JP2003518299A - Method and system for specifying material specifications - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To facilitate the process of specifying the specifications of raw materials between a purchaser and a supplier. A method and system for facilitating the process of manufacturing and purchasing a material, whereby a first person defines a fingerprint of a desired material, and then analyzes the fingerprint and the analysis used. Communicate the technique to one or more second parties. The second party then defines a second fingerprint of the second material using the same test method and communicates the results to the first party to compare the two fingerprints. If the fingerprints do not match, the first party sends a rejection notice to the second party. Once the fingerprints are found to match, a purchase order or manufacturing request is submitted by the first party to track the process from the date of order to delivery of the material.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and systems for specifying material specifications, and in particular, to methods and systems that facilitate comparison of material fingerprints. In a chemical manufacturing environment, the quality of any product depends on the quality of the raw materials used. The same is true for the production of any chemical or polymeric material. At present, the raw material supplier typically issues an analytical certificate with the raw material shipment proving that the raw material conforms to the specifications agreed between the supplier and the purchaser. However, these specifications are usually based on a few known major variables, such as the particular composition and size of the material. Also, the specifications are not necessarily exhaustive of all chemical issues that may occur or cause raw materials to be out of specification. as a result,
These certificates of analysis do not truly represent the quality of the material and may involve considerable subjectivity potential. A method and system for generating material fingerprints, comparing material fingerprints, and facilitating communication of the results of comparisons to a large number can facilitate the specification process of existing raw materials. And is advantageous.

[0002]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

One embodiment of the invention is a method that facilitates purchasing of materials. The method includes the steps of defining a first fingerprint of a first material by a first party. The first fingerprint is transmitted to one or more second parties. A second fingerprint of the second material is defined by the second party and provided to the first party. The first fingerprint is compared to the second fingerprint. Based on the result of the comparison, the approval or rejection notification is transmitted from the first party to the second party.

[0003]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to one embodiment of the invention, a material specification and analysis system typically
It is embodied in a system that includes one or more servers and one or more user systems coupled to a network. An exemplary system 50 that can utilize the present invention.
1 is shown in FIG. Shown is a server 10 located at the purchaser's base, which is coupled to one or more user systems 12 by a network 20. The network 20 may be any type of network, including local area networks, wide area networks, intranets, the Internet, and the like. User system 12 may be a general-purpose computer that executes computer programs that implement the methods described herein. Buyer's server 10 may be a server such as those known in the art that execute computer programs that implement the methods described herein. The programs executed by the server 10 and the data accessed by the server 10 may be stored in one or more databases 14.

A user controls the user system 12 via a keyboard (not shown) and / or a mouse (not shown) or any other suitable input device to enter commands and data. It can be carried out. User system 12 may access server 10 via network 20, or user system 12 may be coupled to server 10 via a different network (eg, an intranet). The data may be accessed, manipulated, transmitted, or retrieved by user system 12 via server 10. The data may be transmitted or uploaded via the user system 12 to a purchaser website embodied by the purchaser server 10. The buyer website can be accessed from the supplier system 16, the data stored on the buyer website described above can be accessed from the supplier system 16, and the supplier system 16 can access the data. You may upload it to the buyer's website. Supplier system 16 may be a general purpose computer executing a computer program that implements the methods described herein.

FIG. 2 shows an overview of a raw material quality control process according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The process shown in FIG. 2 relates to the analysis of raw materials used in the manufacturing process. The present invention is not limited to such examples and may analyze any material regardless of application. Generally, the buyer asks the supplier for a fingerprint of the desired ingredient,
And the test method used to generate this fingerprint. The supplier uses this information to supply the purchaser with the appropriate materials.

The desired fingerprint of the raw material may be defined by various methods. For example,
At step 104, a series of predetermined analytical tests are performed on the purchaser's existing raw materials. Examples of analytical tests are gas chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, particle size, and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) methods, which include thermal stabilizers, dyes,
It is used to determine the fingerprints of materials such as processability modifiers, mold release agents, antioxidants and polymers. The term fingerprint, as used herein, is broad and should generally refer to data that describes one or more properties of a material. Fingerprints are defined by their chemical composition and can be determined by performing a series of analytical tests. An example of a fingerprint is a plurality of data sets each generated by an analytical test. It is preferred to have multiple test methods when defining a fingerprint, as the combination of multiple test methods provides more accurate composite properties of the raw material than a single given test.

Once the test is complete, a raw material fingerprint is created at step 106. Regardless of the raw material, the fingerprint and the test method used to generate the fingerprint are electronically stored or stored in the server 10 or database 14 in step 108. The fingerprint and test methods may be distributed by the server 10 to one or more supplier systems 16, or one or more supplier systems 16 that have access to the purchaser server 10 may print the fingerprint and test methods. You may search. If the purchaser chooses to send the fingerprint and test method to one or more suppliers, then in step 110 a list of the supplier's addresses (eg, email addresses) is listed.
4 from which the fingerprint and test methods can be automatically distributed to each supplier system 10 in step 112 (eg, via email). Alternatively, in step 114, the purchaser may choose, via the user system 12, to manually select which supplier should receive the fingerprint and test method. The purchaser simply posts the stored fingerprints and test methods to the purchaser's website, step 11
6 has chosen a relatively passive approach by allowing the supplier system 16 with access to contact the server 10 via the purchaser website and download the fingerprints and test methods in step 118. May be.

Once the supplier receives the purchaser's fingerprint and test method in step 118, the supplier obtains raw materials that are considered to be the same or similar to what the purchaser desires, and the step At 120, the test method is performed on these ingredients using the same analytical test specified by the purchaser. Then step 12
2. Upload the results of the supplier's test (ie, the supplier's fingerprint) to the buyer's website at step 2, so that at step 124, the buyer's fingerprint and the supplier's fingerprint, for example, using appropriate chemometric analysis. Begin the comparison between the side fingerprints. The server 10 may perform the comparison,
Alternatively, another computer may access the fingerprint from server 10 to perform the comparison. The comparison is made to calculate the deviation or disparity between the two fingerprints. Although multivariate analysis is the preferred approach, least squares fit, factor analysis and other approaches may be used. The advantages of Chemometrics are
From multiple data elements of analytical data (eg, factor analysis using infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography and ICP, etc.), sensitivity can be increased for simple visual or minimal data comparisons (eg peaks on chromatographic equipment). The difference is that one complete data set (or a predetermined subset of one complete data set) that fully defines the material is obtained.

The result of the comparison is distributed to the user system 12 and the supplier system 16 via the network 20 in step 126. At step 128, the result of the comparison is evaluated by using a predetermined set of criteria defined by the purchaser to determine if the two fingerprints are close enough to be considered acceptable matches. To do. The evaluation of the result may be automatically performed by the purchaser server 10 based on a predetermined standard, or the individual may evaluate the result of the comparison when the objective evaluation by the server 10 is not possible. Good. If a match is shown in step 128, the supplier fingerprints and optionally the supplier name are stored in an approval list database containing all approved fingerprints received from each supplier.

In step 130, the purchaser may assign a certification number to the fingerprint and provide the certification number to the supplier. The supplier can then refer to this certification number when shipping the product to the purchaser. In addition, step 13
At 0, the purchaser may initiate the purchase of the material, either manually negotiating with the supplier or requesting additional information regarding the availability of the material. Alternatively, the approval list may be used as an automatic trigger to send a purchase order requesting the manufacture and delivery of the specified material from the purchaser to the supplier (for example, from the server 10 to the supplier system 16). E-mail). Such use of certification number and / or purchase order number
Allows for automatic tracking of future potential issues with delivery, receipt, and material. On the contrary, if the comparison between the purchaser-side fingerprint and the supplier-side fingerprint is unsuccessful, in step 132, the purchaser asks the supplier to purchase the material whose specifications have been specified by the supplier. Send refusal notice withheld (
E.g. email from server 10 to supplier system 16).

As mentioned above, the present invention may be embodied in the form of computer-implemented methods and apparatus for practicing those methods. The invention is also in the form of computer program code including instructions embodied in a tangible medium, such as a floppy diskette, CD-ROM, hard drive or any other computer readable storage medium. May be embodied in. At this time, when the computer program code is loaded into the computer and executed by the computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for implementing the present invention. The invention is also for example stored on a storage medium, loaded into and / or executed by a computer, or via electrical wiring or cabling, via an optical fiber or via electromagnetic radiation. It may be embodied in the form of computer program code regardless of whether it is transmitted via any transmission medium. At this time, if the computer program code is loaded into the computer and executed by the computer,
A computer is an apparatus for implementing the present invention. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to form specific logic circuits.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art can make various modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention and can replace the elements of the present invention with equivalent configurations. Will be understood. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed for carrying out the present invention, but includes all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example computer environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

[Fig. 2]   It is a flowchart of an example of a raw material quality control process.

[Explanation of symbols]

  10 Purchaser server   50 system example

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR), OA (BF , BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, G M, KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ , UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, C N, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB , GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, L C, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MD, MG , MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, T J, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU , ZW (72) Inventor Jester, Nancy             12203, New York,             Albany, Hampshire number 3,             Oxford Heights Apartmentmen             To (no address) (72) Inventor Sandman, Brian W.             USA, 47630, Indiana,             Newberg, Cherry Blossom Co             No. 4422

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A method for facilitating the purchase of a material using a system including a purchaser server and a supplier system coupled via a network, the first fingerprint of a first material by a first party. Defining the first fingerprint to a second party, defining a second fingerprint of a second material by the second party, the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint And a step of transmitting one of approval and refusal from the first party to the second party based on the result of the comparing step. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first fingerprint is defined by the first party by performing a test method on the first material. 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of communicating the test method to the second party. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second party defines the second fingerprint using the test method. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of comparing the first fingerprint with the second fingerprint comprises chemometric analysis. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the results of the comparing step are automatically distributed to the first party and the second party. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising evaluating the result of the comparing step by the first party. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the evaluating step is performed manually. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of evaluating is performed automatically. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the approval and rejection notifications is automatically communicated to the second party by the first party. 11. A storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer program code for facilitating a material specification process, the method comprising the steps of: A storage medium containing instructions to be embodied by a server coupled to a remote system. Receiving a first fingerprint of a first material from a user system, transmitting the first fingerprint to a supplier system, a second fingerprint of a second material from the supplier system Receiving, a step of comparing the first fingerprint with the second fingerprint, and a notification of approval or rejection to the supplier system via a network based on the result of the comparing step. The process of transmitting. 12. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first fingerprint is automatically communicated to the supplier system. 13. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first fingerprint is transmitted to the supplier system by manual selection. 14. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first fingerprint is transmitted to the supplier system in response to a request from the supplier system to the server. 15. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the result of the comparing step is automatically transmitted to the user system and the supplier system. 16. The storage medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that cause the server to embody the step of evaluating the result of the comparing step. 17. A system for facilitating the purchase of materials, the purchaser server receiving a first fingerprint of a first material defined by a first party, and coupled to the purchaser server by a network. A supplier system, wherein the purchaser server communicates the first fingerprint to the supplier system, the supplier system comprising a second system defined by a second party. The second fingerprint of the material of the above is transmitted to the purchaser server, the purchaser server compares the first fingerprint with the second fingerprint, and the second fingerprint according to the result of the comparison. A system for communicating either approval or rejection from a purchaser server to the supplier system. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first fingerprint is defined by the first party by performing a test method on the first material. 19. The system of claim 18, further comprising the purchaser server for communicating the test method to the supplier system. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second party uses the test method to define the second fingerprint. 21. The system of claim 17, wherein the comparing the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint comprises chemometric analysis. 22. The system of claim 17, wherein the purchaser server evaluates the result of the comparison of the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint.