Patent ID: 7979310
Filing Date: 2011-07-12
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A customer computer system for electronically ordering items from a plurality of suppliers, the customer computer system comprising a memory, a processor, a non-transitory computer readable medium and a network interface, wherein the network interface is coupled to a plurality of requester computers and a supervisor computer, the customer computer system is configured to: receive a first independent consolidation criterion and a second independent consolidation criterion from the supervisor computer, wherein: receive a first request from a first requester computer to purchase a first plurality of items; receive a second request from a second requester computer to purchase a second plurality of items; trigger consolidation of the first request from the first requester computer to purchase the first plurality of items with the second request from the second requester computer to purchase the second plurality of items when the first triggering consolidation criterion is met, wherein the first triggering consolidation criterion is one of the one or more independent consolidation criteria; group qualifying items from the first plurality of items requested by the first requester computer and the second plurality of items requested by the second requester computer into a first qualified group and a second qualified group, wherein the qualifying items satisfy the triggering consolidation criterion; generate a first consolidated purchase order containing the first qualified group supplied by a first supplier of the plurality of suppliers; transmit the first consolidated purchase order to the first supplier; generate a second consolidated purchase order containing the second qualified group supplied by a second supplier of the plurality of suppliers; and transmit the second consolidated purchase order to the second supplier.