Method and system for distributing product information

Abstract

A method and system of associating product codes with product characteristics, and using those product codes to send and receive information about those characteristics to destinations on a network when the values of those characteristics change.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of United States Application No. 09 / 805,527, filed on Mar. 13, 2001 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] A manufacturer and dealer of the manufacturer's goods typically work together to ensure that the dealer has correct information about the manufacturer's products. For example, when a product is updated or changed, the manufacturer often sends the product information to the dealer. This information is frequently sent in hard copy form, with a piece of paper containing either a list of the product modifications or an entirely new product specification sheet. In response, the dealer will typically add the new information into the dealer's own advertising literature. [0003] The foregoing process is fraught with inefficiency and potential for errors. It is inefficient because personnel must first transcribe the new product information and then integ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This solution enhances efficiency by eliminating manual transcription errors, ensures accurate and timely updates, and allows manufacturers to track usage, thereby improving product information management and marketing strategies.

Problems solved by technology

The foregoing process is fraught with inefficiency and potential for errors.

It is inefficient because personnel must first transcribe the new product information and then integrate it into the dealer's advertising literature.

During the transcription process, typographical errors may creep into the dealer's advertising literature.

Although product information may be sent in electronic form by disk or email to facilitate the dealer's use of the information, that alone is not enough to cure the inefficiencies associated with the foregoing process.

While it may eliminate the need to transcribe the information, it does not eliminate the time and expense of integrating the information into the dealer's product literature.

The inefficiency is compounded by the fact that many dealers are all go through the same process of modifying their product literature.

In addition, once the product information is electronically received by the dealers, there is no way for the manufacturer to track whether the information was used, and if so how often it was used and whether it was used correctly.

Without such tracking data, manufacturers are limited in their ability to provide accurate and efficient product information or updates to that information.

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