Generation and execution of custom requests for quote

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US007386475B2

United States Patent

Parasnis et al.

(io) Patent No.: (45) Date of Patent:

US 7,386,475 B2 Jun. 10, 2008

GENERATION AND EXECUTION OF
CUSTOM REQUESTS FOR QUOTE

Inventors: Abhay V. Parasnis, Coppell, TX (US);
Mark E. Hanson, Allen, TX (US);
Haidong Li, Richardson, TX (US)

Assignee: i2 Technologies US, Inc., Dallas, TX (US)

Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 1312 days.

Appl. No.: 09/940,764

Filed: Aug. 27, 2001

Prior Publication Data

US 2004/0187091 Al Sep. 23, 2004

Related U.S. Application Data

Provisional application No. 60/238,329, filed on Oct. 5, 2000.

Int. CI.

G06Q 30/00 (2006.01)

U.S. CI 705/26

Field of Classification Search 705/26,

705/27

See application file for complete search history.

References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

5,630,069 A 5/1997 Flores et al 395/207

5,734,837 A 3/1998 Flores et al 395/207

5,758,327 A * 5/1998 Gardner et al 705/26

5,758,328 A * 5/1998 Giovannoli 705/26

5,991,733 A 11/1999 Aleia et al 705/8

6,115,690 A 9/2000 Wong 795/7

6,892,185 Bl * 5/2005 Van Etten et al 705/27

7,117,165 Bl* 10/2006 Adams et al 705/26

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Philip McCrea "Trends in Electronic Procurement", CSIRO, Dec. 1997.*

PCT, Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report or the Declaration, 4 pages, Aug. 14, 2002.

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—Naeem Haq

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Booth Udall, PLC

(57) ABSTRACT

A request for quote (RFQ) engine (10) includes a data and metrics designer (22) that generates, in response to input from a user, a data and metrics model (42) for an RFQ template using a data and metrics meta-model (32). The RFQ engine (10) also includes a state transition designer (24) that generates, in response to input from the user, a state transition model (44) for the RFQ template using a state transition meta-model (34). Furthermore, the RFQ engine (10) includes a workflow designer (26) that generates, in response to input from the user, a user interface workflow (46) for the RFQ template using a workflow meta-model (36). In addition, the RFQ engine includes an execution engine (40) that executes the RFQ template that includes the data and metrics model (42) generated by the data and metrics designer (22), the state transition model (44) generated by the state transition designer (24), and the user interface workflow (46) generated by the workflow designer (26). The RFQ template is executed to generate an RFQ.

13 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets

26

I WORKFLOW |_ |_ DESIGNER J

24 T

r STATE | I TRANSITION H[_ DESIGNER J

22 T

T DATA AND ~]

METRICS DESIGNER

TEMPLATE DESIGNER

30

A

36

I META-MODEL I

r_V. I STATE i ■H TRANSITION I— l_METAzM0DE_L_|

32 |

T"DATA AND"~j ■H METRICS hLmetazmodelj

META-MODEL
REPOSITORY

40

Jl

Sheet 2 of 3

US 7,386,475 B2

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104

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108

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112

114

116

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120

122124126

FIG. 3 QS^3

USER ACCESSES AND INITIATES USE OF RFQ ENGINE

DATA AND METRICS DESIGNER ACCESSES DATA AND METRICS META-MODEL

DATA AND METRICS DESIGNER COMMUNICATES INTERFACES TO USER FOR SELECTION OF AN APPROPRIATE DATA MODEL AND METRICS

DATA AND METRICS DESIGNER RECEIVES ONE OR MORE SELECTIONS FROM USER

DATA AND METRICS DESIGNER GENERATES DATA AND METRICS MODEL AND COMMUNICATES MODEL TO STATE TRANSITION DESIGNER

STATE TRANSITION DESIGNER ACCESSES STATE TRANSITION META-MODEL

STATE TRANSITION DESIGNER COMMUNICATES INTERFACES TO USER FOR SELECTION OF A STATE TRANSITION MODEL

STATE TRANSITION DESIGNER RECEIVES ONE OR MORE SELECTIONS FROM USER

STATE TRANSITION DESIGNER GENERATES STATE TRANSITION MODEL AND COMMUNICATES MODEL TO WORKFLOW DESIGNER

WORKFLOW DESIGNER ACCESSES USER INTERFACE META-MODEL

WORKFLOW DESIGNER COMMUNICATES INTERFACES TO USER FOR SELECTION OF A USER INTERFACE WORKFLOW

WORKFLOW DESIGNER RECEIVES ONE OR MORE SELECTIONS FROM USER

WORKFLOW DESIGNER GENERATES USER INTERFACE WORKFLOW

RFQ ENGINE STORES DATA AND METRICS MODEL, STATE TRANSITION MODEL, AND USER INTERFACE WORKFLOW AS AN RFQ TEMPLATE

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