Patent ID: 7720747

Claim:
A system for supply chain activity optimization involving multiple enterprises, comprising: a computer system, comprising: a negotiation module configured to: receive a forecasted demand for at least one item; automatically and without user input subsequent to receiving the forecasted demand, generate one or more proposed flexible trade contracts using the forecasted demand for the item; automatically and without user input subsequent to generating the proposed flexible trade contracts, communicate each proposed flexible trade contract to a seller computer system to initiate an automatic collaborative negotiation over the proposed flexible trade contract with the seller computer system; automatically and without user input subsequent to communicating the proposed flexible trade contract, as part of the automatic collaborative negotiation, receive at least one modification of the proposed flexible trade contract from the seller computer system for automatic evaluation and possible acceptance in response to communicating the proposed flexible trade contract; automatically and without user input subsequent to receiving the modification of the proposed flexible trade contract from the seller computer system, as part of the automatic collaborative negotiation, evaluate the modification to determine whether the modification is acceptable; and automatically and without user input subsequent to evaluating the modification of the proposed flexible trade contract, as part of the automatic collaborative negotiation, accept the modification if the modification is acceptable; an execution module configured to execute a flexible trade contract created based on the proposed flexible trade contract as a result of the automatic collaborative negotiation to enable one or more actions to be taken to perform under the executed flexible trade contract; and a tracking module configured to monitor the terms of the flexible trade contract created based on the proposed flexible trade contract as a result of the automatic collaborative negotiation to enable one or more actions to be taken to enforce the executed flexible trade contract.