Patent ID: 7127458
Filing Date: 2006-10-24
Classification: G06F,G06Q,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented system for part data matching, the system comprising one or more memory units and one or more processing units collectively operable to: receive a selection of an input file from a user of the system, the input file being received by the system from an input file originator and comprising part information identifying one or more parts, the part information comprising at least one manufacturer name and at least one part number; receive a selection of a manufacturer name match template from the user, the manufacturer name match template being stored in association with the system, wherein the manufacturer name match template is configurable by the user to identify one or more matching techniques and to specify the order in which the identified matching techniques are to be applied, the order being specified without deleting any of the identified matching techniques, to match a manufacturer name associated with one or more parts in the input file with a manufacturer name associated with one or more parts identified in one or more sources of parts data that are stored in association with the system; receive a selection of a manufacturer part number match template from the user, the manufacturer part number match template being stored in association with the system, wherein the manufacturer part number match template is configurable by the user to identify one or more matching techniques and to specify the order in which the identified matching techniques are to be applied, the order being specified without deleting any of the identified matching techniques, to match a manufacturer part number associated with one or more parts in the input file with a manufacturer part number associated with one or more parts identified in the one or more sources of parts data; use the matching techniques identified in the manufacturer name match template to identify one or more potential matches between a manufacturer name associated with one or more parts in the input file and a manufacturer name associated with one or more parts identified in the one or more sources of parts data; use the matching techniques identified in the manufacturer part number match template to identify one or more potential matches between a manufacturer part number associated with one or more parts in the input file and a manufacturer part number associated with one or more parts identified in the one or more sources of parts data for which a potential manufacturer name match was found; communicate the potential matches to the user; and receive a selection of a potential match from the user for one or more parts identified in the input file, the selection of the potential match for a particular part indicating that manufacturer name and manufacturer part number in the input file that are associated with the part are to be used to identify the part.