Abstract:
An on-line RFP procurement auction system with bidder sub-auctions, using an Internet based communications network of network members inclusive of network buyers/requesters and network sellers/bidders, for processing an RFP for goods and services through at least one server and operating software. The system including a database for each category of goods and services offered or desired by network members of the system; photo upload capability for remote use by network buyers to particularly illustrate and explain the desired RFP service; capacity for network buyers to generate RFPs for goods or services displayed by jpegs and the like of photo uploads together with alpha-numeric RFP data; capacity for transmitting the RFPs inclusive of jpegs to the server; capacity for e-mail and wireless distribution of RFP notices to those network sellers/bidders; that have asked for notices within selectable categories of RFP&#39;s; capacity to enable a network seller/bidder to submit an encrypted bid to the server; and capacity within the server for generating a list of all responsive bids and e-mailing the same to the buyer/requester generator after conclusion of an auction.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This case claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of Provisional Application Serial No. 60/287,008, filed Apr. 30, 2001, and the same is incorporated in full by reference herein. 
     
    
     
       N/A  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates to the area of electronic commerce on the Internet and, more particularly, to an on-line procurement system in which responses to requests for proposals (RFPs) are solicited over the Internet.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    On-line or Internet based auctions have become popular in recent years and, as such, have become an integral aspect of electronic or e-commerce as it is known today. Such auctions are technically known as forward auctions or highest bid wins auctions. Examples of such on-line systems are reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,454 (1999) to Harrington; U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,138 (1999) to Godin, entitled Computer Auction System; U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,398 (2000) to Ausubel; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,485 (2000) to Fortenberry et al, entitled Electronic Solicitations for Internet Commerce. Although the various hardware, software, and Internet means for effecting such forward or high-bid auctions may differ, the objective is always the same, that is, to solicit the highest possible offer for the particular goods or product that is the subject of the auction.  
           [0006]    Less common are auctions of services, in that services do not as readily lend themselves to e-commerce, this for a number of reasons, including the personalized nature of most services, even where the object of the service is an inanimate object, e.g., as in the repair of an automobile. Accordingly, the development of e-commerce relative to services has been largely informational in character, with actual transactions rarely occurring. Yet less common in contemporary e-commerce is the so-called RFP, quotation, or procurement auction in which it is the buyer, not the seller, that initiates the auction process and in which the sellers that compete with each other. This is also known as a low-bid wins auction. Clearly, the development of low bid auctions is in the interest of the public. The instant invention, while capable of forward auction functions, as is described herein, is primarily directed to RFP auctions for services in which RFPs are solicited for the rendering of particular services within a given industry.  
           [0007]    Although the present system, as described herein, is the result of needs of the marine industry and cargo transportation industry, and more specifically marine insurance companies soliciting competitive bids for vessel and cargo repair in what heretofore has been essentially a closed noncompetitive procurement process. The principles of the invention are applicable to substantially any business having recurrent needs for particular types of goods and services as a part of a procurement process. That is, buyers in need of goods or services often spend considerable time in the location of an appropriate vendor. Buyers, known as purchasing agents in larger companies, may employ trade publications, directories, recommendations and other means to locate prospective vendors. Conversely, vendors may advertise through various media and, in the case of goods, by direct sales methods to make known to potential buyers the existence of their goods and services, and how to contact them.  
           [0008]    When a prospective buyer identifies a group of qualified vendors, each must be contacted to obtain a product or service price, as well product as availability, delivery time and other information. This is of course a time consuming process in which companies will, where necessary, rely on experienced purchasing agents to accomplish the same. However, in certain situations, as are commonplace in the marine cargo and other businesses, the need for a given product or service may be particularly time sensitive, this because of geographical factors, limited number of qualified vendors and, in the case of a damaged vessel, the impracticality of moving the vessel out of the boatyard or dockage at which it is located. Likewise, perishable cargo has a short shelf life and therefore requires timely bids for purchase or repair. Accordingly, persons and companies requiring services in connection with damaged vessel and cargo and insurers thereof often find themselves with few options with respect to marine surveyors and adjusters, on the one hand, and boatyards, shipyards, cargo salvors, and their subcontractors on the other hand.  
           [0009]    While the primary need for such procurement of services arises in the area of marine insurance and warranty work for boat and marine engine manufacturers (the so-called B2B e-commerce) there, as well, exist significant needs on the part of private boat owners having uninsured needs, such as repair, re-fits, re-painting, re-powering. These needs more than justify an on-line bid, quote, or RFP system of the present type.  
           [0010]    On-line systems which generate RFPs for services are rare and, with respect to issued patents, appear only in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,328 (1998) to Giovannoli, entitled Computerized Quotation System and Method. The point of novelty of Giovannoli is however the filtering of RFQs such that sets of a priori conditions must be met by a prospective bidder before the bid process can commence. In distinction, the present system, known as the MBx system, relies upon a combination of network membership and information secured through membership registration in order to determine subsets of prospective bidders meeting one or more of particular requirements or parameters of a particular RFP network buyer/requester, or the network itself, this including, for example, such factors as geography, capability, experience, peril classification, language spoken and conditions of sale or offer. RFP Bidder evaluation of this level of sophistication cannot be obtained through the system of Giovannoli or any other art known to the within inventors. Further, the system of Giovannoli is essentially that of a buyer/vendor network lacking a rigid structure or operating through a central network-processing unit (“CNPU”). The present system, in distinction, is wholly reliant upon an administrative server or CNPU for the many benefits of the invention as are more fully set forth below.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    Set forth herein is an on-line procurement RFP (low-bid) auction system, inclusive of bidder sub-auctions, using an Internet based communications network of network members inclusive of network buyers/requesters and network sellers/bidders, for processing RFPs for goods and services through at least one server and operating software therefore. The system more particularly includes a database for each category of goods and services offered or desired by network members of the system; a photo-upload utility for remote use by network buyers to particularly illustrate and explain the desired service; means for network buyers to generate RFPs for goods or services as is specified by jpegs and alpha-numeric RFP data; means for transmitting said RFPs to said server; database search means of determining the best candidate network member bidders for each particular RFP; means for e-mail and wireless distribution of notices of said RFPs to suitable network sellers/bidders; means for enabling network sellers/bidders to submit an encrypted bid to said server; and means within said server for generating a list of all responsive bids, and e-mailing a notice to the network buyer/requester generator thereof after conclusion of an auction period. The system is facilitated through a database having partitions inclusive of registration form data, a service provider data, categories of goods and services data for high bid auctions, bidding sub-contactors data and links to seller/bidder profile mini-web pages including jpegs and profiles thereof. The system further includes many elective pop-up tutorials to assist new users throughout the different phases as well as an automated e-mail invoicing system for charging of commissions to network buyers/requesters of RFP auctions predicated upon the lowest received bid, even if such bid is not the bid selected by the ultimate network buyer/requester. The system also provides automated e-mail start and finish notifications to the buyer/requester standard or custom buyer/requester messages notifying the best candidate of its selection and the losing bidder notifications.  
           [0012]    It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a method and system of electronic commerce particularly adapted to the solicitation of bids for the procurement of goods and services by a prospective buyer (RFP requester) from a subset of prospective network sellers/bidders.  
           [0013]    It is another object to provide a system of the above type having particular application to companies or individuals, such as insurance companies, private boat owners, private and commercial waterfront owners, marinas, municipal beach and lake restoration, and vessel manufacturers having warranty service requirements relative to marine related products.  
           [0014]    It is another object of the invention to provide a method and system of the above type to enable companies and individuals that sell marine related products or services, such as boatyards and shipyards, marine repair facilities, engine and equipment dealers, boat trailer manufacturers, boat towing companies, boat transporting companies, dredging companies, dock and sea wall companies, and beach restoration companies, to increase the size of their potential markets and to impart a higher degree of professionalism to their respective businesses.  
           [0015]    The above and yet other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the hereinafter set forth Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description of the Invention and claims appended herewith.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is a conceptual illustration of the categories of network members of the present system.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a conceptual block diagram showing the ultimate inputs and outputs of the inventive system when employed as a RFP (low bid) auction.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 3 and 4 are a respective chart and web page that elaborate the information of FIG. 2.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a state block diagram showing the constituent functions of the system server (CNPU) and its relationship to the database of registration forms, categories of goods, service providers, and elective tutorials for explanation of registration forms, bid forms, RFPs, and other forms.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a system flow diagram showing the relationship of the various functions of the system of FIG. 5, databases thereof, and relationships therebetween.  
         [0021]    FIGS.  7  to  12  are bidder response webpages for a single RFP.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 13 is a web page of the system used to generate and post an RFP.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 14 is a web page used to view an RFP.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 15 is a web page used by a seller/bidder to limit categories of RFP to be received, to establish a personal e-mail notification of auctions in categories of seller/bidder interest.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 16 is a page for RFP management.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 17 is a conceptual flow diagram of the ultimate inputs and outputs of the present system when used as a forward (high bid) auction.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 18 is a group of forward auction thumbnail photos that may be clickably zoomed.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of registration and navigation routines applicable to network bidders and insurance company requester.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of registration and navigation routines of the program applicable to network members desirous of availing themselves of all capabilities of the instant system.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 21 is a site map of the system.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 22 is a FAQ page.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 23 is a block diagram, with annotations, providing a summary of system capability for B2B and C2B purposes.  
         [0033]    FIGS.  24  to  26  shows search options of the system.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0034]    In FIG. 1 is shown the conceptual relationship between a central network processing unit (“CNPU”) or network server  20  of the present invention and the categories of users thereof, namely, a seller/bidders  22 , also referred to herein as a network seller/bidder, and parties that generate procurement requests, that is, parties that generate RFPs, such parties herein referred to as a network buyer/requester  24 . Between the network member seller/bidder  22  and network member buyer requester  24  are parties  26  who wish to participate in the bidding as well as the requesting side of the instant system. Such parties will typically also participate in conventional high bid auctions, as are more fully set forth below. Therefore, such prospective bidders are termed “full bidders” in the terminology of the instant system.  
         [0035]    With reference to the flow diagram of FIG. 2, the basic inputs and outputs of the on-line procurement auction system are shown. More particularly, at the center thereof is RFP auction function  28  which, as is more fully set forth below, comprises a subset of the functions of server or CNPU  20  referenced above. A partial listing of the RFP functions include: description (both written and visual) of vessel or cargo damage, insurance assessment, surveyor report, storage costs, repair costs, SRILLI costs, time to complete the job, sales tax, percent of total repair for expected supplement, salvage value, vessel and cargo transportation cost, and warranty work estimates. To the left of RFP auction function  28  is buyer/requester  24 , that is, the party seeking a bid for a particular service. The buyer requester  24  will generate an RFP  30  which is transmitted by the network server  20  to seller/bidder  22 . Therein, the prospective bidder may avail himself of the RFP function for network members who are subcontractors  32  that might offer goods or services needed by the prospective bidder to formulate a responsive bid  34  to in response to RFP  30 . This bid will be processed by network server  20  in accordance with the program below set forth, and as one of its outputs will furnish to the buyer/requester  24  a list  36  of all qualified bidders that have responded to a particular RFP  30  with bids. Examples thereof, namely RFPs and their participants are shown column format in FIG. 3 and web page format in FIG. 4. These, more particularly, indicate subject matter correlations between requesters  24  and bidders  22  with respect to particular goods/products  38  and/or services  40 . Therein may be appreciated the range of parties that may comprise potential network buyer/requesters, on the one hand, and network sellers/bidders, on the other hand, as well as the range of goods and services to which the instant system, in its marine industry embodiment, is applicable.  
         [0036]    With reference to the state diagram of FIG. 5, there is shown, within network server/CNPU  20 , a list of the network server functions in the sequence in which they would typically occur during system operation. More particularly, this sequence of functions is as follows:  
         [0037]    1. Registration by category of network member.  
         [0038]    2. Automatically generated registrant profile into a mini-web page with photos.  
         [0039]    3. Elective pop-up tutorials for use on an as needed basis  
         [0040]    4. Generation of RFPs  30  with unlimited items, each having up to four photos per item.  
         [0041]    5. Upload of RFP items and all photos.  
         [0042]    6. During photo upload process, CNPU  20  automatically generates thumbnail size photo on the display in the correct order for pop-up to larger photos.  
         [0043]    7. E-mail and wireless distribution of RFP notices.  
         [0044]    8. Bidder accesses RFP on-line.  
         [0045]    9. Bid generation and submission.  
         [0046]    10. E-mail bid verification back to the seller/bidder.  
         [0047]    11. Generation of list of bids available to all participant bidders of an auction immediately after it has closed. The RFP buyer/requester is electronically notified of all itemized bids after payment of the service fees to MBx has been made.  
         [0048]    12. Evaluation of list of bids by requester.  
         [0049]    13. Acceptance or reject all bids of bid by requester.  
         [0050]    14. Confirmation by server of acceptance of bid.  
         [0051]    Some of the above functions are additionally shown within the network member blocks  22 / 24  shown to the left and right of CNPU network server  20  in FIG. 5. Block  42 , which appears above server block  20 , provides an indication of the range of different registration forms associated with the present system. This is more fully addressed with reference to FIGS. 6 and 19- 20  below.  
         [0052]    In FIG. 5, it noted that each functional database comprises a data partition of a single physical database. That is, database  44  contain categories of goods  38  such as boats or components thereof which are typically the subject of a forward auction, either generally as set forth below or, specifically, with reference to subcontractors  32  as above described with reference to FIGS. 2. Database  46  is a database of seller/bidder service providers and bidder profiled mini-webpages with photos, that are network members who, on a particular occasion, may function as either a network buyer  24  or network seller  22 . Elective pop-up tutorials  48  assist any network member in the use of registration forms, bid forms, RFP forms, and other aspects of the system, as are set forth below. An applicable elective pop-up tutorial is linked from substantially any page of the present program (known commercially as MarineBidExchange.com.)  
         [0053]    With reference to the network flow diagram of FIG. 6, there is shown the relationship between CNPU or server when employed both as a RFP auction  28  and a forward auction  50 . Therein is included the buyer/requester  24 , the seller/bidder  22 , said database  44  of goods, said database  46  of service providers, optional buyer profile mini-pagers  52  inclusive of jpegs, seller profile mini-pages  54  inclusive of jpegs, said registration forms  42 , database  56  of RFP forms for buyers/requesters, database  58  of forms for sellers/bidders, database  48 A of buyer elective pop-up tutorials and database  48 B of bidder elective pop-up tutorials. FIG. 6 however is particularly notable in its illustration of information flow which enables each of the above set forth server functions of FIG. 5. More particularly, registration of buyers/requesters is shown through Lines  60  and  62  which indicate provision of appropriate registration forms  56  and the submission of the completed forms to the server  20 , while Line  66  illustrates the completion of an appropriate registration form by a seller/bidder and the submission thereof to server  20 . Line  57  indicates that the network buyer  24  may customize his form, as is more fully set forth in FIG. 15.  
         [0054]    Following registration, a buyer/requester provides an RFP  30  including a narrative description of “damage found,” “recommended repairs,” and “photo uploads”  77 / 77   a  to describe the nature of the damage and recommended repairs, as is shown by Line  76  of FIG. 6. The buyer/requester  24  provides a description of “damages found” and “recommended repairs”  76   a  in the format shown in FIGS.  7  to  12 , as is more fully described below.  
         [0055]    An RFP  30  comprises at least one item but may include an unlimited number of items. A buyer/requester  24  may upload as many as four thumbnail photos per item. See Item Nos.  201  to  208  of FIGS.  7 - 12 . Each thumbnail photo will automatically, if clicked upon, zoom up to a much larger scale photo. This is done to allow more elective images per page while maintaining an acceptable downloading speed. This also allows the viewer of each page of thumbnail photos  77  to make one&#39;s own choice of which thumbnails to zoom-up, rather than forcing the viewer to view all large photos.  
         [0056]    Users of this site, including both buyer/requesters and seller/bidders, may upload and size photos with their registration profiles or RFP items directly from their own computer. See FIGS.  19 - 20 . The CNPU will automatically re-size a photo and express it as a predetermined sized thumbnail photo without the need for user cropping, copying or resizing and renaming photos for the thumbnail. This also removes the burden of having to upload both the larger photo which would require more time and coordination by a user.  
         [0057]    One benefit of the above is that network seller/bidder  22  may generate a mini-page inclusive of written and graphic information, as is indicated by Line  70  of FIG. 6. This profile becomes available to the requester to evaluate the bidder repair capability.  
         [0058]    As above noted, elective pop-up tutorials  48  exist throughout the present system and, in FIG. 6 are particularly shown in databases  48 A and  48 B which are accessible to buyers and sellers as is indicated by Lines  72  and  74  respectively. The next step, when the system is employed in its RFP auction mode, is that of generation of the RFP  30 . Therein, a requester  24  may employ forms from a database  56 , of a type shown in FIG. 6 herewith. See also FIGS.  19 - 20 . After this form is completed, the RFP  30  will appear on the system in the manner of the example of FIGS.  7 - 12 . To access the detailed graphic and textual information of FIGS.  5 - 6 , one may click on “view RFP”  75  of FIG. 14 or may simply click on any thumbnail photo  77  to see more of the subject of this RFP.  
         [0059]    The generation and transmission of the proposal to the network server is shown as Line  76  in FIG. 6. Thereupon, the requester  24  may define a subset of network seller/bidders  22  suitable for receipt of the RFP in which a variety of criteria, both objective and subjective, may be employed. In an open bid scenario, the requester will then select the best candidate for the job. Therein, the requester may establish criteria, for given categories of services  46 , on the basis of one or more of geography, capability, experience, peril classification, language spoken, and conditions of sale or offer. In many cases, a network seller/bidder will indicate an area of interest or non-interest, this in accordance with the form of FIG. 15 in which a network bidder is encouraged to complete, both as a matter of his own convenience and so that the system does not misuse resources in sending RFP notices of a type that a particular bidder would have no interest in.  
         [0060]    In addition, a buyer/requester  24  is permitted to construct a “private auction” wherein the requester must approve all prospective sellers/bidders  22  in which he wishes to participate. Also, the buyer/requester may elect at the time of RFP setup to password protect the auction. Such auctions will, it is believed, become quite common inasmuch as, in certain niche industries, such as the marine industry, a buyer/requester will typically have a good sense of the qualified sellers/bidders to which he would entrust his work. Accordingly, it would not be unusual for a private boat owner or a boat manufacturer, having warranty or service requirements, to specify a short list of network seller bidders for consideration of his RFP. As such, the present system can readily be adapted to either impose such a short list for a private RFP auction or, as above set forth, apply general constraints relative to geography, peril classification or the like; or said criteria may be bypassed entirely.  
         [0061]    After an appropriate subset of candidates of seller/bidders has been determined, the RFP notices are transmitted to the selected group of network sellers/bidders by both e-mail and wireless means as in indicated by Line  78 , and by a line segment  80  thereof which indicates receipt of the RFP notice by both e-mail and wireless means. Thereupon, seller/bidder  22 , employing bidder elective pop-up tutorials  48 B, as needed, and attaching his seller mini-pages  54 , as needed, will generate a bid which is forwarded to server  20 , as is indicated by Line  82  of FIG. 6. During the bidding process, the seller/bidder  22  views (typically five) items per page by electing to expand the thumbnail photos for a closer look at the actual damage as well as to evaluate the buyer/requester&#39;s “damage found” and recommended repairs.” The seller/bidder then enters his respective bid amount  83 - 83   f  and a narrative  8585   f  on how the repairs would be done if different than the buyer/requester&#39;s recommended repairs. See FIGS.  7  to  12 , and FIGS.  19 - 20 . The bidder then submits all items and moves on to the next page of item to evaluate and possibly bid on. After the bidder has placed bids on all items in the RFP  30 , he may go back and change his bid or conditions of the bid on any item, using the final bid sheet. Once the bidder is happy with all his bids, the bidder selects “confirm bids”  84  so that his bids on all items become “active bids” and cannot be changed. See FIGS. 6 and 16. That is, the bidder must eventually bid on all items comprising an RFP  30  to produce a finalized bid that will be processed.  
         [0062]    After the RFP period has ended, the buyer/requester is automatically invoiced for auction service fees. After MBx is paid, an e-mail notice is sent to the buyer/requester to process all bids, as is indicated by Line  86 . In selecting the winning bidder, the requester  24  may apply his own personal and subjective consideration to all bids, not only the lowest bid as is typical in the prior art of RFP auction systems. Therein, although the fee paid by the buyer/requester is a function of the lowest good faith bid, the requester is under no obligation to accept the lowest bid. In other words, for any of a number of reasons, a requester may choose to select a bidder other than the one offering the lowest price for the RFP. The buyer/requester may also elect to “reject all bids.” If so, e-mail notices  86  are sent to all selected bidders that all bids of that RFP were rejected. The buyer/requester is however still charged a transaction fee but is given credit towards his next RFP. Line  88  of FIG. 6 indicates the acceptance of a bid by the requester and the transmission of such acceptance to server  20  whereupon the successful bidder is notified as is indicated by Line  90 . The selected bidder is then asked to confirm his acceptance of the bid, which is indicated by Line  92 .  
         [0063]    The forward auction  50  of the present system is much simpler in concept than is the above described RFP auction and is shown conceptually in FIG. 17 and, more particularly, in said FIG. 6 with reference to those lines using the nomenclature FA. As be noted in FIG. 17, the forward auction  50  is simply a matter of the forward seller  22 A listing a particular cargo or product  38  or vessel and the transmission of such an offer  94  to forward buyer  24 A who, if interested in product  38 , will generate a bid  96  whereupon the forward auction  50  will simply transmit high bid  98  to the forward seller  22 A. Forward auction subjects may be selectably viewed by clicking upon any of thumbnail photos  99  of FIG. 18. In the present system, a seller may also view the bid history of a subject should he wish to do so. The above is shown in further detail in the system flow diagram of FIG. 17 in which offer  94  may be seen emanating from a seller in which data database  38 / 44  may be used to attach an appropriate jpeg to the offer if the seller has not already done so. Thereupon, the offer of sale will be transmitted as indicated by Line  100  to the forward auction  50  of the server  28 . Notice of the seller&#39;s offer is then furnished to a prospective buyer as is indicated by Line  102 . An FA bid  96  then be forthcoming from an FA bidder as is indicated by Line  96 . In a “sealed bid” auction, the high bid  98  is communicated to the seller  22 A who, if he wishes to accept the high bid, will indicate his acceptance thereof as is indicated by Line  106 , whereupon confirmations are sent out to both parties by the server and the commission is paid by the seller while the purchase price is paid by the buyer  24 A to the forward auction  50 . In an open bid auction, the highest bid is the winning bid, which is determined by the server  28  immediately at the end of the auction  
         [0064]    It is noted that a forward auction  50  and, particularly, a salvage auction  108  (see FIGS.  18 - 20  and  23 ) of a vessel cargo or any other commodity may function concurrently with an RFP auction  28  of the same vessel cargo or any other commodity as above set forth, this to effectively determine if a vessel is a total loss or if it can be cost-effectively repaired.  
         [0065]    In a damage or salvage cargo auction, FA bid  96  comprises two parts, namely:  
         [0066]    (a) Bid to purchase as is; and  
         [0067]    (b) Bid to repair (not purchase) for continued shipment to final destination. This corresponds to the function of Line  76  of a proposal in response to an RFP. See FIG. 6.  
         [0068]    A screen page of the program showing the manner in which the system user can readily insert himself into different steps or aspects of the inventive system is shown in FIGS.  14 - 16  which indicates the manner in which a network member may observe pending, active and closed RFPs and, as well, may, within time sensitive parameters, effect a revision of a pending RFP or a re-listing of an existing RFP. The right side of FIG. 16 is therefore a management page of the system,  
         [0069]    In FIGS. 19 and 20 are shown, in greater detail, the functions associated with the use of registration form database  42 , requester registration forms  56  and bidder registration forms  58 . Therein the adaptation of the present system to the particular needs of different network members, e.g., vessel salvage companies, boatyard and shipyards, insurance companies, outside adjusters and surveyors, salvage vessels, brokers, and interested members of the public are accommodated.  
         [0070]    Shown in FIG. 21 is a screen page of a site map  110  of the present procurement auction system showing thereof the direct linkage from the site map to an applicable registration form, and other forms, such as forms  58  employed by bidders  22 . Also linked to site map  110  is a search program  120  and frequently asked questions (FAQs)  115  which are further shown in FIGS. 24 and 22 respectively.  
         [0071]    In FIG. 23 is shown a summary of the various benefits and applications of the system, this inclusive of the above-described sub-bidding functions  32  available to network sellers/bidders  22 . Thereby, through FIG. 23 there may be appreciated the range of both B2B (business-to-business) and C2B (consumer-to-business) applications of the system, this both at various points in the chain of channel of distribution of marine related goods and services. Compare, for example, Phase I-B2B and Phase II-B2B.  
         [0072]    With respect to marine insurers  24   a , in Phase I of B2B their benefits are:  
         [0073]    Lower loss ratios because of lower claim processing expenses  
         [0074]    Avoidance of “captured” vessels  
         [0075]    More competitive and lower bids  
         [0076]    Faster, easier and more credible bids  
         [0077]    Concurrent repairs and salvage bidding  
         [0078]    Open and easier claim supervision  
         [0079]    Less litigation.  
         [0080]    With respect to marine surveyors  24   b  in Phase I of B2B, their benefits are:  
         [0081]    Self-tutorial RFP input forms  
         [0082]    For inside adjusters, smaller losses that are easier and faster  
         [0083]    Ease of digital photo uploading  
         [0084]    Printed photo scanning service  
         [0085]    Unbiased bid data  
         [0086]    Links to their own website  
         [0087]    More visibility and creditability, thus more jobs  
         [0088]    Available at all times  
         [0089]    With respect to private boat owners  24   c  in Phase II of C2B, their benefits are:  
         [0090]    Lower repair and maintenance cost  
         [0091]    More competitive and lower bids  
         [0092]    Avoidance of “captured” vessels  
         [0093]    Faster, easier and more credible service  
         [0094]    With respect to manufactures  24   d  in Phase II of B2B, and their warranty work, their benefits are:  
         [0095]    Lower cost of repairs  
         [0096]    Faster turnaround  
         [0097]    Self-tutorial RFP input forms  
         [0098]    Easy digital photo uploading  
         [0099]    Printed photo scanning service  
         [0100]    Links to on-line manuals  
         [0101]    Links to their own website  
         [0102]    Available at all times  
         [0103]    With respect to captains, brokers and project managers  23 , Phase II C2B benefits are:  
         [0104]    Self-tutorial RFP input forms  
         [0105]    Easy digital photo uploading  
         [0106]    Printed photo scanning service  
         [0107]    Links to their own website.  
         [0108]    Available at all times  
         [0109]    With respect to all categories shown at the center bottom of FIG. 23, the benefits of the inventive system are:  
         [0110]    Lower the cost of finding work at any time  
         [0111]    More damage data and therefore better bid accuracy  
         [0112]    More stable employee workload  
         [0113]    Less litigation or conflict regarding costs.  
         [0114]    FIGS.  24  to  26  illustrate a system search menu  120  which is linked to a keyword search  130  and advanced search  140  respectively.  
         [0115]    While there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the MBx invention it is to be appreciated that the invention may be embodied otherwise than is herein specifically shown and described and that, within said embodiment, certain changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the parts without departing from the underlying ideas or principles of this invention as set forth in the claims appended herewith.