Patent ID: 7610223

Claim:
An interactive method for selling sheet metal equipment to a user based on a metal working proposal, using a network, comprising: interactively communicating with the user through the user's computer by a seller using the seller's computer over the computer network, regarding the user's need to fabricate a metal product and the user's interest in purchasing sheet metal equipment to assist in fabricating the metal product; receiving, at the seller's computer from the user, engineering drawing-related information relating to the product, and storing the engineering drawing-related information in a memory; editing the engineering drawing-related information, to generate engineering drawing-related editing information including a 3D model of the product, development information and attribute information; searching a database for a match for the product, and reading registered product fabrication information for the match for the product; using the registered product fabrication information and the engineering drawing-related editing information to prepare user product fabrication information relating to a method of producing the product by production equipment, and storing the user product fabrication information in a memory; demonstrating working of the product by actual equipment to prepare demonstrative working information, based upon the user product fabrication information, in response to an instruction from the user; and distributing one of the user product fabrication information and the demonstrative working information, as proposal information over the network, wherein the proposal information also includes a comparison between a working method using the user's existing production equipment and a working method using the seller's proposed production equipment, wherein the proposal information includes optimum equipment information and profit increase information, and wherein the proposed production equipment includes numerically controlled equipment.