Patent ID: 7236947

Claim:
A method for providing highly automated procurement services, comprising the steps of: (a) accessing a database initialized with information regarding a plurality of trading partners: (1) said plurality of trading partners including customer and non-customer trading partners; (2) said information including trading relationship information and pricing information involving at least a customer trading partner and another of said trading partners; (b) receiving a purchase request of a first trading partner among said trading partners; (c) automatically selecting at least one qualified trading partner from said trading partners based on said purchase request; (d) generating a purchase order based on: (1) a portion of said trading relationship information and pricing information pertaining to said at least one qualified trading partner; (2) said purchase request; and (3) without requiring direct communication between said first trading partner and said at least one qualified trading partner and without revealing said pricing information to said first trading partner; (e) forwarding said purchase order to said at least one qualified trading partner; (f) receiving a notification pertaining to said at least one qualified trading partner; and (g) automatically processing said notification, including forwarding said notification to said first trading partner.