Consistent Interface for Inbound Delivery Requests

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current business interfaces are not consistent across industries and departments, leading to difficulties in exchanging information between heterogeneous business entities due to differences in semantics, formatting, and programming systems, requiring human intervention and lacking standardization.

Innovation Solution

A message-based interface system that generates consistent interfaces from a business object model, allowing for the exchange of information across industries and departments by using a hierarchical message structure and standardized data types, enabling seamless communication between heterogeneous applications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If heterogeneous business entities use their own programs with different semantics and formatting, then each entity can handle its part of the transaction according to its specific needs, but information exchange between entities becomes difficult and requires human intervention

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAbility of each business entity to handle its transaction part according to specific needsVSAvoidDifficulty of information exchange between heterogeneous entities

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a consistent interface as an intermediary layer between heterogeneous business entities. This interface acts as a mediator that translates between different entity-specific programs and formats, enabling automatic information exchange without human intervention while preserving each entity's ability to operate according to its specific needs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The consistent interface provides a universal communication standard that can be used across different industries, businesses, and departments. It serves multiple functions by accommodating various entity-specific requirements while maintaining a standardized interface for information exchange, thereby eliminating the need for human intervention in transactions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple industry-specific standards are used, then each standard can be optimized for its specific industry, but consistency and interoperability between different standards are lost

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveIndustry-specific optimization of interfacesVSAvoidConsistency between different interface standards

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a universal consistent interface that can serve multiple industries and business entities simultaneously. This interface maintains stability and consistency across different applications while still allowing each industry to benefit from optimized processing through the standardized communication layer.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If human interaction is used to facilitate transactions between heterogeneous programs, then semantic differences can be manually resolved, but transaction processing time and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAbility to resolve semantic differences between programsVSAvoidTransaction processing speed and automation level

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The consistent interface enables programs to self-resolve semantic differences through automatic translation and interpretation. Each heterogeneous program can independently maintain its own semantics while the consistent interface automatically handles the translation between different programs, eliminating the need for human intervention and enabling fully automated transaction processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Ease of operation

If simple formatting differences like case sensitivity are not standardized, then each program can use its preferred formatting, but information exchange becomes error-prone and unreliable

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveProgramming flexibility in data formattingVSAvoidAccuracy of information exchange between programs

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The consistent interface serves as an intermediary that handles formatting conversions between different programs. It preserves each program's preferred formatting for internal operations while automatically translating to the standardized format required for communication, thereby maintaining both programming flexibility and information exchange reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS8521621B1Consistent interface for inbound delivery request

Publication Date: 2013.08.27 SAP SE

AI summary

A business object model, which reflects data that is used during a given business transaction, is utilized to generate interfaces. This business object model facilitates commercial transactions by providing consistent interfaces that are suitable for use across industries, across businesses, and across different departments within a business during a business transaction. In some operations, software creates, updates, or otherwise processes information related to an inbound delivery request business object.