System and method for enabling and maintaining vendor qualification

Abstract

A computer system and method is disclosed for pre-qualifying vendors for buyers and / or industries using vendor criteria information associated with buyers and / or industries and vendor qualification information associated with vendors. Vendors and buyers enter the vendor qualification information and vendor criteria information, respectively, into a database in a hierarchical and relational manner. The computer system compares entered vendor qualification information to stored vendor criteria information to pre-qualify vendors for buyers and / or industries. The computer system further monitors the stored vendor qualification information and requests updated vendor qualification information from the vendors to maintain vendor qualification on a per industry and / or per buyer basis.

Description

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention[0002] The present invention relates generally to a computer system and method for qualifying vendors, and specifically to a computer system and method for collecting and maintaining vendor qualification information to qualify vendors on a per industry basis and a per buyer basis.[0003] 2. Description of Related Art[0004] Each industry has different requirements for the goods and services used in the industry. In addition, each buyer within the industry may have additional requirements for the goods and services used by the buyer. These goods and services can range from manufacturing components to labor resources (e.g., contractors, temporary employees and permanent employees). Although the amount and type varies, buyers typically perform some sort of due diligence prior to purchasing these goods and services in order to justify their purchasing decisions. For example, a buyer may require capabilities (qualification) information of the vendor providin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] According to further embodiments of the present invention, vendors can be pre-qualified or compared on a per industry basis using industry-related vendor criteria information. In one embodiment, the industry-related vendor criteria information is pre-configured based on industry standards and requirements and vendors are pre-qualified based upon the industry requirements. In another embodiment, the industry-related vendor criteria information includes statistical data collected from vendor records and / or buyer records within the database, and vendors can be compared to the statistical data. This statistical data can further serve as a benchmarking tool for buyers and vendors when entering the vendor criteria information and vendor qualification information, respectively. The database can further maintain the industry-related vendor criteria information within industry records.

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention provide buyers with one or more lists of pre-qualified vendors to select from. Buyers can submit RFP / RFQ's to all pre-qualified vendors on the list or to only a select number of the pre-qualified vendors, depending upon the buyer's preference. The list of pre-qualified vendors is created from a large pool of vendors to allow buyers access to a wide variety of vendors. However, the RFP / RFQ's are sent to only those vendors on the pre-qualified list, which reduces system processing complexity by performing the qualification one-time only per industry or per buyer prior to creation and submission of the RFP / RFQ's. In addition, buyer time and cost for creating and submitting the RFP / RFQ is reduced by qualifying vendors prior to creation of the RFP / RFQ.

Problems solved by technology

In the past, the vendor qualification process has been labor intensive and restricted to a limited number of known vendors.

The process of entering the filter parameters places an additional burden on the buyer, resulting in a more time-consuming and expensive RFQ submittal.

In addition, if the filter parameters are not tailored appropriately, the buyer may receive RFQ responses from vendors that are not qualified, thereby requiring the buyer to review unwanted responses, and possibly re-submit a new RFQ with different filter parameters.

The extensive processing required to perform comparisons for each RFQ may degrade network performance and increase the associated costs of providing a vendor information service.

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