Abstract:
Vendors and customers join a purchasing consortium which maintains vendor and customer databases, and a product catalogue database. Vendors enter product, product pricing and product maintenance data into product catalogue database. A customer searches the catalogue data base and purchases product selected from product catalogue. The purchasing customer&#39;s information from the customer/vendor database, and the product product, pricing and product maintenance data for the selected product or products, are linked to an inventory and/or customer asset management data base, such that the customer can retrieve, use and manipulate the product, product pricing and product maintenance data in connection with the management of the assets purchased. Purchase payments are processed to the appropriate vendor, and optionally a portion thereof to the consortium manager.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/815,462, entitled ASSET ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SOFTWARE, filed on Apr. 24, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of product or service purchase and to the separate field of asset management. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Software is available by which a purchaser can record purchases and enter asset management data concerning the purchase. Such data can be used to track and maintain the purchase. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    In the present invention, vendors and customers join a purchasing consortium which maintains vendor and customer databases, and a product catalogue database. Vendors enter product, product pricing and product maintenance data into product catalogue database. A customer searches the catalogue data base and purchases product selected from product catalogue. The purchasing customer&#39;s information from the customer/vendor database, and the product, product pricing and product maintenance data for the selected product or products are linked to an inventory and/or customer asset management data base, such that the customer can retrieve, use and manipulate the product, product pricing and product maintenance data it connection with the management of the assets purchased. 
         [0005]    These and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood and appreciated by reference to the Description, of the Preferred Embodiments, and the appended drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a schematic showing the relational tables of the consortium management software; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a schematic showing the relational tables of the consortium management software which are directly involved in a purchase; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a schematic showing relational tables involved in a customer resale of a product to one of the customer&#39;s customers; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  shows the dashboard  15  generated by home screen table  14 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Introduction  
       [0010]    In the preferred embodiment, vendors and customers may pay a fee to and enter into a license agreement with the consortium manager in order to participate in the purchasing consortium and have online access to the consortium management software. Vendors can also be customers, and vice versa. Vendors and customers are sometimes called “users.” The consortium manager use consortium management software to maintain a vendor and customer database table  10 , and a product catalogue database table  20 . In the preferred embodiment, the method and consortium management software may be used for providing and purchasing services as well as products. Thus the term “product” as used herein refers to both products and services. 
       Consortium Management Software 
       [0011]    In the preferred embodiment, the consortium management software is written in an entry related database such as ERD and converted to MySQL and PHP. The consortium management software source code is maintained cm the consortium manager&#39;s server. User&#39;s access and use the software on-line. 
         [0012]    The primary data tables are the vendor/customer database table  10  and the product catalogue database table  20 . The information contained in these tables is related to other relational tables through coded entries in those other tables. Data in any table which is pertinent only to a particular user is so coded by association with user&#39;s identification rode and/or password. All of the relational tables in the software are networked together and contain data pertinent to many if not all users in the consortium ( FIGS. 1-3 ). In addition, there are non-relational tables which are provided primarily as a convenience to users of the system. In the figures, some of the tables are shown in separate parts. Each such separate part is given the number of the table, thus indicating that they are part of the same table. Preferably, the software comprises the following relational tables in which data items are recorded and manipulated: 
       Vendor/Customer Table  10  (FIG. 1, FIG. 2) 
       [0013]    List of and personal data for consortium vendors and customers. 
       User&#39;s Authorized Employees Table  2  (FIG. 1) 
       [0014]    List of all the authorized employees and their passwords users have entered. 
         [0000]    Home screen Table  14  ( FIG. 1 ) 
         [0015]    Each user has ha own home screen, all of which are in this table. 
         [0000]    Product catalog Table  20  ( FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ) 
         [0016]    Product, product pricing, product maintenance and other critical information in regards to all items that were entered by vendors. 
       Link Table  30  (FIG. 1, FIG. 2) 
       [0017]    This table links the purchasing activity to the other tables in the system, and records relational data concerning the purchase in those tables. Maintains invoices of what is purchased through the purchasing consortium so users can see what they have purchased from the consortium. 
       Inventory Table  40  (FIG. 1) 
       [0018]    Records b user number and manufacturer&#39;s part number all the items a user has put into a user&#39;s inventory. 
       Asset Management Table  50  (FIG. 1) 
       [0019]    Records by user number and manufacturer&#39;s part number all the items a user has put into a user&#39;s asset management database. When a user enters the fact that an asset is in use,” this table tracks depreciation and warranty expiration information. 
       Cumulative Inventory Items Table  60  (FIG. 1) 
       [0020]    Arranges all the different items in inventory table into collective groups, and tracks a user&#39;s inventory counts, providing reorder alerts. 
       Inventory Look Up Table  70   
       [0021]    Processing table that takes items out of inventory table  40  and places them in asset management table  50  and preventive maintenance table  80 . 
       Preventive Maintenance Table  80   
       [0022]    Product numbers in this table link to all preventive maintenance schedules for products which are “in service.” This table generates preventive maintenance schedules using this information, as well as email preventive maintenance reminders to appropriate employees. Information can be manually entered for items not purchased though the consortium. 
       Maintenance/Issue Request Table  90   
       [0023]    Processes intra customer work requests. Keeps records of issues that users have with everything from building maintenance to software support for all of their products. 
       Maintenance/Issue Request Categories Table  95   
       [0024]    Provides a list of different categories of problems such as facilities, tech, etc., and will process requests for a summation of maintenance requests and issues raised by date range and category. 
       Work Order Table  100   
       [0025]    Provides functionality for preparing and processing work orders, and maintains a record thereof. 
       Budgets Table  110   
       [0026]    Keeps track of all the customer&#39;s department budgets, and how much the department has spent and has left to spend. Each customer is allowed as many departments as they would like. Each department is allotted up to eight budgets. 
       Facility Locations Table  120   
       [0027]    List of facility locations that users have entered. 
       Departments Table  130   
       [0028]    List of all the different departments for each of the users. 
       IRS Guides Table  140   
       [0029]    A complete list of all the IRS categories for our users to pick from so they can be placed in the right category. 
       User&#39;s Customers Table  150   
       [0030]    Maintains profiles of user&#39;s customers, winch are entered by user. 
       User Personal Invoices Table  160   
       [0031]    Processes invoices from a user to the user&#39;s customers, and maintains a record thereof. These can be resale of consortium purchased products, or they can be entirely :separate sales entered manually by the user. 
         [0032]    The following are non-relational tables preferably included in the consortium management software, some of which are included as a convenience to the users: 
       Passwords Table  170   
       [0033]    Keeps records of passwords that users have entered. These may or may not relate to consortium matters. 
       User&#39;s Contacts Table  1 . 80   
       [0034]    This table facilitates transfer of a user&#39;s contacts to this table. 
       Tasks: Table  190   
       [0035]    Keeps records of tasks that users have placed here. 
       Consortium Issue Requests Table  200   
       [0036]    Table of any problems users have with the consortium or consortium vendors or customers. Processes notification of issues to the consortium manager, and to the indicated vendor or customer. 
       Vendor Product Entry 
       [0037]    Once a vendor has signed the vendor contract agreeing to the online licensing program of the consortium manager, vendor chooses a hid package as offered by the consortium manager. A bid package is simply the number of products the vendor wants to bid on. The consortium manager may have a minimum bid package, e.g. 300 items, and then offer larger packages with 400, 500, etc. items in them. Vendor then signs into the system using a system set up wizard located in the vendor/customer table  10 . The wizard includes bid requirements. The bid requirements may be set by the consortium manager, or the consortium manager may use bid requirements of a major customer, or the bid requirements of a state, especially if state agencies and educational institutions are to be major customers of the consortium. Bid requirements may change each year, especially if state bid requirements are being used. 
         [0038]    Each vendor inputs its products into product catalog table  20 . For each product placed, the vendor must provide all information the consortium manager has determined necessary to make all system functionalities work. A counter in this table reduces the purchased bid package number by one for each product entered. When the counter reaches zero, the vendor will not be able to enter any further items. Exemplary information which might be required for each product entered includes: 
         [0039]    Manufacturer part number 
         [0040]    Product category 
         [0041]    Sub category 
         [0042]    Manufacturer 
         [0043]    Individual cost 
         [0044]    Vendor warranty 
         [0045]    Manufacturer warranty 
         [0046]    Shipping method 
         [0047]    Color 
         [0048]    Weight 
         [0049]    Life expectancy 
         [0050]    Product website 
         [0051]    Description 
         [0052]    Notes 
         [0053]    Preventive maintenance schedule 
       Customers 
       [0054]    Customers may be divided into classes based on factors such as their purchasing volume, their profit or non-profit status, their status as public institutions, the age of the company, and etc. Category  1  customers may purchase at the bid price plus a small over-ride fee such as 4%, while category  2  and  3  customers purchase at the bid price plus somewhat larger over-ride fees, such as 10% and 15% respectively. As an incentive to bid lower prices, vendors may be made category  1  customers if they have succeeded in being low bidder on at least one item. Examples of customers which might be made category  1  customers include: 
         [0055]    Schools public and private 
         [0056]    Federal government agencies and departments 
         [0057]    State government agencies and departments 
         [0058]    Local government agencies and departments 
         [0059]    Fire departments 
         [0060]    Police departments 
         [0061]    Ambulance services 
         [0062]    Nursing homes 
         [0063]    Assisted living companies 
         [0064]    Universities and higher education facilities 
         [0065]    Charity and non-profit organizations 
         [0066]    New companies that are under 5 years of age 
         [0067]    Vendor companies that are the winner of one or more lowest bid items. 
         [0068]    Vendors who participate but are not low bidders on any product might be placed in category  2 , at 10% over-ride, while the remaining customers, carted “retail customers” herein, might fall into category  3 . Preferably when a customer is searching the catalogue, the software automatically adds the override fee to the bid price, such that the customer sees only the final price the customer has to pay for the product. Further in the case of category  3  customers the link table  30  might be programed to automatically select asset management, or an abbreviated version thereof, for that customer&#39;s purchases. 
       Access and Dashboard Functions 
       [0069]    Vendors/customers will choose which representatives from their company will be allowed access to the consortium management system. Users will also determine what access each employee will be allowed. The consortium manager will provide passwords to each of the authorized representatives and allow access to the correct home screen and other authorized tables. This information for each employee will be maintained in employee table  12 . 
         [0070]    As user information is entered in vendor/customer table  10 , a home screen or dashboard  15  for the user is generated in home screen table  14 . Home screen table  14  is linked not only to vendor/customer table  10 , but also to all other tables in the system. Thus the home screen table  14  generates a dashboard  15  ( FIG. 4 ) which shows the user its personal information at a glance. 
       Customer Purchase 
       [0071]    The software tables involved directly in a customer purchase are shown in  FIG. 2 . A customer wishing to purchase products enters pertinent company data, including credit card payment information and the like, into the vendor/customer table  10 . The customer uses the search function of product catalogue table  20  to identify by product number a specific product it wishes to purchase, or to identify and search for a specific type of product. The customer may indicate that it wishes to purchase at the lowest price, or from a particular vendor, or that it would like to “search all.” Without preference entry by the customer, the system may default to identifying the product originating from the vendor who bid the lowest price. 
         [0072]    Items selected by the customer for purchase are placed in the “virtual shopping cart,” which is located in link table  30 . Link table  30  links the customer&#39;s data from the vendor/customer table  10 . As the customer shops, product catalogue data on items placed in the “cart” is also linked to Link table  30 . For each item, the customer indicates whether they wish to put the product in inventory table  40 , or place it in asset management table  50 , or both. The customer also has the choice of adding: 
         [0073]    a customer specific purchase order number; 
         [0074]    a customer specific project number; and 
         [0075]    the name of the person who made the purchase. 
         [0076]    When the customer is finished shopping, he or she “clicks” submit. The link table generates an electronic invoice, the customer approves payment and the link table forwards the payment information to a designated bank or payment processing center, with instructions to distribute “fee” portion et the money to the consortium manager, and the remainder of the payment to the vendor. Linking data concerning the items purchased is communicated to in table  40  and/or asset management table  50 , if either or both have been selected, for future use in inventory management and/or asset management. Items in inventory table  40  are further linked to cumulative inventory items table  60 , which arranges all the different items in inventory table into collective groups with pertinent information, and tracks a user&#39;s inventory counts for the group items, providing reorder alerts. 
         [0077]    Vendors of each item purchased will receive an email providing the following information: 
         [0078]    1. The consortium purchase order number; 
         [0079]    2. The customer purchase order number; 
         [0080]    3. The customer project number, if any; 
         [0081]    4. The customer&#39;s inventory number and inventory location information; 
         [0082]    5. The customer&#39;s asset number; 
         [0083]    6. Mailing label for pre-paid shipping to the customer. 
         [0084]    The vendor prints this email on special adhesive backed label stock, with release liner protecting the adhesive. The asset number will be printed on a portion of the label which is separable from the rest. The label is then placed in a clear plastic envelope which is adhered to the container in which the product is shipped to the customer, with the shipping information clearly visible. The customer thus receives the product with all pertinent purchasing, inventory and asset information printed directly on the label on the container in which the product arrived. 
       Receiving Product 
       [0085]    Customer will receive product by shipping carrier. Product will conic with inventory stocking information attached along with inventory number and asset number if they were chosen when purchased. The product will already be entered in the inventory table  40  if that option was accepted at the time of purchase, so there is no need to check the product into inventory manually. 
         [0086]    With the product already in the inventory table  40 , linked to the cumulative inventory item table  60 , all of the key inventory information for the product can be tracked and used as the system starts generating this key portion of the information flow:
       Stock level   Stock location   Reorder level   Which purchase order the product came from   Status of product       
 
       Placing Product in Use 
       [0092]    Upon arrival, the product will be placed in inventory, if that is what is indicated on the shipping label. If not, the product will simply be placed in use. At the time the product is plated in use, the asset number sticker is peeled off of the shipping label and applied to the product. 
         [0093]    A product “in inventory” is monitored in inventory table  60  of the consortium management software. A product “in use” is monitored in the asset management table  50  of the system. There are several ways dun a product can be indicated in the consortium management software as being “in use.” Items in inventory table  60  are also linked to inventory look up table  70 . Table  70  is used by the user to “transfer” an item from inventory table  40  to asset management table  50 . This indicates that the item is now “in use,” and various asset management functions will become active. A product which at the time of purchase was placed in asset management table  50  but not in inventory table  40  will not be subject to the asset management functions until the user indicates that the product is “in use.” For a product which was placed in both the inventory table  40  and the management table  50  at the time of purchase, the “transfer” at the product out of inventory table  40  will be the signal to the asset management table  50  that the product is now “in use.” 
         [0094]    The asset management table is activated to calculate and start generating all of the key asset management information, based on linked information in the product catalogue table  20 . Such information may include:
       Remaining life   Depreciation   Current book value   Labor warranty end   Vendor warranty end   Manufacturer warranty end   Labor warranty days left   Vendor warranty days left   Manufacturer warranty days left   Replacement cost   Department product is assigned to   Department product is allocated for       
 
       Maintenance of Product 
       [0107]    Once an asset is recorded as being “in use” in the asset management table  50 , the product number is inserted into the preventive maintenance table  80 , which links table  80  to the preventive maintenance information contained in the product catalogue table  20 . The preventive maintenance schedule can be displayed for ever product which is “in service.” In addition, preventive maintenance table  80  includes a program to generate email reminders to responsible employees of the need to perform preventive maintenance from time to time. 
         [0108]    Unscheduled maintenance of any product may be requested through the maintenance issue request function provided by the maintenance request table  90  of the consortium management system. This table processes intra customer work requests. It keeps records of issues that users have with everything from building maintenance to software support for all of the user&#39;s products. 
         [0109]    To issue a maintenance or issue request an employee inputs the following information:
       His or her employee ID number;   The asset number;   A written description of the problem;   Two images of the product showing the problem, if possible;   A voice recording explaining the problem or other significant sound recording pertaining to the issue;   If the purpose of the request is to merely inform the system and appropriate personnel of an issue related to the product, without requesting maintenance, the requester so indicates on the request.       
 
         [0116]    The following information is then auto filled into the request:
       The employee&#39;s ID number causes auto fills from employee table  12  of the employee&#39;s following information: first name, last name, email and phone number;   An issue request number;   The asset number automatically inputs the asset&#39;s information from the asset management table  50 , such as remaining life, depreciation, current book value, labor warranty end, vendor warranty end, manufacturer warranty end, labor warranty days ten, vendor warranty days left, manufacturer warranty days left, replacement cost, associated assets, department the product is assigned to, location of the product and the department the product is allocated for;   Also automatically in filled may be a listing of any prior issues or maintenance requests recorded in the maintenance and issue request table  90  for this product or others like it and any prior work done on the product or others like it from the work order table  100 .       
 
         [0121]    Once a request has been submitted the maintenance request table  90  generates and sends the request via email to the person responsible for maintenance of the indicated product, and an automatic email response to the employee that requested the maintenance, confirming that the request has been issued and sent. 
       Maintenance/Issue Request Administrative Review 
       [0122]    Once a maintenance or issue request has been submitted, the information is directed to the administrative person in charge of the subject matter of the request. If maintenance has been requested, the person in charge will either approve or approval or decline the request, and may instead propose alternative action, such as purchase of a replacement. 
         [0123]    As indicated above, the work request includes many items or important information pertaining to the asset to help make an informed decision without having to physically view the product. After a look at the problem and the information, the administrative user can prepare a work order using the work order table  100  functionality. The administrator inputs the following information in preparation of a Work Order:
       Identification of the responsible employee   The issue request number   Approval   Priority level   Budget for the work   Estimated completion       
 
         [0130]    Then with an “approval” click, the following information is auto filled into the work order:
       Work order number   Request date   Completion status   Asset number   Requested by   The maintenance/issue request, and all of the information associated with it.       
 
         [0137]    There is also a time tracking portion on the work order itself that will track an employee&#39;s total time for up to five days to help keep track of employees and the time it takes to fix specific types of products. The employee responsible then indicates completion of the product in the “completion status” box of the work order in its electronic format. 
         [0138]    The administrator may as an alternative to issuing a work order, issue a purchase order, or request a purchase order, for replacement of the product involved. 
       Miscellaneous Relational Tables 
       [0139]    Budgets table  110  keeps track of all the customer&#39;s department budgets, and how much the department has spent and has left to spend. Each customer is allowed as many departments as they would like. Each department is allotted up to eight budgets. 
         [0140]    Facility locations table  120  lists the facility locations that users have entered. This information is used by the asset management table  40 , the maintenance request table  90  and the work order request table  100 , as it is useful in the maintenance process. 
         [0141]    Departments table  130  maintains a list of all the different departments for each of the users. That information is used by the budgets table  120  and by the maintenance request table  90  and the work order request table  100 , as described above. 
         [0142]    IRS guides table  140  provides a complete list of all the IRS categories for products, and provides depreciation information for such products for use by the asset management table  50 . Table  140  may process and identify the correct table for the various products, or may require users to select the appropriate category. 
       User&#39;s Resale and Unrelated Sales 
       [0143]    The consortium management software facilitates a user&#39;s resale of items purchased through the consortium ( FIG. 3 ). It can also be used to sell products not included in the consortium. The user&#39;s customers table  150  maintains profiles of user&#39;s customers for such products. The user enters its customers into table  150 . 
         [0144]    The user personal invoices table  160  facilitates user&#39;s preparation, of invoices to its customers, including adding the facilitator&#39;s mark up over any bid or acquisition price, and processes such invoices from user to user&#39;s customers, either for product bought by the user from the consortium and resold, or for product acquired independently of and/or not included in the consortium. Table  160  maintains a record thereof. Payment is accomplished through the consortium links table  130 , and monies are dispersed from the sale in the manner described above, but with the reseller or new seller being considered the vendor. 
       Non-Relational Tables 
       [0145]    Passwords table  170  provides, a database into which a user may enter various passwords the user wants to keep track of. These may or may not relate to continuum matters. 
         [0146]    User&#39;s contacts table  180  facilitates transfer of a user&#39;s contacts to this table, and makes them accessible to the user in the consortium software. Likewise, tasks table  190  keeps records of tasks that users have placed here. 
         [0147]    The consortium issue requests table  200  processes, tracks and provides a record of user complaints against the consortium manager, or against other users. It can be used to processes notification of issues to the consortium manager, and to the indicated vendor or customer. 
         [0148]    The foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and various changes and modifications thereof can be made without departing from the broader concepts of the invention.