Methods and systems for vendor assurance

Abstract

Methods and systems for identifying and coordinating vendors capable of providing a product or service associated with a transaction. Specifically, the invention includes methods and systems for creating order profiles used to select vendors for providing products or services available according to the transaction. A product or service related to the completion of the transaction is selected, a vendor ordering profile is selected, a vendor is selected according to a distribution selection method or by selection of a user, and the selected product or service is ordered from the selected product vendor.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for selecting a vendor for at least one transaction using at least one processor, the method comprising:
 populating, via the at least one processor, a list of available products corresponding to the at least one transaction;   receiving, via the at least one processor, a selection of an identified product related to the at least one transaction;   determining, via the at least one processor, if an ordering profile corresponding to the identified product exists, the ordering profile comprising at least one desired characteristic associated with the identified product;   comparing, via the at least one processor, the at least one desired characteristic to characteristics associated with each vendor contained in a first plurality of vendors to yield a second plurality of vendors capable of providing the identified product;   automatically selecting, via the at least one processor, at least one vendor from the second plurality of vendors using a distribution selection method; and   automatically ordering, via the at least one processor, the identified product from the at least one vendor selected according to the distribution selection method.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, if the determining step yields no existing ordering profile corresponding to the identified product, an ordering profile comprising at least one desired characteristic is created via the at least one processor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the distribution selection method comprises one or more of an equal distribution selection method, a specific distribution selection method, or a qualitative distribution selection method. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the distribution selection method comprises the equal distribution selection method, the equal distribution selection method comprising automatically selecting, via the at least one processor, a subset of vendors from the second plurality of vendors, wherein the identified product is automatically ordered, via the at least one processor, from each of the vendors in the subset of vendors before reordering the identified product from any one vendor in the subset of vendors. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the distribution selection method comprises the specific distribution selection method, the specific distribution selection method comprising automatically selecting, via the at least one processor, a subset of vendors from the plurality of vendors, wherein a specific amount of the identified product is automatically ordered, via the at least one processor, from each one of the vendors in the subset of vendors. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one desired characteristic comprises at least one of:
 an ordering area;   a vendor ranking based on preset criteria;   a distribution method; or   distribution parameters.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising selecting, via the at least one processor, a next vendor that has associated characteristics that most closely match the selected ordering profile desired characteristics when the selected vendor has reached a predetermined vendor ranking with a designated limit. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the vendor ranking based on preset criteria comprises a performance ranking score. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the performance ranking score is based on at least one of a delivery time, the capacity to deliver the product or service in a specified amount of time, and the cost of the product or service. 
     
     
         10 . A system for selecting a vendor for at least one transaction for at least one product or service, the system comprising:
 at least one processor;   a user interface in communication with the at least one processor; and   a storage medium in communication with the at least one processor;   wherein the at least one processor is configured to:   associate a list of the at least one product or service with the at least one transaction;   receive a selection of at least one identified product or service from the list;   receive a selection of an ordering profile corresponding to the identified product, the ordering profile comprising desired characteristics associated with the at least one identified product or service;   access, from the storage medium, a plurality of vendor characteristics corresponding to a plurality of vendors;   compare the desired characteristics to the plurality of vendor characteristics; and   one of   display, via the user interface, a list of vendors that result from the comparison of the desired characteristics to the plurality of vendor characteristics to facilitate the selection of a qualified vendor; or   automatically select a qualified vendor based on the results of the comparison of the desired characteristics to the plurality of vendor characteristics, and automatically order the identified product from the qualified vendor.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the desired characteristics comprises a performance ranking score. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the performance ranking score is based on one of a delivery time, the capacity to deliver the product or service in a specified amount of time, and the cost of the product or service. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of vendor characteristics comprises at least one of:
 vendor location;   vendor capacity to deliver the services in a specified time period;   vendor Fair Isaac and Company credit score;   vendor licensing; or   vendor ranking based on preset criteria.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to select an alternate vendor if the selected vendor has reached a predetermined number of orders designated as a limit. 
     
     
         15 . A method for automatically identifying at least one vendor for supplying a product or service associated with at least one transaction using at least one processor, the method comprising:
 assigning, via the at least one processor, a plurality of available products or services to the at least one transaction;   displaying, via a user interface in communication with the at least one processor, the plurality of available products or services;   receiving, via the at least one processor, a selection of an identified product or service from the plurality of available products or services;   creating, via the at least one processor, an ordering profile comprising at least one desired characteristic corresponding to the identified product or service;   defining, via the at least one processor, a distribution selection method according to a plurality of distribution parameters;   assigning the distribution selection method to the ordering profile;   accessing, via a storage medium in communication with the at least one processor, a plurality of vendors and vendor characteristics associated with each of the plurality of vendors;   comparing, via the at least one processor, the at least one desired characteristic to the vendor characteristics to obtain a vendor subset where the corresponding vendor characteristics match the at least one desired characteristic;   automatically selecting, via the at least one processor, at least one qualified vendor from the vendor subset according to the distribution selection method; and   automatically ordering, via the at least one processor, the identified product or service from the at least one qualified vendor.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of distribution parameters comprises at least one of:
 vendor license requirements;   vendor capacity limits;   vendor threshold limits;   daily capacity limits; and   late order ratio limits.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising presenting, via the user interface, the vendor subset. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising accepting, via the at least one processor, the deselection of at least one eliminated vendor from the vendor subset. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the distribution selection method comprises one or more of an equal distribution selection method, a specific distribution selection method, or a qualitative distribution selection method. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the vendor characteristics comprises at least one of:
 vendor location;   vendor capacity to deliver the services in a specified time period;   vendor Fair Isaac and Company credit score;   vendor licensing; or   vendor ranking based on preset criteria.