NETWORK-BASED PROCUREMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

摘要

A procurement system and method that provides a virtual supply chain to fill purchase orders placed by customers for products and other items. The system aggregates and directs purchase orders through transaction sources, such as functional front-end systems (e.g., web browsers), to suppliers who sell the desired products. Applying a common coding structure, purchase orders are transferred via a network, such as the Internet, into a customized server-side central database procurement system. At the point of sale, a customer database is provided by which a customer may capture data for a product and which enables the flow of a purchase order through a transaction source into procurement system. The purchase order is then transmitted to a supplier for filling the order. Once the supplier delivers the goods to the customer, a managing entity pays the supplier and bills the customer. The customer then pays the managing entity.