Centralized Database for Purchase Transaction Metadata Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing purchase management systems fail to automatically transfer transaction information from purchases into the company's economic and administrative systems, limiting the ability to manage and track purchases effectively.
Innovation Solution
A centralized database system that collects and converts transaction information into a unified format, allowing external parties to add purchase details and enabling automatic entry into the purchasing entity's systems, with a bank-specific module for approval and metadata management within the bank's firewall for regulatory compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a purchase request-based system is used to simplify approval processes, then the approval process is simplified, but transaction information cannot be automatically transferred to the company's economy system
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized database arrangement as an intermediary between the purchase request system and the company's economy system. This database receives transaction information from external parties (suppliers, merchants) and stores it in a standardized format that can be automatically transferred to the economy system, thus resolving the information transfer gap while maintaining the simplified approval process
Solution Approach 2:
The system separates the approval function (handled by purchase requests) from the information collection function (handled by the centralized database). This segmentation allows the approval process to remain simple while transaction information is independently collected and transferred to the economy system through the database
2Extent of automation
If a centralized database is used to collect information from external parties, then transaction information can be automatically entered into administrative systems, but data format compatibility issues arise between different parties
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized database arrangement is designed with universal data format capabilities that can accommodate and translate between different data formats used by various external parties (suppliers, merchants, banks). This multi-functionality allows the database to collect information from diverse sources and convert it into a standardized format suitable for automatic transfer to the company's administrative systems
3Reliability
If the bank specific database module is placed within the bank's firewall, then regulatory compliance is improved, but system integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bank specific database module acts as an intermediary layer between the external centralized database and the bank's internal systems. It receives data from the centralized database, ensures regulatory compliance by processing sensitive information within the firewall, and then transfers approved data to the company's administrative systems. This intermediary approach maintains security and compliance while enabling system integration
Data Source
AI summary
A purchase management system includes a central database arrangement, a customer interface, and a bank specific database module that communicates with a transaction authorization module within a bank. The central database arrangement is arranged to receive, from a purchasing entity through the customer interface, purchasing rules applying to a purchasing group, and includes central processing means arranged to: add a selected purchasing group as metadata linked to a first transaction ID in the central database arrangement; add the purchasing rules applying to said purchasing group as metadata linked to the first transaction ID in the central database arrangement; and transfer metadata linked to the first transaction ID to the bank specific database module. The bank specific database module is arranged to receive a purchase approval request from the transaction authorization module, which purchase approval request comprises transaction information, including at least the purchase amount, linked to the first transaction ID.