Abstract:
A system and method for managing asset information is presented for both a standalone architecture and as a component of a total asset management system. The range of users for the system and method of the present invention spans single users to partners of a supply, chain and in the latter case, cross-organization asset detail information is provided to supply chain partners. The system and method of the present invention is intended to be interfaced with other components of a total asset management system, e.g., a procurement system for asset acquisition, and may be interfaced to legacy systems.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This is a non-provisional application claiming the benefit of provisional application No. 60/244,916 filed on Nov. 2, 2000, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to the field of asset information management for supply chains of partner organizations. In such a supply chain, as the individual partners acquire, finance, and service assets from one another, these assets are both used and transformed into other assets which may travel further in the supply chain. Information about these assets can be captured in a data store whenever individual asset-related transactions between partners are facilitated by an asset management system. Asset information in such a data store replaces physical inventory as the means of most competitively satisfying customer demand. 
   More particularly, the present invention is directed to an independent Internet accessible and web-based system and method for a hosted system that manages access to and reporting of supply chain asset information. 
   2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
   Supply chain systems and asset information management systems are known in the art. These known systems employ a range of architectures, including, tightly coupled dedicated database systems and federated independent database systems to manage and share their asset information. But, regardless of the architecture of the database component of these systems, the asset information management functions of these existing supply chain systems are tightly coupled to other functions, such as procurement, sales, and accounting and the focus of existing systems has been to reflect the characteristics of physical inventory. 
   Taking an independent view of the information systems for managing assets across a supply chain, such systems must provide access to a broad spectrum of supply chain asset information to enable partner organizations who participate in the supply chain to manage their businesses and not just their own assets. Asset information systems have historically been directed to capturing and reporting information about such activities as purchasing, installation, leases, status, etc., with respect to the inventory of an organization&#39;s assets. Today, any information necessary for the management of a business is a candidate for inclusion in an asset information system, especially information about how these assets appear as they travel in their chains of suppliers. The range of asset information needed to manage an organization&#39;s business is considerably broader than an information about the organization&#39;s individual inventory of assets. 
   The suppliers and purchasers of assets participate as partners in many supply chains, each possibly as functionally broad as the range extending from raw material providers, to intermediate component manufacturers, to assemblers, to vendors, to trainers, to deliverers, to maintainers, to financers, and to remarketers. These functions are not necessarily all performed by different partners. Viewed from this perspective, these partners form an extended enterprise. This extended enterprise is linked by the asset information about their products and services as these products and services and information about them traverse possibly multiple supply chains, as well as subsequently as data to be mined for historical trends. Global data models and standard data management functionality form the foundation for the asset information management required by participants in such an extended enterprise. What is usually available is a conglomeration of different levels of detail and summary data created and stored to meet the specific needs of individual organizations and independent supply chains. 
   Most partners in supply chains also have functionally-oriented legacy systems for managing their businesses and their asset information. Few have historically provided external partners access to these internal systems and their information stores. This is true for independent businesses participating in a supply chain and it is just as true for vertically integrated businesses where different departments and divisions function in much the same manner as independent businesses, due to their cost center orientation. 
   These functionally specific internal legacy systems have evolved as either loosely or tightly coupled with asset information and asset management components. The architecture of such legacy asset management components varies from one system to the next but is ill-suited to electronic linking over the Internet, a requirement resulting from more and more demand being placed on participants to provide their partners in chains of suppliers with web-based access to their private asset information (for assets traversing the supply chain). Access to asset information and functions is needed by partners to enhance each partner&#39;s management of its business, e.g., to support contract, payable, and order management by each partner. For example, a partner who supplies raw materials has an aged inventory of such materials over time derived from purchases of raw materials from sources in anticipation of demand from partners and accounts payable resulting from these purchases; contracts with both sources and supply chain partners, and orders resulting from these contracts; etc. Access to partner information is needed by such a supply chain partner to manage contracts, orders, and payables and as well as to verify orders. 
   Externally, asset information management is expanding to include non-asset as well as asset information about supply chain partners and has grown in importance as more of each partner&#39;s success depends on this information, so much so, that functions such as inventory pipeline management and accounting are now subsidiary functions of asset management. The chain of suppliers involved in producing, financing, delivering and maintaining assets, i.e., the external extended enterprise, and the supply process itself are now the focal points of expanded asset management systems in which information has replaced inventory. Predictably, functionally oriented legacy systems cannot easily be changed to reflect this reordering of importance of functions or the shift to an external extended enterprise focus for the supply chain process. And in fact, existing internal systems have not accommodated this shift in focus. Internal legacy systems are almost never available to other supply chain partners because they include information that an organization does not want to share or make public, these systems were never intended to be externally accessible and are not sufficiently robust, and retrofitting such systems is either not economically attractive or not technically feasible, or both. 
   The extended enterprise exists by virtue of the Internet. The Internet has enabled business-to-business interaction and formation of relationships to take place at unprecedented speed and with incredible visibility. Maintaining this form of business interaction will require an ever-increasing and unprecedented level of information intimacy, currency, and reliability which most individual businesses are ill-prepared to undertake on their own. 
   Thus, there is a need for a reliable Internet-accessible system and a method to support management of assets across organizations and well as within them, a system and method which emphasize the asset information intensity and extended enterprise characteristics of Internet-based supply chains which extend across multiple enterprises and which intersect. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The system and method according to the present invention are a hosted response to the need for an Internet-accessible asset information management system identified above. This hosted system is meant to be both a standalone asset information system, illustrated in  FIG. 1   a , as well as a component of a total asset management system, illustrated in  FIG. 1   b,  a component that provides the information management dimension for supply chain partners to manage their businesses by leveraging their supply chain participation. 
   The hosted asset information system of the present invention is functionally and informationally architected to be open. As supply chain partners gain experience and grow comfortable with asset information accessability and reliability, the system and method of the current invention are architected to be able to expand to encompass more and more functions and data once held exclusively within the confines of each partner&#39;s organization, e.g., contract terms, and price controls. 
   The hosted asset information management system of the present invention provides cross-organization asset detail information; asset location, contact and maintenance information; invoice, financial, and charge back information; and other information needed by supply chain partners to manage their participation in a supply chain. Such information is created, stored, accessed and updated in a standard way regardless of the source or user of the information. In the hosted approach of the present invention, not only are uniform data storage and access techniques imposed, but integrity, reliability and accessibility are also inherent in the system and method according to the present invention. 
   One preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a range of asset information reports which can be viewed, printed and downloaded either in report format or a format suitable for input to legacy systems (manual or automated). These comprehensive report and download features include, among others, purchase order, cost center, purchasing agent, installation, rebilling, status, soft costs lease summary and termination reports and files which are selected and customized from a web-page interface. 
   The present invention enables supply chain partners (which includes customers) to leverage information about their products, services, and assets by, among others:
         Converting existing asset information practices to Internet processes;   Replacing inventory with information;   Creating a standardized, reliable, accessible repository of asset information across the extended enterprise;   Providing many partners with access to asset information management functionality not previously available to them due to resource constraints;   Guaranteeing the integrity of the information store;   Delivering business intelligence in a format that can be interfaced with legacy systems; and   Reducing administrative costs.
 
All of these effects create immediate cost savings and result in long-term efficiencies.
       

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A more complete understanding of these advantages and other advantages of the present invention may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features and wherein: 
       FIG. 1   a  is a block diagram of one preferred embodiment of a hosted asset information management system according to the present invention as a standalone system. 
       FIG. 1   b  is a block diagram of a comprehensive asset management system which interfaces with a hosted asset management system, including the asset information management system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated in  FIG. 1   a.    
       FIG. 2  is an exemplary Asset Information Screen. 
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary report specification screen. 
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary main menu bar. 
       FIG. 5  is an illustration of the Asset Lookup function in the Asset Information screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is an exemplary display of selected assets in the lower half of a screen. 
       FIG. 7  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Asset Tab. 
       FIG. 8  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Option Tab. 
       FIG. 9  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Location Tab. 
       FIG. 10  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Contacts Tab. 
       FIG. 11  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Cost Center Tab. 
       FIG. 12  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Maintenance Tab. 
       FIG. 13  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Invoice Tab. 
       FIG. 14  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Finance Tab. 
       FIG. 15  is an exemplary display resulting from the selection of the Charge Back Tab. 
       FIG. 16  an exemplary range of reports available. 
       FIG. 17  is an exemplary Purchase Order Report in summary format. 
       FIG. 18  is an exemplary Cost Center Report in summary format. 
       FIG. 19  is an exemplary Purchasing Agent Report in summary format. 
       FIG. 20  is an exemplary Installation Report in summary format. 
       FIG. 21  is an exemplary Rebill Report. 
       FIG. 22  is an exemplary Status Report. 
       FIG. 23  is an exemplary Soft Cost Report. 
       FIG. 24  is an exemplary Lease Summary Report. 
       FIG. 25  is an exemplary Termination Report 
       FIG. 26  illustrates the format options for saving report data in a file in a preferred embodiment. 
       FIGS. 27   a - d  is a schema for a relational database of a preferred embodiment. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides an Internet-based hosted system and method for accessing and reporting on the asset information associated with an extended enterprise of supply chain partners. The asset information is captured by other systems and accessed by the system and method of the present invention. 
   In one preferred embodiment, the asset information is captured in a relational asset information database by other independent systems, such as the procurement system illustrated in  FIG. 1   c . In this preferred embodiment, two open classes of functions are provided for viewing, reporting, and downloading this database data: asset lookup and asset report/download. In this preferred embodiment, a user is presented with a Home web-page containing a main menu bar, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , which contains:
         Home,   Asset Lookup,   Reports, and   Logoff
 
as selection options.
       

   ASSET DATABASE 
   When a customer procures an asset, that asset is placed onto a schedule. Depending on the business rules associated with that customer, the schedule may close with each item procured or may remain open for inclusion of additional items until some predefined closing condition is met. During the period in which a schedule remains open, it is billed on a daily basis for any outstanding items. Once the schedule is closed, no further items may be added to it and billing takes place on a periodic basis, usually monthly. During the time the asset remains in the possession of the customer, there will be other charges which are associated with the asset, e.g., maintenance and options. Further, the asset will be physically located at a location and possibly associated with a cost center. Asset detail and ancillary information, such as the forgoing, is managed by the hosted system and method of the present invention. 
   In one preferred embodiment, asset information associated with both schedules and other activities is captured in a relational database, as shown-in the database schema of  FIGS. 27   a - d . This data capture is not accomplished by the system and method of the present invention but by another, independent data producer, such as a procurement system. The database schema, illustrated in  FIGS. 27   a - d , contains three types of relations or tables: constant tables, working tables, and cross-reference tables. Each table illustrated in  FIGS. 27   a - d , contains a list indicating column name, data type and size, and whether or not the field can be empty (null). An underlined column name indicates that the data is so frequently used in searches of the table that it has been called out in an index. For example, the vendor table  271  has an index of:
         vend num NUMBER(12) not null
 
A table can have separate indexes, i.e., several columns can individually be indexed, as shown for the tax_rate table  275 .
       

   The database schema of the preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIGS. 27   a - d , is one means by which the asset information management system of the present invention can be hosted independently of any other independent systems that populate a database according to this schema. Thus, this database schema of the preferred embodiment functions as an interface specification for the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   Constant Tables 
   In one preferred embodiment, constant tables contain information that changes very slowly and represents data infrastructure. This data is assigned unique identifiers which are used by working tables in place of the constant so that space is saved by not storing the constants wherever they are needed in the working tables, and processing time is saved by only having to update a constant in one location (in the constant table) instead of having to update every table in which the constant appears. 
   Examples of constant tables include:
         contact  270 ;   vendor  271 ;   mfg  272 ;   location  273 ; and   product  274 .
 
Working Tables
       

   In one preferred embodiment, data which is actively updated is contained in working tables, e.g., the item table  276 . Entries in working tables are automatically assigned a unique identifier, such as seq_num  277  in the item table  276 . 
   Cross-Reference Tables 
   Cross-reference tables identify records in two or more tables that have some relationship. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 27   b , the loc_item_rel table  278  contains pairs of unique identifiers for items (seq_num) and the location of that item (loc_num) in the item table  276  and the location table  273 . 
   Asset Lookup 
   In the preferred embodiment, selecting Asset Lookup from the main menu bar causes the display of the Asset Information Screen, illustrated in  FIG. 5 . The Asset Information Screen is the central screen of the Asset Lookup feature of the present invention, providing functionality which allows a user to search for an asset and then view a range of detailed information about the asset. 
   The Asset Information Screen comprises the Search feature  50 , which is at the top of the screen in a preferred embodiment; tabs  52  in the top half of this screen to be used to display detailed information about the selected asset; and, in the bottom half  51  of the screen, the result of the user search from which an asset is selected to be viewed. 
   Search Options and Fields 
   SEARCH—The Search feature  50  is contained in the top half of the screen in a preferred embodiment. The Search feature searches the asset information, which is maintained in a database in a preferred embodiment, for the assets that match the criteria entered in the Status  53  and Search By  54  fields. In a preferred embodiment the results of the search appear in a list of assets in the bottom half of the screen. 
   STATUS—The user is able to limit the asset records displayed in the bottom half of the screen by entering the status of assets to be displayed. The Status field  53  displays the complete list of available asset status, which, in a preferred embodiment are All, Pending, Active, Inactive and are presented in a drop-down list.
         1. All is the option which displays all assets regardless of the status of the schedule the asset is attached to.   2. Pending is the option which displays assets of a pending schedule. A pending schedule is a current schedule that has not been activated. A schedule is pending during the acquisition period prior to the start date of the schedule. During this acquisition period asset information is subject to change as the system according to the present invention populates the database of the preferred embodiment with appropriate asset information of the schedule.   3. Active is the option which displays assets of an active schedule. An active schedule is a current schedule that has been activated. A schedule is activated when the start date of the schedule is reached, and a schedule remains active until the end date of the schedule.   4. Inactive is the option which displays assets of an inactive schedule. An inactive schedule is a schedule that is no longer active, because the schedule end date has passed.       

   SEARCH BY—Status displays the complete list of asset search options. Depending on the Search By option  54  selected, additional value fields appear prompting the user to enter a value for the selected Search By option. Additional values for a preferred embodiment are shown in Table 1. 
                       TABLE 1               SEARCH CRITERION   VALUE (S) TO BE ENTERED                   Lease/Schedule   Select the required schedule from the           Schedule drop-down menu.       Model Number   Select the required manufacturer and model           number from the Manufacturer and Model           drop-down menus.       Serial Number   Enter the required serial number in the           Serial Number field.       Billing Code   Select required billing code from the           Billing Code drop-down menu.       Location   Select the required location type from the           Type drop-down menu, then enter the           location name in the Name field.       Contact   Select the required contact type from the           Type drop-down menu, then enter a contact           name in the Name field.       PO Number   Enter the required purchase order number in           the PO Number field.       Tracking ID   Enter the required tracking ID in the           Tracking ID field.       Vendor   Select a vendor from the Vendor drop-down           menu.       Cost Ctr/Dept   Select a cost center type from the Type           drop-down menu, then select a cost center           from the Name drop-down menu.       Option - Model #   Select the required manufacturer and model           number from the Manufacturer and Model           drop-down menus.       Option - Serial #   Enter the required serial number in the           Serial Number field.       Option - Track ID   Enter the required tracking ID in the           Tracking ID field.       Invoice Number   Enter the required invoice number in the           Invoice # field.                    
Tab Descriptions
 
   The Asset Lookup  60  feature enables a user not only to search for an asset  61 , but also to view a range of detailed information about the selected asset. Assets are displayed in the lower half  51  of the screen, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , and in a preferred embodiment an asset is selected in the lower half for further display via the tabs, which in a preferred embodiment are contained in a row across the top half of the screen, see also  FIG. 6 . 
   ASSET—The Asset tab  70  displays detailed asset information for the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 7 :
         Serial Number—the manufacturer serial number of the asset;   Tracking Number—the unique identification number a partner assigns to an asset to track its use in the partner&#39;s organization;   Purchase Order—the purchase order number the asset is attached to;   Manufacturer—the name of the manufacturer of the asset;   Model Number—the manufacturer&#39;s model number of the asset;   Vendor—the vendor from which the asset was purchased;   Description—a brief description of the asset;   Category—in a preferred embodiment the system assigned categories to assets for purposes of tracking assets, e.g., PC, Monitor, Server, Storage;   Billing Code—an identification code a partner assigns to an asset typically for accounting or budgeting purposes;   Order Date—the date the asset was ordered,   Equipment Status—the status of the asset, as described above;   N/U/B—whether the asset is new, used or both. An asset can be both when the asset is new, but has a used option, or vice versa;   Ship Date—the date the vendor shipped the asset;   Install Date—the scheduled installation date of the asset;   Pool ID—the pooling identification number the system assigns to an asset when the schedule of the asset if completed. The pooling ID identifies how the system will route an asset after the schedule of the asset is completed;   Hard Cost—whether the asset is a hard or a soft cost. Typically, an asset is a hard cost, however, in some cases an asset is a soft cost, such as software not associated with a leased asset;   Leased—the lease identification number of the asset;   Tax Exempt—whether any part of the cost of the asset is tax exempt;   Feature- 1 —any information the system adds about the asset during the acquisition period. This field may be blank or display a brief description or short note about the asset. Once a schedule is activated, this field is blank;   Lease—the lease identification number of the asset;   Schedule—the schedule identification number of the asset;   Feature- 2 —any information the system adds about the asset during the acquisition period. This field may be blank or display a brief description or short note about the asset. Once a schedule is activated, this field is blank;   Begin Date—the start date of the schedule the asset is attached to;   End Date—the end date of the schedule the asset is attached to;   Term—the term, in months, of the schedule the asset is attached to; and   Remain—the months remaining of the term of the schedule the asset is attached to.       

   OPTION—Displays any options associated with the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  80  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 8 :
         Quantity—the option quantity;   Manufacturer—the name of the manufacturer of the option;   Model Number—the manufacturer model number of the option;   Description—a brief description of the option;   Serial Number—the manufacturer serial number of the option;   Tracking ID—the identification number a partner organization has assigned to the option to track its use in the partner&#39;s organization;   List Price—the list price of the option. This field is not used in a preferred embodiment;   Cost—the hard cost of the option;   Maintenance Cost—the maintenance cost, to date, of the option; and   Leased—whether the partner organization has leased the option.       

   LOCATION—Displays the installation and billing locations of the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  90  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 9 :
         Company—the company name of the installation/billing location;   Address, City, St., ZIP—the company address of the installation/billing location;   County—the county of the installation/billing location.       

   CONTACTS—Displays the contacts of the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  100  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 10 :
         Last Name—contact&#39;s last name;   First Name—contact&#39;s first name;   Title—contact&#39;s title; and   Office, Ext.—contact&#39;s telephone number.       

   COST CENTER—Displays the cost centers of the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  110  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 11 :
         Cost Center Type—the cost center type of the asset. In a preferred embodiment these are supplied by the system to enable partners to group cost centers by type. Available cost center types are Cost Center, Department, Mail Code, Region, Project, SSN, or Order Types;   Cost Center Name—name of the cost center of the asset;   Description—a brief description of the cost center;   Distribution Percentage—the percentage of the cost of the asset charged to the cost center;   Charge—the amount charged to the cost center, which is the distributed percentage of the total cost of the asset.       

   MAINTENANCE—Displays the warranty and maintenance information for the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  120  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 12 :
         Warranty End Date—end date of the warranty of the asset;   Warranty Letter Date—the date the partner organization received the warranty letter for the asset. In some cases, the warranty letter date is the effective date of the warranty for the asset;   Warranty Period—the period of the warranty, which is the period from the warranty letter date to the warranty end date;   Maintenance Rent—the maintenance rent cost charged for the asset;   Maintenance Cost—the total maintenance costs charged for the asset;   Date—the date the maintenance was completed for the asset;   Maintenance Description—a brief description of the maintenance completed; and   Charge Amount—the amount charged for the completed maintenance.       

   INVOICE—Displays the invoice information for the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. 
   This tab  130  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 13 :
         Vendor—the vendor from which the asset or option was purchased;   Invoice Number—the vendor invoice number;   Date—the date of the invoice;   Line Item—the invoice line item of the asset or option;   Amount—the line item amount due for the asset or option; and   Description—a brief description of the asset or option.       

   FINANCE—Displays the financial information for the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  140  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 14 :
         Leased Item Cost—the lease cost of the asset;   Leased Option Cost—the lease cost of any asset options;   Leased Total Costs—the total lease cost of the asset and its options;   Maintenance/Administrative Cost—the maintenance and administrative cost of the asset included in the schedule. If none, the field is blank and the cost appears as a charge back amount;   Installation Cost—the installation cost of the asset included in the schedule. If none, the field is blank and the cost appears as a charge back amount;   Freight Cost—the freight cost of the asset included in the schedule. If none, the field is blank and the cost appears as a charge back amount;   Software Cost—the software cost of the asset included in the schedule. If none, the field is blank and the cost appears as a charge back amount;   Accessory Cost—the accessory cost of the asset included in the schedule. If none, the field is blank and the cost appears as a charge back amount;   Total Soft Costs—the total of Maintenance/Administrative, Installation, Freight, Accessory costs. The soft costs are the costs associated with an asset that have been determined to have negligible value at the end of a lease;   Item Rent-Hard—the rent charged for the asset and any options;   Item Rent-Soft—the rent charged for any soft cost items associated with the asset;   Monthly Item Rent—the monthly rent due for both the hard and soft rent items. If the monthly rent of the asset has been modified, a check mark appears in the checkbox next to the field;   Monthly Maintenance Rent—the monthly maintenance rent charged for the asset;   Total Rent—the total rent due, which is the sum of the monthly item and maintenance rent costs;   Item List—the Leased Item Cost of the asset;   Option List—the leased Option Cost of the asset;   Total List—the total Leased Costs of the asset; Lessor&#39;s Basis—the sum of the total Leased Costs and Total Soft Costs of the asset;   Lease Rate Factor-Hard—the lease rate factor calculated for the hard costs of the schedule of the selected asset;   Lease Rate Factor-Soft—the lease rate factor calculated for the soft costs of the schedule of the selected asset;   Payment Frequency—how often the lease payments for the schedule of the selected asset are due;   Budget Number—the budget number assigned to the asset;   Invoice Amount—the invoice amount of the asset;   Charge Back Amount—the total charge back amount rebilled to a partner organization. The Charge back tab displays an itemized list of the charge backs.   Begin Date—the date the schedule of the asset begins.   Order Date—the date the partner organization received the asset. This date is prior to the start date of the schedule of the selected asset. Typically, this is the date the partner organization signed the Certificate of Acceptance for the asset;   Ordering Fee—the amount charged the partner organization for the asset from the order date to the begin date of the schedule. This amount is calculated by multiplying the daily asset rent fee by the order days.   Order Days—the number of days from the order date to the begin date of the schedule of the selected asset.   LB Comp—one of four Lessor&#39;s Basis Computed codes. The LB Comp codes indicate how the Lessor&#39;s Basis was calculated for an asset; and   Owned Op Cost—the total cost of any options owned by the partner organization for the selected asset.       

   CHARGE BACK—Displays the charge back information for the asset selected  61  in the bottom half  51  of the Asset Information Screen. This tab  150  displays the following fields in a preferred embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 15 :
         Charge back Type—the charge back type code of the asset;   G/L Account #—the General Ledger account the partner organization uses to process the charge back amount;   Amount—the amount of the charge back item;   Begin Date—for a one-time charge back amount, displays the date the system entered the charge back amount into the system database;   End Date—the end date of the period for which the amount is charged. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this field is not used.       

   REPORTS 
   In the preferred embodiment, selecting the Reports from the main menu bar causes the display of the Reports Screen, illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The Reports Screen is the central screen of the Reports feature of the present invention, providing functionality which allows a user to produce a range of reports that enable a user to retrieve data from the asset information database of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   The Reports Screen comprises the Report feature  30 , which is at the top of the screen in a preferred embodiment; options for producing and saving a report  31 ; and, the display area in the middle of the screen  32 . In a preferred embodiment, the display area includes a link  33  to Adobe&#39;s Web site for downloading Acrobat Reader, free software that is required to view reports produced by the present invention. 
   Reports 
   The Reports feature of a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a user with a range of asset information management reports, from the standard reports to any customized reports created for the partner&#39;s organization. The standard reports of a preferred embodiment include: 
   PURCHASE ORDER—allows an authorized user to view asset detail information organized by purchase order number, as illustrated in  FIG. 17 . The report is available in the Summary, Item Level, and Item Level with Options report formats. The report title  170  and the organization&#39;s master lease number  171  appear at the top of the report. The asset detail information listed includes the quantity  172 , manufacturer  173 , model  174 , description  175 , equipment cost  176 , and quarterly lease payment  177  of each listed asset. The report also lists the total purchased asset; total equipment cost; total quarterly lease payment by purchase order; and, these totals for all selected purchase orders. 
   COST CENTER—allows an authorized user to view asset detail information organized by cost center, as illustrated in  FIG. 18 . The report is available in the Summary or Item Level formats. The report title  180  and the organization&#39;s master lease number  181  appear at the top of the report. The asset detail information listed includes the quantity  182 , manufacturer  183 , model  184 , description  185 , equipment cost  186 , management fee  187 , and quarterly lease payment  188  for each listed asset. The report also lists the total items purchased, total equipment cost, total management fee, and total quarterly lease payment for each cost center, and these totals for all selected cost centers. 
   PURCHASING AGENT—allows an authorized user to view asset detail information organized by purchasing agent, as illustrated in  FIG. 19 . The report is available in the Summary or Item Level formats. The report title  190  and the organization&#39;s master lease number  191  appear at the top of the report. The asset detail information listed includes the quantity  192 , purchase order number  193 , cost center  194 , order date  195 , and equipment cost  196  for each listed asset. For each purchasing agent, the report lists asset detail by vendor. The report also lists the total items purchased and total equipment cost for each vendor, for each purchasing agent  197 , and for all purchasing agents. 
   INSTALLATION—allows an authorized user to view asset detail information organized by installation location, as illustrated in  FIG. 20 . The report is available in the Summary or Item Level formats. The report title  200  and the organization&#39;s master lease number  201  appear at the top of the report. The asset detail information listed includes the quantity  202 , manufacturer  203 , model  204 , description  205 , equipment cost  206 , and quarterly lease payment  207  for each listed asset. The report also lists the total items purchased  208 , total equipment cost  209 , and total quarterly lease payment  210  for each installation location  211 , and these totals for all listed locations. 
   REBILL—allows an authorized user to view financial detail information for the charge back amounts of the selected schedule, as illustrated in  FIG. 21 . The report is available in the Summary or Group by Cost center report formats. The report title  2100 , the organization&#39;s master lease number  211 , and the term of the organization&#39;s lease  212  appear at the top of the report. For each cost center and purchase order combination, the report lists the charge back amounts—freight  213 , software  214 , warranty  215 , installation  216 , and accessory costs  217 —of the applicable assets; the total charge back amount  218 , and the installation location  219  of the assets on the purchase order. The report also lists the total charge back amounts for the listed cost center and purchase order combinations, and the billing address of the listed purchase orders. 
   STATUS—allows an authorized user to view the status of an organization&#39;s master lease, as illustrated in  FIG. 22 . The report title  220 , the organization&#39;s master lease number  221 , and the term  222  of the organization&#39;s lease appear at the top of the report. For each purchase order the report lists the equipment cost  223 , date of acceptance  24 , ship date  225 , order date  226 , and whether the shipment was a partial shipment  227 . In addition, the report lists totals  228 : the total equipment cost; the total by equipment type; the total soft costs; and any remaining product costs of the organization&#39;s lease. 
   SOFT COSTS—allows an authorized user to view the soft costs of an organization&#39;s master lease, as illustrated in  FIG. 23 . Soft costs refer to the costs of a lease that have been determined to have a negligible value at the end of the lease. Soft costs include the maintenance, installation, freight, software, and accessory costs of the assets of a lease. The report title  230 , the organization&#39;s master lease number  231 , and the term of the organization&#39;s lease  232  appear at the top of the report. For each cost center and purchase order combination, the report lists the soft costs  233 , freight  234 , software  235 , and accessory costs  236 —of the applicable assets; the total soft costs  237 , and the installation location  238  of the assets of each purchase order. The report also lists the total soft costs for the listed cost center and purchase order combinations, and the billing address of the listed purchase orders. 
   LEASE SUMMARY—allows an authorized user to view a summary of the selected schedule, as illustrated in  FIG. 24 . The report title  240 , the organization&#39;s master lease number  241 , the selected schedule  242 , the schedule date  243 , lease term  244 , acceptance date  245 , payment frequency  246 , and lease end date  247  appear at the top of the report. The summary information listed includes the master lease, installation and billing location, and financial information of the selected 
   TERMINATION—allows an authorized user to view the assets of the schedules that end in the specified range of schedule end dates, as illustrated in  FIG. 25 . The report title  250 , the organization&#39;s master lease number  251 , and the specified schedule end date range  252  appear at the top of the report. For each asset of the selected schedules, the report lists the lease end date  253 , manufacturer model number  254 , description  255 , manufacturer serial number  256 , schedule item number  257 , equipment cost  258  and lease payment  259 . 
   Report Format Descriptions 
   In one preferred embodiment the Format drop-down menu in the Reports Screen enables a user to select the type of report to be produced:
         Summary—this view lists identical assets once, with the quantity and amount fields for identical assets displaying the totals of the summarized assets;   Item Level—this view lists each asset, including identical assets, separately;   Item Level with Options—this view lists each asset, including identical assets and any asset options, separately;   Standard—this is the format of the Status, Soft Costs, Lease Summary, and Termination reports, and one of the two formats available for the Rebill report; and   Group by Cost Center—this is the second of two formats available for the Rebill report and lists rebilling information by cost center and purchase order number combination, with re billing subtotals listed for each cost center.
 
Producing a Report
       

   In a preferred embodiment, an authorized user follows the same procedure for producing a report:
         Select the type of report from the Report drop-down menu;   Select the format of the report from Format drop-down menu;   Select the view of the report from the By drop-down menu;   Select the other options presented from their drop-down menus; and   Select Retrieve to produce the report.
 
After the report appears it can be viewed, saved to a file using the Save As options shown in  FIG. 26 , and printed.
       

   Because many varying and different embodiments may be made within the scope of the inventive concepts herein taught, and because many modifications may be made in the embodiments herein detailed in accordance with the descriptive requirements of the law, it is to be understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. For example, in discussing Internet accessibility, this can be achieved in a variety of ways including wireless handheld devices, portable terminals, workstations, and any other devices or means which provides Internet access to the host for the system of the present invention.