Patent ID: 7424448

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing electronic purchase orders, the method comprising: determining, during a planning phase, a user-defined configurable reasonable quantity rule to be used during processing of electronic purchase order information, wherein the reasonable quantity rule includes reference quantity information for an estimated number of spare parts that will be needed to be produced during a given period to satisfy expected purchase orders of the spare parts, a warning threshold percentage, and an error threshold percentage that is greater than the warning threshold percentage; receiving an electronic purchase order, and upon receiving the electronic purchase order, determining a reference quantity based on the reference quantity information and at least one of a product record for a product specified in the electronic purchase order or a client record corresponding to a client for whom the electronic purchase order was received; calculating a variance percentage, the variance percentage corresponding to a percentage by which a quantity value included in the electronic purchase order exceeds said reference quantity; comparing the variance percentage to the warning threshold percentage and the error threshold percentage; and when the variance percentage is less than or equal to the warning threshold percentage, processing the electronic purchase order; and when the variance percentage is greater than the warning threshold percentage but less than or equal to the error threshold percentage, processing the electronic purchase order and generating a warning indicator; and when the variance percentage is greater than the error threshold percentage, performing a confirmation process that the quantity value is correct before processing the electronic purchase order, wherein processing the electronic purchase order comprises causing the electronic purchase order to be fulfilled.