Patent ID: 8082309

Claim:
A delivery system including a delivery server that is hardware and executes a predetermined workflow for executing a series of processes from a reception to a delivery of electronic data on a network in a predetermined sequence by receiving the electronic data from an image forming apparatus and delivering the electronic data to an information processing apparatus at a delivery destination, wherein the workflow defines, using flow definition data stored in the delivery server, a plurality of delivery flows for delivering the electronic data to a plurality of information processing apparatuses at different delivery destinations, respectively; the flow definition data includes pieces of data origination information indicating a source of data, and pieces of flow-identification-information, each of which identifies one of the delivery flows and is associated with data origination information; the delivery server, when receiving electronic data that includes delivery-destination-information input at one of the information processing apparatuses, performs a first delivery flow that delivers the electronic data to another of the information processing apparatuses according to the delivery-destination-information input at the one information processing apparatus; the delivery server, when receiving the electronic data from one of the information processing apparatuses with a piece of data origination information, performs at least a second delivery flow that delivers the electronic data to another of the information processing apparatuses according to the delivery flow specified by a corresponding piece of the flow-identification-information associated with the one piece of the data origination information; and wherein the delivery server performs the first delivery and the second delivery sequentially, wherein the delivery flows include at least an examination request flow in which an electronic mail is delivered to an information processing apparatus of an examiner for requesting an examination of the electronic data, an approval request flow in which an electronic mail is delivered to an information processing apparatus of an approver for requesting an approval of the electronic data, and an issuance flow in which a notification informing that the electronic data has been approved is issued to an information processing apparatus of a user involved in a delivery, and wherein the delivery server delivers the electronic mail to a plurality of information processing apparatuses of examiners in the examination request flow, and executes the approval request flow after taking the examination by the examiners that are delivery destinations of the electronic mail delivered in the examination request flow.