Workflow Management Software for Moving Industry Quotes
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Solution Overview
Problem
The moving industry faces inefficiencies in managing quotes across multiple entities and types of moves, including interstate, intrastate, and international moves, due to the complexity of involving national and agent moving companies, which leads to challenges in workflow management and pricing mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A processor-configured workflow management software that creates graphical user interfaces for different entities to manage interrelated tasks, associate roles with tasks, and store data structures for administering workflows, including authorized users, transaction data, and rate data, allowing for centralized storage of rate structures with decentralized management, enabling efficient quote management across various move types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple entities (national and agent moving companies) are involved in quote management, then the system can handle diverse move types and distribute workload, but the workflow management complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the quote management workflow into distinct task types (e.g., survey tasks, quote creation tasks, approval tasks) that can be independently assigned to different entities. Each task type has standardized parameters and procedures, allowing national and agent moving companies to handle specific task segments according to their capabilities, thereby managing complexity through modular task division while maintaining versatility across multiple move types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized workflow management system that acts as an intermediary between national and agent moving companies. This intermediary platform coordinates task assignments, tracks progress, and manages communications across all entities, reducing the direct complexity of multi-entity coordination by providing a standardized interface and automated routing mechanisms.
2Reliability
If centralized storage of rate structures is implemented, then data consistency and pricing accuracy improve, but system centralization increases operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the rate structure data into a centralized repository that is accessible by all entities in the network. This consolidation ensures that all national and agent moving companies use the same pricing parameters and rate structures, eliminating discrepancies and improving pricing accuracy while the system manages the complexity through standardized data formats and automated distribution mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If graphical user interfaces are provided for each entity type, then ease of operation improves, but the number of interfaces and system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal graphical user interface framework that adapts to different entity types (national moving companies, agent moving companies, origin agents) through configurable templates and role-based views. This universal interface design provides consistent navigation and functionality across all user types while allowing customization for specific entity requirements, thereby improving ease of operation without proportionally increasing the number of distinct interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for providing integrated management of a workflow for moving industry quotes. A processor can be configured to execute workflow management software to manage a plurality of moving industry quote workflows. Each moving industry quote workflow may correspond to a move transaction. The moving industry quote workflows may correspond to a plurality of workflow types, and each workflow type may comprise an associated plurality of interrelated tasks for different aspects of managing a moving industry quote workflow. Users can interact with a plurality of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to perform the interrelated tasks.