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1. Field
This disclosure relates to procurement matching.
2. Description of the Related Art
Procurement matching systems have been proposed and implemented in the past. Procurement involves entities purchasing or otherwise acquiring goods and services. These entities, which will be referred to herein as “requesters”, are typically government agencies and large corporations. Requestors typically publish their procurement needs and interests (“requests”). In procurement matching, businesses interested in selling goods (“offerors”) are aided in finding the requests. Both the requesters and offerors may be represented by people acting on behalf of the requester or offeror, though for the purposes of this patent, this distinction is not relevant.
Typically, procurement matching focus on a single large corporate or government entity. To make a match, there must be a fit between the capabilities of the offeror and the substance of the request.
Procurement matching systems have included schemes for categorizing the goods and services requested and offered. By category, it is meant a distinct division within a system of classification to which entities may belong. Numerous systems exist for categorizing goods, services and industries. Some of these systems are supply-side oriented and others are demand-side oriented.
One system of categories is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide comparability in statistics about business activity across North America and replaces the older Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The NAICS includes hierarchical definitions for each industry and corresponding codes. Establishments are grouped together into industries based on the production processes used to produce a good or service. Information about NAICS is available at naics.com, ntis.gov and census.gov.
NAICS industries are identified by a 6-digit code, in contrast to the 4-digit SIC code. The longer code accommodates the larger number of categories and allows more flexibility in designating subcategories. It also provides for additional detail not necessarily appropriate for all three NAICS countries. The international NAICS agreement fixes only the first five digits of the code. The sixth digit, where used, identifies subdivisions of NAICS industries that accommodate user needs in individual countries. Thus, 6-digit U.S. codes may differ from counterparts in Canada or Mexico, but at the 5-digit level they are standardized.
The NAICS hierarchy provides five levels of categorization, with categories assigned either a two, three, four, five or six-digit code. There is no categorization associated with one-digit codes. There are twenty major categories plus one catch-all “unclassified” category, each represented by a two-digit code:
11 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting
21 Mining
22 Utilities
23 Construction
31-33 Manufacturing
42 Wholesale Trade
44-45 Retail Trade
48-49 Transportation and Warehousing
51 Information
52 Finance and Insurance
53 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
54 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
55 Management of Companies and Enterprises
56 Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services
61 Educational Services
62 Health Care and Social Assistance
71 Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
72 Accommodation and Foodservices
81 Other Services
92 Public Administration
99 Unclassified
Lower levels, using increasing numbers of digits, also correspond to increasing detail in the subject industry. All told, NAICS presents a powerful array of choices in categorizing a good, service or industry.
The NAICS has been used in procurement matching systems. It is reported that the U.S. Federal government uses industry classifications for procurement purposes, both for classifying the procurement action and for procurement data reporting and analyses.
Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and methods disclosed or claimed.
Description of Apparatus
Referring now to
The general purpose computers used for the offeror system 120, the procurement requester system 130 and the matching system 110 may include software and/or hardware for providing functionality and features described herein. A general purpose computer may therefore include one or more of: logic arrays, memories, analog circuits, digital circuits, software, firmware, and processors such as microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs) and programmable logic arrays (PLAs). The hardware and firmware components of the general purpose computers may include various specialized units, circuits. software and interfaces for providing the functionality and features described here. The processes, functionality and features may be embodied in whole or in part in software which operates on a general purpose computer and may be in the form of firmware, an application program, an applet (e.g., a Java applet), a browser plug-in, a COM object, a dynamic linked library (DLL), a script, one or more subroutines, or an operating system component or service. The hardware and software and their functions may be distributed such that some components are performed by a client computer and others by other devices.
A general purpose computer as used herein refers to any device with a processor, memory and a storage device that may execute instructions including, but not limited to, personal computers, server computers, computing tablets, set top boxes, video game systems, personal video recorders, telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, and laptop computers. These computing devices may run any operating system, including, for example, variations of the Linux, Unix, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Palm OS, and Apple Mac OS X operating systems.
Additional and fewer units, modules or other arrangement of software, hardware and data structures may be used to achieve the processes and apparatuses described herein.
The offeror system 120 and the procurement requester system 130 may function as thin clients using, for example, a web browser to connect to the matching system 110. Users of the offeror system 120 and the procurement requester system 130 may navigate to the matching system to enter and retrieve data.
The matching system 110 may include a web server 117 and a database 115. The web server 117 acts as an interface to the offeror system 120 and the procurement requester system 130. The database 115 is a repository for procurement request records from the procurement requester system 130, and supports searches from the offeror system 120. Additional functionality is described below.
Description of Processes
Referring now to
In one step (step 220), the matching system receives and records procurement requests. These requests may be made by a requester using the procurement requester system 130 (
Other fields and data may be included or associated with a procurement request record. These fields may include a title for the request (or contract or RFP, as the case may be), the name of a contact and their contact information, a date for opening or publishing the request, a date and time for closing the request, a budget or value expressed as a single amount or a range, a location of where the goods or services are to be delivered, any special requirements for the request, and any licenses required to fulfill the request. In addition, the requester may be permitted to upload documents related to the request.
The requester may be permitted to restrict offerors to or from certain countries, states or other designated areas. Other restrictions regarding publication and/or bidding may be permitted as to types of businesses. One restriction may be to minority business enterprises, such as African-American, Asian-Indian American, Asian-Pacific American, Hispanic, and/or Native American. Other restrictions may be to HUBZone Small Business Concern (HUBZone), Small Business Concern (SB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (DVOSB), Woman Business Enterprise (WBE), and/or Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB).
Sometimes, conferences are associated with procurement activities, and data relating to a conference may be included in the procurement request records. This data may include title of the conference (e.g., “pre-bid meeting”), a meeting summary, data and time for the meeting, location and address.
Although in this description it is assumed that there is a one-to-one correspondence between requests and request records, this is not required. Each request may be stored as a number of records, and multiple requests may be stored in a single record.
In another step (step 240), the matching system receives procurement search criteria from the offeror system 120 (
The search criteria may be just one category. Indeed, category alone may be a sufficient search criterion. However, it may be desirable to allow the offeror to select more than one category. The fields used in the procurement request records may also be used by the matching system, and the offeror allowed to enter corresponding search criteria for them. Some or all of the search criteria may be selected from pull down lists, check boxes or other types of input fields. Some fields may be treated differently in search and recordation. For example, while in recordation it may be desirable to receive a free-form description of the desired goods or services, in search it may be desirable to use keywords.
In another step (step 260), the matching system identifies procurement request records which match the procurement search criteria. For an on-demand search, this step 260 may be performed immediately after the matching system receives the offeror's search criteria. For a notification search, this step 260 may be performed periodically.
In another step (step 280), the matching system generates a report of the identified procurement request records. For an on-demand search, this step 280 may include the matching system generating a screen display to the offeror system. For a notification search, this step 280 may include the matching system sending an email message to an email address designated by the offeror.
Categories
Although many systems of categorization are compatible with the apparatus and methods described above, one has been developed which is particularly well-suited. It has been found that in procurement matching, the full NAICS list is, in general, too long from a usability standpoint. Furthermore, the NAICS list, or even any one selected level, does not directly lend itself for use in procurement matching.
According to one system of categorization, there is a two-level hierarchy of categories. The top level and second level categories are both selected from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The top level includes all of the NAICS top-level categories. The second level of categories, however, is considerably shorter than all sub-levels in the NAICS. In the second level, for each top-level category, there is a subset of the lower-level NAICS categories. One limitation on sub-categories is to select just one of the lower NAICS levels. The selection of which lower NAICS level to use for the second level may be made separately for each top-level category. Furthermore, for each second level, the categories may be a subset of those available in the selected lower NAICS level. In this way, the hierarchy may be adapted for beneficial effect in its use in procurement matching.
In the procurement matching process described above, the category for a request record may be selected by the requester. Likewise, the category of the search may be selected by the offeror. Alternatively, the matching system may select or recommend one or more categories. The categories may be displayed as text, as a numeric code, or both. According to one display format, all of the categories are displayed to the users as text only, the top level categories are in reverse colors and all upper case, and the second level categories are in normal colors and in title case.
Although the paradigm of the matching system has been described as procurement request records which are searched by potential offerors, the converse is also possible. That is, potential offerors may enter records which identify the goods or services they vend, and procurement requesters can enter searches. Indeed, the two models are mutually compatible and may therefore be included in the same system or provided in conjunction with one another.
There are many possible ways of configuring a two-level hierarchy of categories from the NAICS as described above. One of these is set forth below.
11 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting
111 Crop Production
112 Animal Production
113 Forestry & Logging
114 Fishing, Hunting & Trapping
115 Support Activities for Agriculture & Forestry
21 Mining
211 Oil & Gas Extraction
212 Mining (except Oil & Gas)
213 Support Activities for Mining
22 Utilities
2211 Electric Power Generation, Transmission & Dist.
2212 Natural Gas Distribution
2213 Water, Sewage & Other Systems
23 Construction
2361 Residential Building Construction
2362 Nonresidential Building Construction
2371 Utility System Construction
2372 Land Subdivision
2373 Highway, Street, & Bridge Construction
2379 Other Heavy & Civil Engineering Construction
2381 Foundation, Structure, & Building Ext. Contractors
2382 Building Equipment Contractors
2383 Building Finishing Contractors
2389 Other Specialty Trade Contractors
31-33 Manufacturing
311 Food Manufacturing
312 Beverage & Tobacco Product Manufacturing
313 Textile Mills
314 Textile Product Mills
315 Apparel Manufacturing
316 Leather & Allied Product Manufacturing
321 Wood Product Manufacturing
322 Paper Manufacturing
323 Printing & Related Support Activities
324 Petroleum & Coal Products Manufacturing
325 Chemical Manufacturing
326 Plastics & Rubber Products Manufacturing
327 Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
331 Primary Metal Manufacturing
332 Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
333 Machinery Manufacturing
334 Computer & Electronic Product Manufacturing
335 Electrical Equip., Appliance, & Component Manufacturing
336 Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
337 Furniture & Related Product Manufacturing
339 Miscellaneous Manufacturing
42 Wholesale Trade
423 Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods
424 Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
425 Wholesale Electronic Markets & Agents & Brokers
44-45 Retail Trade
441 Motor Vehicle & Parts Dealers
442 Furniture & Home Furnishings Stores
443 Electronics & Appliance Stores
444 Building Material & Garden Equip. & Supplies Dlrs
445 Food & Beverage Stores
446 Health & Personal Care Stores
447 Gasoline Stations
448 Clothing & Clothing Accessories Stores
451 Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book, & Music Stores
452 General Merchandise Stores
453 Miscellaneous Store Retailers
454 Nonstore Retailers
48-49 Transportation & Warehousing
481 Air Transportation
482 Rail Transportation
483 Water Transportation
484 Truck Transportation
485 Transit & Ground Passenger Transportation
486 Pipeline Transportation
487 Scenic & Sightseeing Transportation
488 Support Activities for Transportation
491 Postal Service
492 Couriers & Messengers
493 Warehousing & Storage
51 Information
5111 Newspaper, Periodical, Book, & Directory Publshrs
5112 Software Publishers
5121 Motion Picture & Video Industries
5122 Sound Recording Industries
5151 Radio & Television Broadcasting
5152 Cable & Other Subscription Programming
5161 Internet Publishing & Broadcasting
5171 Wired Telecommunications Carriers
5172 Wireless Telecommunications Carriers
5173 Telecommunications Resellers
5174 Satellite Telecommunications
5175 Cable & Other Program Distribution
5179 Other Telecommunications
5181 Internet Service Providers & Web Search Portals
5182 Data Processing, Hosting, & Related Services
5191 Other Information Services
52 Finance & Insurance
521 Monetary Authorities—Central Bank
522 Credit Intermediation & Related Activities
523 Securities, Cmdty Ctrcts & Other Finl. Investments
524 Insurance Carriers & Related Activities
525 Funds, Trusts, & Other Financial Vehicles
53 Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
531 Real Estate
532 Rental & Leasing Services
533 Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets
54 Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
5411 Legal Services
5412 Accounting, Tax Prep., Bookkeeping, & Payroll Svcs
5413 Architectural, Engineering, & Related Services
5414 Specialized Design Services
5415 Computer Systems Design & Related Services
5416 Management, Scientific & Technical Consulting Svcs
5417 Scientific Research & Development Services
5418 Advertising & Related Services
5419 Other Professional, Scientific, & Technical Svcs
55 Management of Companies & Enterprises
551111 Offices of Bank Holding Companies
551112 Offices of Other Holding Companies
551114 Corporate, Subsidiary, & Regional Managing Offices
56 Admin. & Support & Waste Mgmnt & Remediation Svcs
5611 Office Administrative Services
5612 Facilities Support Services
5613 Employment Services
5614 Business Support Services
5615 Travel Arrangement & Reservation Services
5616 Investigation & Security Services
5617 Services to Buildings & Dwellings
5619 Other Support Services
5621 Waste Collection
5622 Waste Treatment & Disposal
5629 Remediation & Other Waste Management Services
61 Educational Services
6111 Elementary & Secondary Schools
6112 Junior Colleges
6113 Colleges, Universities, & Professional Schools
6114 Business Schools & Computer & Management Training
6115 Technical & Trade Schools
6116 Other Schools & Instruction
6117 Educational Support Services
62 Health Care & Social Assistance
6211 Offices of Physicians
6212 Offices of Dentists
6213 Offices of Other Health Practitioners
6214 Outpatient Care Centers
6215 Medical & Diagnostic Laboratories
6216 Home Health Care Services
6219 Other Ambulatory Health Care Services
6221 General Medical & Surgical Hospitals
6222 Psychiatric & Substance Abuse Hospitals
6223 Spclty (not Psychiatric/Substance Abuse) Hospitals
6231 Nursing Care Facilities
6232 Residential Mental Health & Subs. Abuse Facilities
6233 Community Care Facilities for the Elderly
6239 Other Residential Care Facilities
6241 Individual & Family Services
6242 Community Food/Housing/Emergency/Other Relief Svcs
6243 Vocational Rehabilitation Services
6244 Child Day Care Services
71 Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
7111 Performing Arts Companies
7112 Spectator Sports
7113 Promoters of Perf. Arts, Sports, & Similar Events
7114 Agnts/Mgrs for Artists, Athletes, Ent. & Pub Figrs
7115 Independent Artists, Writers, & Performers
7121 Museums, Historical Sites, & Similar Institutions
7131 Amusement Parks & Arcades
7132 Gambling Industries
7139 Other Amusement & Recreation Industries
72 Accommodation & Food Services
7211 Traveler Accommodation
7212 RV Parks & Recreational Camps
7213 Rooming & Boarding Houses
7221 Full-Service Restaurants
7222 Limited-Service Eating Places
7223 Special Food Services
7224 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
81 Other Services (except Public Administration)
8111 Automotive Repair & Maintenance
8112 Electronic & Precision Equip. Repair & Maintenance
8113 Commrcl & Ind. Machinery & Equip. Repair & Maint.
8114 Personal & Household Goods Repair & Maintenance
8121 Personal Care Services
8122 Death Care Services
8123 Drycleaning & Laundry Services
8129 Other Personal Services
813 Religious Organizations
8132 Grantmaking & Giving Services
8133 Social Advocacy Organizations
8134 Civic & Social Organizations
8139 Bus., Prof., Labor, Political, & Similar Org.
8141 Private Households
92 Public Administration
921 Executive, Legislative, & Other Gen. Gov. Support
922 Justice, Public Order, & Safety Activities
923 Administration of Human Resource Programs
924 Administration of Environmental Quality Programs
925 Admin. of Housing, Urban Planning & Community Dev.
926 Administration of Economic Programs
927 Space Research & Technology
928 National Security & International Affairs
It can be seen from this example that all of the top-level categories from the NAICS are used, but only selected lower levels. In each case, all of the second level categories in the example are themselves in the same NAICS level. However, the NAICS levels vary. Thus, for category 11 (Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting) and category 21 (Mining), the second level categories are also second-level NAICS categories. In contrast, for category 22 (Utilities) and category 23 (Construction), the second level categories are third-level NAICS categories. In further contrast, for category 55 (Management of Companies and Enterprises), the second level categories are fifth-level NAICS categories. Thus, it can be seen that the second level categories may themselves be different NAICS levels, though all of the categories within a particular second-level are of the same NAICS level.
Closing Comments
The foregoing is merely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. Although examples have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes, modifications, and/or alterations may be made.
Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. With regard to flowcharts, additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the steps as shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the methods described herein. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.
For any means-plus-function limitations recited in the claims, the means are not intended to be limited to the means disclosed herein for performing the recited function, but are intended to cover in scope any means, known now or later developed, for performing the recited function.
As used herein, “plurality” means two or more.
As used herein, a “set” of items may include one or more of such items.
As used herein. whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”, respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims.
Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.
As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.
This patent claims priority from Application No. 60/715,550 filed Sep. 8, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60715550 | Sep 2005 | US |