APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREPARING QUOTES

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method for preparing quotes for multi-component apparatus and their components, such as computer equipment. Generally, quotes for computer equipment are prepared by hand. This is very difficult and time consuming and if the price of a component changes (which it generally does quite quickly in the volatile computer equipment market) quotes will become out of date very quickly. The present invention provides a processing system which facilitates the preparation of quotes and which automatically flags quotes, in response to changing input data, such as price and availability of components, so that the user (salesman) is alerted that the quote has changed.

Description: Apparatus and Method for Preparing Quotes The present invention relates generally to a system and method for preparing quotes and particularly, but not exclusively, to a system and method for preparing quotes relating to multi-component apparatus, such as computer equipment. One of the major tasks relating to the sale and distribution of multi-component apparatus is the provision of quotations by salesmen to potential customers. In the sale of computer equipment, for example, a quote will need to include information on the price of the equipment, as well as possibly variations on components of the system, e.g., more memory, a "clone" monitor, a CD-ROM drive etc. As well as the complexity of "configuring" computer equipment to the customers requirements, the volatility of the market in this area also requires a substantial amount of effort to be put into a quote. For example, prices are changing all the time in the computer market and a quote that may have been accurate one day may be affected by price changes the next day. As well as price changes the quote may well be affected by availability of computer components, end of life of products and other factors. Further, at any one time, a computer reseller may have many "open" quotes (quotes which have not yet led to a sale) which may be affected by changes in the availability of components and prices. The volatility and complexity of the provision of quotes in areas such as computers therefore presents a number of problems which can have deleterious effects on a computer sales business (note that computer sales are usually made by "resellers" who sell-on computer equipment provided by "suppliers"). Presently the majority of quotes that are prepared are written. This is an extremely time consuming process. In the computer field, the salesman must be able to access knowledge about the configuration of systems, i.e., what components go with what, what "clone" components are available as alternatives, etc. Often business is lost because quotes are not timely provided to a customer. Further, because of the volatility of the market place, price changes, product updates, etc., the quote may well be "out dated" (because price and product information has changed) soon after it has been provided to a customer or even on the same day! This can lead to the original reseller who provided the quote losing a sale because they do not have time to respond to the change in data. In the meantime, another reseller could provide a quote including the updated information which may secure the sale because, for example, the updated information results in the price of the quote being lower. There is therefore scope for improvement in facilitating the time consuming process of preparing quotes, and also monitoring quotes in relation to updates of product and price information in order to ensure that sales are not lost. Another problem with the provision of quotes relates to the configuration of multi-component apparatus, such as computer equipment. For computer systems (by "computer system" we mean the main body of the computer itself with any components that come included e.g., the computer processor, hard disk memory, etc. Some computer systems come with more components than others - this varies from brand to brand. All, however, can be updated by the addition of components or the replacement of existing components. The term "computer equipment" includes computer systems plus components, and includes components themselves) there are hundreds of thousands of different systems in the market, and each has its individual characteristics and limitations. A salesman, for each system, must be able to find out about these characteristics and limitations (e.g., what size memory will the system take; is there room for a CD-ROM drive; floppy disks, expansion cards, etc. - i.e., what room is there for substitute and additional "components") in order to configure equipment to a customers requirements. This is a very time consuming process, and there is room for improvement in facilitating the configuration of equipment for quotes. The present invention provides a processing system for preparing quotation data for facilitating quotations for multi-component apparatus, comprising a product database storing product data on a plurality of multi-component apparatus and/or a plurality of components for multi-component apparatus, the product data including identification data identifying the multi-component apparatus type and components, and associated attribute data for providing information on attributes of the multi-component apparatus and components; quote assembling means for assembling quotes and including selection means for selecting identification data of multi-component apparatus and/or components to assemble identification data for a quote; supplier update means arranged for updating attribute data in the product database, and quote update means responsive to the supplier update means updating attribute data to determine whether the attribute data updated is associated with the identification data of any quote and to flag any quotes that have updated associated attribute data to alert a user of the system that the associated attribute data is updated. Preferably, the attribute data may include price data of components and multi-component apparatus and may also include data on the availability of components and multi-component apparatus. The term "availability" includes information on whether a component is in stock at a particular suppliers or whether it is no longer being produced (i.e. it has reached the end of its life). A user (e.g., salesman) may therefore assemble a quote by using the processing system to assemble identification data for a multi-component apparatus with substitute, replacement or additional components. If, for example, after the quote has been provided to the customer, a price of a component or availability of a component changes, then the salesman's quote will be "flagged" to alert the salesman that the parameters of the quote have changed. The next time the salesman views his quotes (for example first thing in the morning in the office) he can find out what information has changed, e.g., the price, and immediately contact the customer and advise them of the changes. He does not have to monitor price and availability changes himself. The processing system does it for him. In a preferred embodiment, the attribute data is readable in the quote is updated so that the salesperson is made aware of the changes without having to consult the product database. This system has significant advantages. In particular, as well as being able to notify a customer immediately that his quote has changed and therefore avoid being beaten to the sale by another reseller, the updating of the quote also gives the salesman a legitimate reason to contact the customer without it seeming like he is applying a "hard sell". The multi-component apparatus and components may be computer equipment, and the rest of this description will use computer equipment as an example. It will be appreciated, however, that the processing system of the present invention may be used with other multi-component apparatus and is not limited to computer equipment. Examples include the building industry (e.g., configuration of buildings from components, components of rooms e.g., bathrooms, kitchens, etc.), hi-fi equipment, the car industry (cars and extras for cars, etc). The product database may include information on all multi-component apparatus and components for the multi-component apparatus available from suppliers. The quote assembling means preferably enables a salesman to select identification data for the multi-component apparatus and components from the database in order to satisfy a customers requirements. Once the quote is built, the associated attribute data preferably provides the salesman with cost information and availability information to convey to the customer. The availability information may incorporate stock availability information, and information on whether or not a product has reached the end of its life (and it is no longer being supplied). In a preferred embodiment, the supplier update means is arranged to obtain supplier and update data from a remote location, and the information is preferably provided automatically by a supplier who has a supplier provider means for providing the supplier update data. The supplier update data may thus be provided at regular intervals or when a supplier considers convenient over a network, such as the Internet by the use of push technology. This has advantages for the supplier, as he may vary the supplier update data depending upon the reseller being supplied e.g., different prices for different geographical areas, pricing profile for a particular reseller, etc. The supplier update data includes updated attribute data which is used by the supplier update means to update the attribute data in the product database. The supplier update data may include further data, such as updated identification data, which can also be used by the supply update means to update identification data. The updated identification data may, for example, in a computer equipment area, include new computer systems, upgraded computer systems and the like. Another preferred feature of the present invention is the provision of a control means responsive to customer data associated with quotes to adjust the associated attribute data. For a particular customer, for example, a reseller may wish to adjust his profit margin e.g., increase profit by 10% on each quote and the system, by means of the control means, allows this to be done so that attribute data provided to a particular quote will automatically be adjusted in accordance with the customer data (the customer data provides data indicative of the adjustment to be implemented by the control means). Another problem with the present method of carrying out quotes is that when data on a product changes (i.e., price and availability, type of product, configuration of product) over a period of time, there is no convenient system for tracking the change. Note that by the term "product" we mean multi-component apparatus and/or components. This information is very useful in plotting trends which can be extrapolated from to determine how a particular product is developing. Preferably, the system of the present invention also comprises means for producing product history data for providing information on the history of attribute data updates for multi-component apparatus and/or components whereby a user may track the development of multi-component apparatus and/or components. The quote assembly means preferably also includes a quote configuration means which, for each multi-component apparatus, provides identification data for one or more components which are compatible with the multi-component apparatus, for selection by a user, so that identification data for components may be added to the quote or substituted for identification data relating to originally included components in the quote (this is useful, for example, where a component is no longer available, then the salesman may easily select another, compatible component) the quote configuration means therefore preferably facilitates configuration of computer equipment by providing for convenient selection by a user identification data for available compatible components. The quote configuration means preferably includes selection lists which are viewed by a salesman and which include the identification data for the compatible products, and associated attribute data. The system also preferably includes a configuration management means which tracks assembly of a quote and will alert the salesman if the salesman attempts to add to a quote identification data for a component where the physical limitations ofthe multi-component apparatus (with any components that may already have been added) would not allow for the addition of that component. In computer systems, for example, this enables the monitoring ofthe physical limitations of a particular system being assembled by the salesman in order to ensure that the salesman does not exceed the physical limitations. Preferably, the configuration management means is arranged to provide the salesman with an indication ofthe available physical resources of a system. In computers, a computer has physical resources available for receiving a number of components, e.g. a 5.25 inch external bay for receiving CD ROMs, back-up units, etc. Attribute data associated with a component may indicate which physical resource of a system the component would occupy, e.g. identification data for a CD ROM component would have attribute data associated with it indicating that it occupies a 5.25 inch external bay. This enables the configuration management means to monitor the physical resources of a multi-component apparatus and determine whether resources are available to receive a particular component. In a preferred embodiment, attribute data associated with a component may indicate that it can take up more than one "resource" ofthe multi-component apparatus. Such a component may be "moved", therefore, from one resource to another, to allow space for another component to take up the resource formerly occupied by the first component. The configuration management means can therefore move components to different physical parts ofthe multi-component apparatus to obtain the optimum configuration, as the quote is being billed. From a further aspect, the present invention provides a processing system for preparing quotation data for facilitating quotations for multi-component apparatus, comprising a product database storing product data on a plurality of multi-component apparatus and/or a plurality of components for multi-component apparatus, the product data including identification data identifying the multi-component apparatus and components, quote assembling means for assembling quotes and including selection means for selecting identification data of multi-component apparatus and or components to assemble identification data relating to a quote, wherein the quote assembling means includes a quote configuration means, which, for each multi-component apparatus, provides identification data for one or more components which are compatible with the multi-component apparatus, for selection, whereby enabling identification data for components to be added to the quote or substituted for identification data relating to originally included components. This aspect ofthe present invention preferably includes the configuration management means discussed above and may include any or all ofthe features ofthe first aspect ofthe invention discussed above. Features and advantages ofthe present invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system architecture for a processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a representation of a display screen for a user interface ofthe processing system of figure 1 showing a contact management screen; Figure 3 is a block diagram showing a structure ofthe contact management information; Figures 4 to 13 show representations of user interface displays for various operations ofthe processing system of figure 1 ; Figure 14 is a block diagram showing a supplier/reseller interface for the processing system in accordance with this embodiment, and Figure 15 is a block diagram of an alternative supplier/reseller interface for the processing system of this embodiment. Please note that the product names which have been used in the following examples are not, in all cases, names of real products. It will be appreciated by a skilled person, however, that the actual application ofthe system the names used will generally be real-life brand names. Figure 1 illustrates a system architecture for a processing system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention, for facilitating the provision of quotes on multi-component apparatus. The system may be implemented with any appropriate computing hardware and comprises a product database 1 which stores product data on a plurality of multi-component apparatus, such as computer systems, and a plurality of components for multi-component apparatus (e.g., where the multi-component apparatus is computer systems, the components will be products such as replacement memories, monitors, etc). The product data includes identification data identifying the multi-component apparatus and the components and also attribute data providing information on attributes ofthe multi-component apparatus and components. The attribute data, in particular in this example embodiment, may include data such as the price ofthe components and the multi-component apparatus, and data on whether or not a component or multi-component apparatus is available e.g., whether it is no longer made or whether it is just not available from a particular supplier. Whether it is out of stock, etc., The processing system also includes a quote assembling means 2 which includes a selection means which in this embodiment can be accessed by a user to select identification data of multi-component apparatus and/or components and to assemble the identification data for a quote. For example, where the processing system is concerned with providing quotes for computer equipment, the quote assembling means 2 enables a user to assemble identification data for a computer system and any add-on or substitute components, such as a monitor, CD-ROM drive, etc., in order to provide a quote for the total computer equipment. The attribute data associated with the identification data enables the user to provide information from the quote on price, availability, etc. In this specification, computer equipment includes computer systems, being the computer itself with any components that a supplier normally provides or is included in the computer, and components, which may be substitute components for originally included components or add-on components which are not originally included with the computer systems. For example, a CD-ROM drive or DVD drive (new technology to replace CD-ROM) are components which are generally not included with a computer system and need to be added on instructions from the customer. The processing system also includes a supplier update means 3 which is arranged to receive supplier update data for updating attribute data in the product database e.g., for updating the price of components and multi-component apparatus identified in the product database. The supplier update means may also update the product database by adding identification data for new multi-component apparatus and components. The supplier update data may be provided via a number of routes (see later) such as, for example, a network connection to a supplier for the down loading of data (reference numeral 4). In response to the update of attribute data by the supplier update means, a quote update means 6 flags any affected quotes 5 to alert a user ofthe system that the associated attribute data is updated. The user then may access these quotes and find out exactly what has changed e.g., has there been a price update; is a product identified in a quote no longer available? The user can then alert the potential buyer that their quote has been changed. The quote update means 6 may be arranged to automatically scan and flag affected quotes 5 or may carry out the scan and flag the affected quotes in response to instructions from a user, e.g., mouse click. The quote assembling means 2 also includes a quote configuration means which provides for user selection identification data for one or more components which are compatible with a multi-component apparatus and also includes a configuration management means which tracks assembly of a quote and monitors the physical limitations ofthe multi-component apparatus as the quote is assembled. The system also comprises a contact management module 7 which stores data on "contacts" (e.g., customers) and links the contact management 7 with the quotes. The system in accordance with this embodiment ofthe present invention may be implemented by appropriate software as will be appreciated by a skilled person. The following description is made with reference to preferred "screens" which are viewed by a user in accessing the system and assembling a quote. A skilled person would be able to formulate appropriate software to implement this embodiment, from the previous and the following description. Referring to figure 2, a main contact screen ofthe contact management module 7 is illustrated and designated by reference numeral 10. Note that contact management modules, in various degrees of complexity, form the basis of most customer information systems and the system in accordance with the present invention would still work without a contact management module. Nevertheless, in a preferred embodiment it is important to link the system ofthe present invention and the building of quotes to a customer and therefore a contact management module is advantageous. Note also that the screens shown in figures 2 through 12 are exemplary only. A system in accordance with the present invention may be implemented with different screens. The contact management module provides information on customers and any contacts that the user ofthe system has with particular customers. For example, in figure 2, the customer is "Big Government Organisation". The contact presently displayed on the main section 11 ofthe screen is "David Smith". Other contacts are displayed on the customer contacts section 12 ofthe screen and their details can be displayed by clicking on them. If there are any quotes associated with this customer they are displayed in summary in the right top part ofthe screen 13 and in the illustrated example there are two quotes which have a "Quote ID", "Description, and date". Buttons and mouse actions allow the user to alter, view, create and perform and/or initiate quotation functions. For example the "New" button enables a user to start assembling a new quote. The "Modify" button allows modification of an existing quote. The "Remove" button allows a quote to be removed and the "Order" button allows an order to be placed with a supplier, to fill a quote. Note that the order may be generated e-mailed automatically to a supplier (see later). Alternative screens are available in the contact management module as is indicated by the tabs at the top ofthe left side ofthe screen 11. "Addresses" information is available for the customer and contacts, a screen for "More Info" is available to put in any information you want to on the customer and a "Change History" screen is available showing the history of any changes which have been made to the contacts or the customers over time - this enables a user to track development of a customer. As discussed above, a customer may have many contacts (persons) e.g., David Smith (MIS Director), Samantha West (Applications Manager), Jack Gellie (Help Desk Manager) (see figures 2 and 3). All these contacts may be displayed and selecting anyone will change details on the screen (e.g., telephone, address, etc) to those belonging to the selected contact. Clicking on a quote in section 13 ofthe screen will bring up a screen which shows all the details ofthe current quote. For example, see figure 8. The "Quote ID" and brief description ofthe quote are given in the top section 14 ofthe screen, together with Contact information and also identification ofthe user ("Salesperson"). The bottom section 15 ofthe screen gives a detailed description ofthe quote and also attribute information including "Buy Price" and "Sell Price" for the products listed in the main description. As well as the main multi-component apparatus (in this example, computer systems "Satellite" and Vectra), additional components selected for each system are also shown. For example the computer system Vectra has additionally, in the quote for "system 2", a number of components such as "15 inch" for display, and the other components as listed in figure 8. The user therefore has access to all information on a quote. The quote update means 6 responsive to updated supplier data is arranged to scan all the quotes and locate affected quotes (i.e., quotes including attribute data which has been updated). These quotes are then flagged so that when a user accesses the contact management screen any associated quote will be flagged. He can then access the quote to determine exactly what has been updated and what affect it will have on his quote. Another major feature of this preferred embodiment is the manner by which quotes may be assembled by the quote assembling means 2. Product data is preferably arranged in two major accessible ways from the product database 1. Firstly, the user is able to access "systems" files. These are files which list multi-component apparatus e.g., computer systems which are supplied including the components that make up the "system". Figure 4 shows a "Systems File" screen listing for computer systems. Note that the brief description ofthe computer systems which is listed in the section ofthe screen designated with the reference numeral 15 includes a brief "Description" ofthe system, a description ofthe "Monitor", "Memory", "Hard Disk" and "Cost". Note that some systems do not have monitors or hard disks. In the computer industry (and in a number of other industries which concern multi-component apparatus - see earlier) a component may be added to a system or substituted for components already included. For example, with a computer system, a CD-ROM may be added to an existing system - the memory may be expanded, etc. To build a quote, first of all an appropriate system would be selected from the systems file. Once the system is selected it is transferred to the "build systems screen" which is illustrated in figure 5. This screen includes a screen section 16 which provides information on the components ofthe system and a section 17 providing information on the total resources ofthe system. The Resources screen 17 is driven by the configuration management means to monitor assembly of a quote and track the system resources. Components can be added to the system or substitute components already available in the system on the screen section 16 by accessing the quote configuration means. Figure 6 shows a Build System Screen when a system has been selected, in this case being a "Vectra XA system". The details of components ofthe system are illustrated in the section 16 ofthe screen. Additional components are detailed when the "Additional" tab is clicked. The Resources screen 17 shows the "Total", "Used" and "Free" resources. The configuration management means "knows" the resources of a system on the product database. It tracks these resources as a quote is built and updates the resources screen 17 so that the user can immediately see what resources are available and what resources are free. If a resource is exceeded by a proposed addition of a component to a system, the configuration management means will not allow that component to be added to the quote. For computer systems, computers have a finite number of expansion areas for adding additional hardware such as Tape Backup Drives, CD-ROM's, Floppy Disks, Memory, Expansion Cards, etc. The configuration management means prevents the user from exceeding the physical limitations by keeping track of which physical resources have been used and what additional hardware products are being added to the quote by the user. It tracks internal and external devices, memory, and expansion cards. For example, if all 5.25 inch bays have been used with 5.25 inch hardware devices such as CD-ROM's, Backup Units, etc., the user will not be allowed to add another 5.25 inch device to the quote. Another example is that internal devices can be placed in external bays because there is always a covering "face plate". External devices, as the name implies, require external access. Therefore the face plate has to be removed prior to installation. A floppy drive is a good example of a 3.5 inch device that requires external access. The configuration management means understands these principals and, for example, if all the internal bays are occupied, then external bays could be used for 3.5 inch or 5.25 inch devices. That is, the configuration management means will allow these bays to be used when the internal bays are used up. The configuration management means not only monitors the resources of a system, therefore, but also understands how a system is configured and what options are open to a user to use all the available resources ofthe system. It understands how computer systems are built. That is, the configuration management means is provided with information on what resources a computer system has (see later), such as how many front access and internal access bays it has, for example. It knows what resources are available and what resources are already taken up by components, from this information. It can then, as a system is being configured, check the available resources against the additional components being added by a user, by a simple algorithm (as will be appreciated by a skilled person) and determine whether the system has the resources to allow the addition ofthe component. Configuration management means is also aware "what fits where". For example, it knows that internal devices can be placed in external bays because there is always a covering "face plate". External devices, as the name implies, require external access. Therefore, the face-plate has to be removed prior to installation. A floppy drive is a good example of a 3.5 inch device that requires external access. The configuration management means knows this and knows what components go where by virtue of attribute data associated with the identification data ofthe components e.g. a floppy drive will have attribute data that indicates that it is a 3.5 inch device that requires external access, and will monitor the resources associated with the system where a floppy drive is being added, accordingly. To facilitate the above functionality, attribute data associated with components which are to be fitted to the multi-component apparatus indicates to the system exactly what physical locations the components may be added to in the multi-component apparatus (i.e. what "resource" does the component occupy). When a user selects identification data for a component for addition to the multi-component apparatus, the configuration management means is able to determine if the item can be fitted into the system. Further, the configuration management means can move components around to optimise the addition of components. For example: PIC Cards can occupy PCI slots or Shared PCI/ISA slots (Shared slots are mutually exclusive resources - they can be occupied by a PCI Card or an ISA Card) Imagine a situation where all PCI and Shared PCI/ISA slots are fully occupied, but there are some free ISA slots. The PCI Card could not be inserted into an ISA Slot, however, it is possible that one ofthe components in the Shared PCI/ISA slots (if it is an ISA Card) could be moved to a spare ISA slot to free up a Shared PCI/ISA. The configuration management means facilitates this. The resources information given on screen section 17 and figure 6 and figure 7 is exemplary only. Where there are further resources, the processing system ofthe present invention may be arranged to indicate them, for any particular multi-component apparatus. Note that the "down arrow" buttons (reference numeral 18 in figures 5, 6 and 7) indicate that changes and options are available for the components that they are next to. Where a shade of a button is lighter, this indicates that no changes or options are available. Where the shade is darker, it means that there are options and replaceable components available. The information enabling the configuration management means to be aware ofthe resources of a particular system may be provided with the supplier update data. Alternatively, the information enabling the configuration management means may be manually entered. That is, for each system, one would enter the memory areas available, the slots and bays available and the components coming with the system. When expanding and configuring computer equipment, the quote configuration means is arranged to present the most appropriate components to the user. For example, the Vectra XA system illustrated in figures 6 and 7 does not have a monitor. To select a compatible monitor, the down arrow button 18 next to the monitor field in screen section 16 is clicked. The quote configuration means then selects, from the product database, identification data for monitors which are compatible with the Vectra XA system and displays a "list" ofthe compatible monitors, as illustrated in figure 9, reference numeral 20. The lists gives a description ofthe component (monitor in this case), the identity of the "Supplier", the "Product Code", any "Tax", the "Buy Price" and the recommended retail price "RRP". The user is able to select an appropriate display from this list and details ofthe monitor will then appear in the "Monitor" field in the system screen 16. The monitor has been added to the quote. The quote configuration means provides "Preferred" and in some cases "Alternative" components. In preferred choices, the quote configuration means lists the best and most workable choices for each component so that the salesperson is given a list of components that will work on the equipment they are configuring. In other words, it is not just the manufacturers memory that is displayed, it is the correct manufacturers memory for the system. In alternative choices, the quote configuration means lists "non-genuine" parts e.g., clones. Sometimes the alternatives are better but, more importantly, they are usually cheaper. An advantage of this is that a salesperson can configure equipment as cheaply as possible in the shortest amount of time (beneficial when positioning more expensive brands against cheaper competitors). Figure 1 1 illustrates an "Alternative" list for memory for the Vectra XA system. Note that the lists of components which are provided by the quote configuration means may be shared by different systems, i.e., access to each ofthe lists may be shared. These lists can be updated by supplier update data from a supplier. Alternatively, the lists may be manually updated by data input operators (in a similar way to the way in which the information for the configuration management means may be input). When assembling a quote, therefore, the user can configure equipment by selecting first of all a system and then adding or substituting components utilising the quote configuration means. The configuration management means monitors the resources available for the system and prevents the resources being exceeded, and also presents the available resources to the user. Referring to figure 6 again, if a down arrow button 18 next to the "Memory" field is clicked, a screen is illustrated in figure 10, reference numeral 21, is presented. This displays memory banks with current memory configuration. The user may then select a replacement or additional memory components using the quote configuration means (see figure 11). Figure 12 illustrates the memory screen 21 after the KIN 0604 memory has been chosen from the "Alternative" list (figure 1 1). Figure 13 illustrates the build systems screen for this particular quote once the memory has been selected (note that the monitor has not been selected here). This also shows the "Costings" screen which is selected by clicking on the "Costings" tab. A cost calculation means automatically calculates the cost ofthe equipment from the components costs and systems costs given as attribute data in the product database. In addition, depending upon customer data, including "Discount" data, "Percentage Points", "Adjustments" data the cost data can be adjusted. This is useful where a customer has a particular deal with a reseller. For example, a reseller may wish to sell to one customer at a discount. The customer data affects a control means to automatically adjust the price in accordance with the customer data. Using the above features allows the system to easily manipulate and control the application of profit margin for each quote or customer. i. Customer Pricing Structures Customers can have default pricing structures on the basis of cost up or cost down for a range of products, groups of products, manufactures, or just a single item. eg- • customer gets 10% off the recommended retail price for IBM PCs • customer pays Cost + 10% for all but Cost + 15% for Network Hardware • Customer pays Cost + 12% for Product Code HPD2652 • Customer gets 20% discount on RRP for Code HPD2655 ii. Time of Actual Quote When producing a quote the user can set QUOTER to default to a particular margin, a particular price, and quote separately on upgrades and third party products. These can be adjusted anytime during the configuration of a machine, eg- • User wishes to make $500 on the machine regardless of price or options. • User wishes to make 15% margin on cost. • User wishes to discount 20% off RRP. • User wishes to make $500 on machine and 15% of any upgrades. • User wishes to make 30% of on all non-system components. iii. Special Default Pricing This simply means that the Reseller sets a Sell Price for particular items (during sales, promotions, heavy competition, etc) that overrides Recommended Retail Price (RRP). eg. Sell Deskjet 670 for $239 (RRP $289). The processing system in accordance with the present invention is able to obtain supply data from any supplier that agrees to provide data. This has the advantage of allowing a supplier to disburse updates to resellers according to what fits best, according to security considerations and technologies. Any method of communications could be used. Figures 14 and 15 illustrate two, "pull-technology" and E-Mail. 1. Electronic mail "Push Technology" (figure 15). E-mail messages can contain file attachments that the processing system is able to read, decrypt, and merge into its databases. The supplier can therefore determine when to send supplier data to the reseller. Such a system minimises bottle necks caused by thousands of resellers down loading updates all at the same time from one Internet Site connection. The system is also more secure as the supplier can decide who should receive the information. There is a reduced risk of Hackers. The supplier can also send tailored price lists down to different resellers. 2. "Pull-technology" (figure 14) the system transfers "Product Update Files" (incorporating supplier data) from a suppliers Internet Site to the processing system. Files can be posted daily, weekly, by-monthly, monthly etc., by the supplier depending on how often price and product updates need to be relayed to resellers. Through its update registry (reference numeral 40) the processing system can determine precisely which files are required to make its product data current with that ofthe suppliers. There are many other communication alternatives, including client/server connections, direct modem link, physical media transfer (disks, CD-ROM's) and manual update where changes are made manually by a reseller. 1. Suppliers may participate voluntarily or involuntarily in so much as their product information must be in an electronic form such that it can be merged (unassembled in the case of involuntary participation) with the product database ofthe system. Involuntary participation means a given Supplier has not co-operated in producing compatible types of data files for simple integration with the system. Never-the-less, in some cases it may be possible to program a module to un-assemble a source of data for integration. 2. Suppliers will be assisted and instructed on how to produce update files that best integrate with the system and its processing requirements. In the case where the Supplier does not wish to change the format of product files, the system may be fitted with a "Supplier Specific Module". The system remains flexible and does not restrict participation. 3. The system can be programmed to process pricing differently for each supplier. That is, one supplier's information may present itself in structure and content that requires a variation or additional processing from others, eg. Supplier's data only shows the RRP of a product, and the reseller buys a certain percentage off RRP depending on what type of product it is, i.e., Printers 20% less, Computers 25%, Software 30%, all else $18%. 4. Data coming from the Suppliers can be encrypted for security reasons. The system is designed with this at the forefront of its product data integration module. Decryption codes, issued by the Supplier to a Reseller, must be entered into the system (manual entry, disk, email, etc). Basically, the system can be made to be compatible with Suppliers, and the Reseller should perceived little or no difference what so ever. Use ofthe processing system in accordance with the present invention leads to a number of advantages in the sales process. For example: 1. Improved communication between the reseller and customers. 2. Application of understanding the affects of market changes on the customer. 3. Tools that empower the users ability to employ and track the above two points. As discussed above, a history of changes made to each product may be kept to allow reporting and analysis of trends. Without this tracking, even in the simplest form, their would be no way to perform "before and after" analysis reporting. The processing system ofthe present invention facilitates this. A history of change of each product is kept in the database including: 1. Product creation dates. 2. Price changes. 3. End of life/termination dates. 4. Replacement products for end of life. This information can be presented in graphical form and reports can be developed to analyse overtime the affect on product groups, categories lists of products. As discussed above, when supplier update information is received the quote update means 6 runs through all quotes which have not been closed ("open" i.e., "where there has been no sale yet") looking for ones which are affected (price change, end of life product, and replacements for end of life products), then flags them for further attention. This processing can be run manually or scheduled upon receipt of new data or at a pre-defined time of day. This provides a salesperson with valuable information: Price Change Increase in prices warn Salespersons of possible loss. The salesperson decides whether or not to maintain the sell price and accept diminished profits, or resend an updated quote to the customer (Land Mail, Email, Fax, Verbal). Decrease in product costing I: Tells the Salesperson which quotes are now "more affordable" to the customer. These have a higher probability of developing into an order, and should command attention. Decrease in product costing II: At the Salesperson's discretion, greater profits can be achieved if the Sell Price remains the same. This is another excellent reason to prioritise these quotes. Furthermore, Sensitivity Levels are defined by the user to prevent notification of negligible variations, eg. i. From $0 to $100 - No action where cost price increases or decreases by less than $3. ii. From $100 to $400 - No action where cost price increases or decreases by less than $10. iii. From $400 above - No action where cost price decreases by less than 2%. iv. From $400 above - No action where cost price increases by less than 1%. v. Warning if any cost price increases produces a profit situation less than a 5%. EOL Volatility in the market place can see massive change in what is available on a day to day basis. Product life cycles for Notebooks are only about 2 months and for Consumer Inkjet Printers about 6 months. This means what you were quoted on yesterday may be outdated and no longer available today! EOL affects products at different times all through the year with thousands upon thousands of changes taking place without any ability to adequately respond. The system dramatically improves this situation by allowing the salesperson to see what quotes are affected before it causes problems to the customer. It develops a pro-active approach to the problem that giving an edge over competitors who are unable to process information in the same manner. REOL Replacing end-of-life products is an extension of EOL processing where the system will suggest what the most appropriate replacement product If one is selected the quote will be automatically adjusted and the user can decide from list of options, how and if to contact their customer. Turning quotations into purchase orders completes the sales life cycle that effects this system. It is essential to provide feedback to reporting areas ofthe system, and allow the purchasing department to join the work ofthe salesperson with other internal systems. Supplier →Reseller→Customer→Order→Supplier→Customer→Reseller→Supplier The system allows the salesperson to select what parts ofthe quote have been accepted as an order, then deliver this information to external systems (Supplier ordering systems and/or the Resellers own in-house accounting systems) in a variety of ways as described below: 1. Email Sends an electronic mail message to each supplier within the accepted quote via electronic mail. In turn their systems may process the order data automatically or via a manual system. 2. Printout Produces purchase orders on the Resellers printer for submission to the Supplier(s) or in-house order processing. 3. Export The system produces a file, structured appropriately, to be processed either by the Resellers internal accounting system or for some other linkup with the Supplier. 4. Direct Connection It is feasible to facilitate a system where the system could directly connect to a Supplier's Ordering System, and insert order data for the Supplier to process. The system delivers capabilities to Sales Managers that were never as possible with such ease. Essentially the system delivers improved management in its overall operation as described above, but also in the form of report generation. Salesperson Profiles Management can quickly report on the activities of salespersons to discover reasons for low achievement, who closes the most sales per quote, what business areas are doing best overall or per salesperson. For example: • How many quotes is a particular person (or team) generating? • What is the ratio of quotes to orders? • Which salespersons are producing the most profit? • What areas is the salesperson operating in? i.e., Government, Retail, Small Business, etc. • Which customers or quotes a particular salesperson needs to concentrate on first due to the above mentioned features. • What is the new business (customers less than 30 days old) to existing business trend per salesperson or team? Quote Trends See the overall picture of what is being sold. This type of information can be linked up to external factors such as product training, seminars, vendor participation, and advertising campaigns. • Are we quoting on more Hewlett Packard Printers since the visit from their representative? • What systems, manufacturers, product groups and categories are receiving the most attention? • What percentage ofthe overall quoting is Government, Retails, Corporate, etc. • What quotes are being lost and why? • How active are existing customers compared to new customers (customers less than 30 days old)? Order Trends Linking quote(s) to order(s) enables salesperson and their managers to play a pro-active roll, based on order to quote ratios, in increasing business volume, correcting errors, and re-shifting focus onto problem areas and/or to those that are more profitable. • What is the ratio of quotes to orders? • What is being ordered the most? • What is not being ordered? • What type of orders are generating the most profit? • Are we quoting too high? Customer Profiles Understanding which customers require attention, which are more likely to buy, which ones to follow-up first, which ones have gone from active to inactive, and which ones are time wasters, puts the power back into the seller. • Why spend too much time with a customer who receives quotes but never orders. • List customers who should be cold called due to low contact. • See an instant profile of any customer before spending too much time on the phone. Product Profiles & Trends The rate of change in the Information Technology Industry is beyond anybodies ability track, plot and fully understand with manual product tracking methods. • Examine trends on individual products, groups of products, and particular technologies. Supplier Profiles & Trends • Which suppliers are getting the most business? As discussed above the quote update means "flags" the quotes which are affected by supplier update data. The term "flag" includes any way in which a user can be alerted that a quote has been affected. For example, the user may be provided with a list of affected quotes. The system ofthe preferred embodiment stores data on both multi-component apparatus (systems including a number of components) and components which can be used to replace or add to the multi-component apparatus. The processing system ofthe present invention could merely store data on components which could be assembled to provide a finished apparatus i.e., the invention is not limited to a system which includes data on multi-component apparatus as well as components. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims: THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. A processing system for preparing quotation data for facilitating quotations for multi-component apparatus, comprising a product database storing product data on a plurality of multi-component apparatus and/or a plurality of components for multi-component apparatus, the product data including identification data identifying the multi-component apparatus and components, and attribute data for providing information on attributes ofthe multi-component apparatus and components; quote assembling means for assembling quotes and including selection means for selecting identification data of multi-component apparatus and/or components to assemble identification data for a quote; supplier update means arranged for updating attribute data in the product database, and quote update means responsive to the supplier update means updating attribute data to determine whether the attribute data updated is associated with any quote and to flag any quotes that have updated associated attribute data to alert a user ofthe system that the associated attribute data is updated. 2. A processing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein user interface means are provided to enable a user to access the quotes and wherein the product data is presented in a user readable form in the quotes to the user interface, and wherein the quote update means is arranged to update the associated attribute data for quotes so that the updated data may be read by the user. 3. A processing system in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the supplier update means is arranged to receive supplier update data via a communications network, for updating the attribute data. 4. A processing system in accordance with claim 3, wherein the supplier update means is arranged to automatically update the attribute data in response to receiving supplier update data. 5. A processing system in accordance with any one ofthe preceding claims, further comprising a control means responsive to customer data associated with quotes to adjust the associated attribute data. 6. A processing system in accordance with any one ofthe preceding claims, further comprising means for producing product history data for providing information on the history of attribute data updates for multi-component apparatus and/or components, in response to attribute data updates, whereby a user may track development of multi-component apparatus and/or components. 7. A processing system in accordance with any one ofthe preceding claims, further comprising order generation means arranged to communicate an order to a remote supplier to fill a quote. 8. A processing system in accordance with any one ofthe preceding claims, wherein the quote assembling means includes a quote configuration means which, for each multi-component apparatus, provides identification data for one or more components which are compatible with the multi-component apparatus, for selection, whereby enabling identification data for components to be added to the quote or substituted for identification data relating to originally included components and multi-component apparatus. 9. A processing system in accordance with claim 8, further comprising a configuration management means arranged to track assembly of identification data for a system and to prevent the addition to a quote of identification data for a component where physical limitations ofthe system would not allow for the addition ofthe component. 10. A processing system in accordance with claim 9, wherein the configuration management means is arranged to provide the user with an indication ofthe available physical resources of a system. 1 1. A processing system in accordance with any one ofthe preceding claims, wherein the attribute data includes data indicating the price of components and multi-component apparatus. 12. A processing system in accordance with any one ofthe preceding claims, wherein the attribute data includes data indicating whether or not a multi-component apparatus or component is available. 13. A processing system in accordance with claim 12, further comprising a replacement component means arranged, where attribute data is provided indicating that a multi-component apparatus or component is not available, to provide identification data for a suitable replacement multi-component apparatus or component. 14. A processing system in accordance with any preceding claim, wherein the multi-component apparatus and components are computer systems and components for computer systems. 15. An arrangement for preparing quotation data, comprising a processing system in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 14 and a supplier provider means at a remote location, the supplier provider means arranged to transmit supplier update data to the supplier update means ofthe processing system. 16. A processing system for preparing quotation data for facilitating quotations for multi-component apparatus, comprising a product database storing product data on a plurality of multi-component apparatus and a plurality of components for multi-component apparatus the product data including identification data identifying the multi-component apparatus and components, quote assembling means for assembling quotes and including selection means for selecting identification data of multi-component apparatus and/or components to assemble identification data relating to a quote, wherein the quote assembling means includes a quote configuration means, which, for each multi-component apparatus, provides identification data for one or more components which are compatible with the multi-component apparatus, for selection, whereby enabling identification data for components to be added to a quote or substituted for identification data relating to originally included components and multi-component apparatus. 17. A processing system in accordance with claim 16, further comprising a configuration management means arranged to track assembly of identification data for a system and to prevent the addition to a quote of identification data for a component where physical limitations ofthe system would not allow for the addition of that component. 18. A processing system in accordance with claim 17, wherein the attribute data associated with a component also includes data indicative ofthe physical resource ofthe multi-component apparatus into which the component will fit.

Inventors: BERESFORD RICHARD, BERESFORD, RICHARD
Applicants: BERESFORD RICHARD, BERESFORD, RICHARD
Application year: 1999
Main classification: G06F17
IPC codes: G06Q30