E-procurement Policy Integration via User Class Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing e-procurement systems do not effectively integrate purchasing policies into the purchasing process, leading to company members making decisions without awareness of relevant policies, which can result in non-compliant purchases.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that incorporate purchasing policies into the e-procurement process by associating policies with user classes and keywords, allowing policies to be displayed to users during the item search and requisitioning process, using HTML coding and a client-server network architecture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If policies are kept separate from the purchasing process, then the purchasing system remains simple and easy to operate, but users are not aware of company policies when making purchasing decisions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges policy information with the e-procurement system by integrating a policy server that provides policies to users during the purchasing process. The policy server receives user requests, determines applicable policies based on user profiles and item categories, and returns relevant policies to the user interface, thereby combining previously separate policy documents with the purchasing workflow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a policy server as an intermediary component between the user and the purchasing system. This mediator retrieves policies from a policy database, determines which policies are relevant to the user's request based on user profiles and item categories, and presents them to the user. The policy server acts as a bridge that provides policy information without requiring deep integration into the core purchasing functionality.
2Reliability
If policies are provided to users during the purchasing process, then users are aware of and comply with policies, but the system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by determining which policies are relevant to a user before the user makes a purchasing decision. The system proactively retrieves and presents applicable policies based on the user's profile, the item being purchased, and the category of the item. This ensures that policy information is available in advance, allowing users to make informed decisions while maintaining a smooth user experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by providing only the specific policies that are relevant to each user's situation rather than displaying all policies universally. The system determines relevance based on user profiles (such as department, job level), item categories, and specific item characteristics, thereby presenting customized policy information that is most useful to each user at each step of the purchasing process.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for utilizing a policy system in the requisitioning of goods or services over a network, the network connected to a server, thereby allowing communication between the server and a plurality of users, each user having a login ID and belonging to one of a plurality of classes, the method comprising: the server storing each user's login ID, each user's class information, and a plurality of policies, wherein the class information comprises the identification of each class to which the user belongs, and each policy is associated with a class; a user logging into the server using the user's login ID; the user providing search input to the server; the server processing the search input; the server determining the appropriate policies, wherein the appropriate policies are policies that are determined to be associated with the user's class information; and the server providing the appropriate policies to the user.