buyer from which said buyer's information-for-bid was received,  
 wherein said means for identifying at least one vendor record as qualified performs said identifying based on a result of said comparing means and a match of said buyer identification data and the buyer identification data field of said at least one vendor record.