NO20161398A1

NO20161398A1 - System and method for placing orders for items associated with respective phases of a project

Info

Publication number: NO20161398A1
Application number: NO20161398A
Authority: NO
Inventors: Sven Carl Arvid Ivarsson; Jørn Inge Halvorsen; Kristian Reistadbakken
Original assignee: Mestergruppen As
Priority date: 2016-09-02
Filing date: 2016-09-02
Publication date: 2018-03-05

Abstract

A data structure, a system, and a method of placing orders for items such as goods and/or services, are described. Multiple orders can be placed and each item in each order can be associated with a respective phase or project. The system utilizes a data structure which enables processing, management, accessand presentation based on association of items with project phases and with order status. The system is able to handle multiple item providers and can organize, present, filter and separate information based on different criteria, and may also be integrated with external systems that provide item classification.A data structure, a system, and a method of placing orders for items such as goods and / or services are described. Multiple orders can be placed and each item in each order can be associated with a respective phase or project. The system utilizes a data structure which enables processing, management, access and presentation based on association of items with project phases and with order status. The system is capable of handling multiple item providers and can organize, present, filter and separate information based on different criteria, and may also be integrated with external systems that provide item classification.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PLACING ORDERS FOR ITEMS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPECTIVE

PHASES OF A PROJECT

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and a method of placing orders for items such as goods and/or services, and in particular to a system and a method where multiple orders can be placed and where each order is associated with a respective phase of a project.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Over the last 15 to 20 years, shopping over the Internet has become a serious competitor to traditional brick-and-mortar stores within more and more industries, retail as well as wholesale, and for consumer goods as well as business-to-business – in some industries online shopping has even become totally dominant, sometimes to the point of replacing traditional businesses entirely. In the wake of this development, more and more sophisticated web shops have been introduced, with functionality that helps shoppers manage their wish lists and shopping carts, search for goods and services and seek each other’s advice with respect to a given products qualities. At the same time vendors have been given sophisticated tools for reaching their customers with information, offers and advertising, target information based on knowledge about individual customers, and provide offers that are valuable to their customers while generating sales for the vendors.

[0003] There are, however, certain economic sectors where online shopping has had a relatively modest impact, or at least where the technological advances have been minor, particularly with respect to the challenges that are specific to these sectors. Examples of such sectors include the construction sectors, where it is typically necessary to order goods and services repeatedly, associated with the many different tasks or project phases that are part of a construction project. Existing systems for placing orders online mainly handle each order as a single transaction that is unrelated to other transactions. At most a web shop may offer wish lists, the ability to create “projects” which can hold a list of necessary items that have to be purchased (in practice often not more than a wish list with a different name), and the ability to save items in a shopping cart for later (in practice not more than a wish list with a special association with the shopping cart allowing items to be moved back and forth between the two).

[0004] However, when a project involves a large number of necessary purchases, each purchase may include new items, but also repeated orders of items that have already been ordered, each purchase is associated with a particular task or set of tasks in the project with their start dates and due dates, there is a lot of book keeping that needs to be done, and current systems for placing orders online do not include any functionality enabling management of these needs. Instead, while the project itself can be managed using a project management system where necessary purchases may be included as tasks, the actual process of placing an order must be done manually and purchases that have been made, that must be made, orders that have been placed but not yet delivered, back orders, and accumulated costs, all have to be managed manually.

[0005] Similar needs exist for all larger projects, not only in the construction sector, but for the shipbuilding sector, for offshore installation projects, etc.

[0006] Consequently, there is a need for systems and methods that can alleviate this need for manual management and provide tools that incorporate a phased purchase process associated with larger projects.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0007] This need is addressed by the present invention which, according to a first aspect, provides a data structure including a representation of one or more projects, a representation of a plurality of phases each being associated with one of the one or more projects, a representation of a plurality of selectable items that can be ordered through the system, and a list of selected items, each entry in the list including an identification of one of the plurality of selectable items and an association with one of the plurality of phases.

[0008] The data structure may further comprise a representation of a plurality of providers, and a representation of an association between each of the plurality of selectable items and at least one of the plurality of providers. The data structure may also comprise a representation of a plurality of entities, as well as an association between each of the one or more projects with exactly one of the entities. These entities may represent customers, project owners, project managers, or persons, companies or roles in general.

[0009] In some embodiments, the data structure may consist of tables in a relational database. However, the data structure may also be implemented as objects in an object oriented data infrastructure or as one or more tables in respective flat databases.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the invention, a system for structuring or for managing structured information in a database comprises a server computer which is in communication with the database and which is able to generate user interface with a plurality of views. The user interfaces may, for example, be transmitted to a user client device using well known web protocols including, but of course not limited to, HTML, JavaScript, HTTP, TCP/IP and other well-known protocols and web standards. The plurality of views may organize information in several ways, but may include user interface control elements capable of receiving user input that identifies a selection of one of the one or more projects as a selected project, a selection of an item from the representation of selectable items to be entered in the list of selected items, an association of an entry in the list of selected items with a phase from the plurality of phases, wherein the phase from the plurality of phases is associated with the selected project, a designation of a subset of entries from the list of selected items to be included in a current order, wherein all items in the subset are associated with phases that are associated with the selected project, and an instruction to transmit the current order to an order management system, the current order including at least an identification of the selected project and a list of the subset of entries from the list of selected items. The server computer may, upon receiving the appropriate user input resulting from interaction with the interface control elements, update the list of selected items with an entry identifying at least a selected item from the representation of selectable items and identification of an associated phase from the plurality of phases (203), wherein the identified phase is associated with a selected project, designate a subset of entries from the list of selected items to be included in a current order, and transmit the current order to an order management system.

[0011] The server computer may be further configured to, upon receiving a confirmation from the order management system that the current order is accepted, entering information in the list of selected items indicating that the designated subset of entries has been ordered. Upon receiving information indicative of a fulfilled delivery of a selected item included in the current order, the server computer may enter information in the list of selected items indicating that the selected item has been delivered.

[0012] In embodiments where the database includes a representation of a plurality of providers, the plurality of views generated by the server computer may include a user interface control element capable of receiving user input that identifies an association of an entry in the list of selected items with one of the plurality of providers. The server computer may then be further configured to designate items to be included in a current order only if they are associated with a common provider from the representation of a plurality of providers, and to transmit the current order to an order management system associated with the common provider. This allows a user to place only one order based only on the user’s needs, and the system will utilize the data structure to generate separate orders to each provider.

[0013] The plurality of views generated by the server computer may in some embodiments include a user interface control element capable of receiving user input that identifies an association of an entry in the list of selected items with a requested delivery date. The server computer may then, upon receiving the identification of a desired delivery date, enter information in the list of selected items associating the entry in the list of selected items with the requested delivery date.

[0014] As already mentioned, the plurality of views may organize and present information and control elements in many different ways. Some examples include a listing of projects from the representation of one or more projects, a listing of phases from the representation of a plurality of phases each being associated with a common selected project from the representation of one or more projects, a listing of selectable items from the representation of a plurality of selectable items, a listing of a subset of selected items from the list of selected items, each selected item in the subset of selected items being associated with a common selected project from the representation of one or more projects through their respective association with one of the plurality of phases, and a listing of the designated subset of entries from the list of selected items to be included in a current order.

[0015] According to a third aspect of the invention, a method is provided for managing structured information relating to the ordering of items associated with a project. The information may be structured in accordance with the first aspect of the invention. The method includes receiving information constituting an instruction to select one of the one or more projects as a selected project. This information will typically be received from a user client device. The method may also include generating a user interface including a listing of selectable items from the representation of a plurality of selectable items, receiving information identifying an item from the listing of selectable items as a selected item and an association with one of the plurality of phases associated with the selected project, creating an entry in the list of selected items and including in the entry an identification of the selected item and the association with one of the plurality of phases associated with the selected project, generating a user interface including a listing of items from the list of selected items, each selected item in the subset of selected items being associated with the selected project through their respective association with one of the plurality of phases, receiving information designating a subset of items included in the listing of items, generating a current order including the designated subset of items, and transmitting the current order to an order management system.

[0016] In some embodiments the method further includes, upon receiving information from the order management system that the current order is accepted, entering information in the corresponding entry in the list of selected items indicating that the designated subset of entries has been ordered.

[0017] The method may also include, upon receiving information indicative of a fulfilled delivery of a selected item included in the current order, entering information in the corresponding entry in the list of selected items indicating that the selected item has been delivered.

[0018] In embodiments where the database includes a plurality of providers, the method may also include receiving user input that identifies an association of an entry in the list of selected items with one of the plurality of providers, and the step of generating a current order only includes items that are associated with a common provider from the representation of a plurality of providers, and the step of transmitting the current order transmits the current order to an order management system associated with the common provider.

[0019] The step of receiving information identifying an item from the listing of selectable items as a selected item may also include information constituting a requested delivery date.

The method may then also include entering information in the list of selected items associating the entry in the list of selected items with the requested delivery date in the list of selected items.

[0020] The method may also include receiving instructions to generate a phase to be included in the representation of a plurality of phases and associated with the selected project. Such instructions may be received from a client device, but may also originate in a computer program or script that invokes a project template include phases when a new project is created.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG.1 illustrates an overview of a system of interconnected computers that are capable of implementing aspects of the invention;

[0022] FIG.2 is a relational diagram for a database that may be used in an implementation of some embodiments of the invention;

[0023] FIG.3A through FIG.3E show exemplary web browser windows including views and user control elements generated in accordance with the invention; and

[0024] FIG.4 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In the following description various examples and embodiments of the invention are set forth in order to provide the skilled person with a more thorough understanding of the invention. The specific details described in the context of the various embodiments and with reference to the attached drawings are not intended to be construed as limitations. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined in the appended claims.

[0026] In the exemplary embodiments, various features and details are shown in combination. The fact that several features are described with respect to a particular example should not be construed as implying that those features by necessity have to be included together in all embodiments of the invention. Conversely, features that are described with reference to different embodiments should not be construed as mutually exclusive. As those with skill in the art will readily understand, embodiments that incorporate any subset of features described herein and that are not expressly interdependent have been contemplated by the inventor and are part of the intended disclosure. Explicit description of all such embodiments would, however, not contribute to the understanding of the principles of the invention, and consequently some permutations of features have been omitted for the sake of simplicity or brevity.

[0027] The present invention relates to systems that are implemented at least in part on various types of computing devices configured to be able to communicate with one another over a communication network which may typically involve the Internet. A number of different communication protocols (such as TCP/IP, HTTP), information formatting and presentation standards (for example HTML, XML, CSS), programing and/or scripting languages (for example C, C++, Java, Javascript), and database management systems and query languages (such as SQL) may be used in the implementation of the invention. These are well known to those with skill in the art, and they are not part of the invention as such, so no attempt will be made to describe them in any detail. Similarly, no detailed description will be given of standard computer hardware that can be part of the various computing devices.

[0028] FIG.1 illustrates an overview of a system of interconnected computers that are capable of implementing aspects of the invention. The system includes a first server computer 101 with an associated database 102. The first server represents a web shop or ordering system according to the invention and the associated database 102 is capable of storing a list (e.g. a product catalog) of items that are available to be ordered via the web shop server 101. The web shop database 102 may also hold a list of customers and their pending and completed orders, as well as other information which will be described in further detail below.

[0029] A second server 103 is an order management system or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system of a vendor or provider of goods or services that are available to be ordered through the web shop server 101. Multiple servers of this type may be present in a system according to the invention, but only one is illustrated in the drawing in order to facilitate understanding and avoid unnecessary repetition. The vendor server 103 includes or is associated with a database capable of receiving and storing orders placed through the web shop server 101.

[0030] A third server 105 and its associated database 106 is an official or semi-official archive of data relating to the class of objects that are the product of a project or that a project may otherwise relate to and modify. For example, if a project relates to a property such as a building, the third server may receive and store information about the construction of the building or modifications done to the building as part of a project. Also, the third server may be able to provide data that is necessary in order for the project to be performed in an appropriate manner, for example zoning regulations or construction details that are relevant in order to determine which products may be used during an ongoing project. If the project is one of building a ship, the register server 105 and database 106 may be a sips register. It is even conceivable that the project is one of a long term, phased medical therapy, the web shop server 101 allows placement of orders for specific medicines, consultations with experts, and therapeutic sessions. In such a case the register server 105 and database 106 may be one of medical journals.

[0031] The various servers 101, 103, 105 and their associated databases 102, 104, 106 are all configured to be able to communicate with one another over a computer network 107, which may be the Internet, one or more intranets, cellular networks, etc., or any combination of these. They are also accessible from client computers 108, which may, for example, be personal computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones connected to the Internet or to a cellular network. They are given the same reference number in the drawing because there is no need to distinguish them from one another for the purposes of this disclosure.

[0032] Reference is now made to FIG.2 which illustrates a relational diagram for a database that may be implemented in some embodiments of the web shop database 102. The database serves as part of a back end system for the web shop server 101 which is accessible by customers using client computers with client user agent software such as web browsers or dedicated clients. It should be noted that while this example will be described as a web shop with customers and vendors, the invention as such is not limited to these specific roles and more generally the customers may be thought of as users, the web shop provider as an operator and additional vendors as providers. Products and services will collectively be referred to as items. It should also be noted that while this example shows a relational database, the invention is not limited to this paradigm of database design.

[0033] A first table in the web shop database 102 is a customer table 201. The customer table 201 holds a list of registered customers that are users of the system. An entry in the customer table 201 may include a customer number as primary key and additional information such as name, address, VAT number, and other relevant information. A next table in the database 102 is a table of existing projects 202. Each project is owned by one and only one customer, while each customer may own several projects. This can be handled through a one-to-many relation between the two tables, wherein each project entry in the project table includes a foreign key reference to its owning customer. Each project may also include its own unique project number, which is a primary key in the projects table 202. In addition, each entry in the project table 202 may include additional information about the project, such as the customer’s own project number or reference number (i.e. a project number that helps the customer keep track of their own projects for example by relating them to project numbers in their own project management system), name of the project owner or project manager, duration, address (for the project, as opposed to the customer), and a project number in the register database 106.

[0034] According to the invention, the system is able to organize orders in a manner where each order and its delivery are associated with a phase in the project. Each project can therefore by divided into a number of phases, and in embodiments of the invention these phases can be entered in a table of project phases 203. Each entry in the project phase table 203 has a foreign key reference to the project to which it belongs as well as a unique phase ID which serves as its primary key. Each phase belongs to only one project, while one project may have many phases, so the relationship is again a one-to-many relationship. Each project phase entry may in addition hold information such as a phase name and a phase number (i.e. a number representing its position in the sequence of phases included in the project).

[0035] In some embodiments of the invention it may be desirable to organize items into groups. This may, for example, be the case when the items to be used in the project are already part of an official or industry established classification of products. This is often the case for products that are highly standardized or associated with regulations or certifications. For this purpose a group table 204 may be provided. The group table may simply list all existing groups. Listing the groups in a separate table makes it possible to maintain this list as a representation of the classification system itself without relating it to specific instances of projects, products or phases. Instead groups in phase table 205 can hold entries that reference a phase in the phases table 203 by including a foreign key reference to an entry in that table and also include a foreign key reference to an entry in the groups table 204. This creates a many to many relationship between groups and phases, such that a phase can include many groups while a group can be present in many phases (in the same project as well as in different projects).

[0036] In addition, entries in the groups in phase table 205 include a group ID which may be a primary key. The group ID serves to identify the instance (or presence) of the group in a specific phase (and in a specific project) uniquely such that items in that group can be added to that specific instance of the group in that phase. A simple example serves to illustrate this as follows. If the group represents sweeteners and the project is to bake a cake, the group of sweeteners and the product sugar may be present in the phase where the dough is made and also in the phase where the frosting is made.

[0037] Some embodiments of the invention may be implemented without item classification, in which case the group table 204 and the groups in phase table 205 are not included.

[0038] A next table 206 holds all the items that have been added to a phase. In embodiments with item classification, or groups, as shown in the example in the drawing, adding an item results in adding its group to the groups in phase table 205 (if it is not already there) and adding the item to the items in group table 206 with a foreign key reference to the group as instantiated in the groups in phase table 205. Thus, group refers to the instance of the group that has been added to the phase. In other words, an entry in the items in group table 206 will refer indirectly, through the groups in phase table 205, to a group in the groups table 204 and to a phase in the phases table 203. In this manner, entering an item in this table ensures that the item is associated with a specific phase in a project and that items in a phase can be sorted based on their classification into groups.

[0039] Since many items can be added to a phase (or, as in this example, a group in a phase) and many phases (or, as in this example, many instances of the same group in different phases) can hold the same item, the items in group table 206 is a junction table (sometimes referred to as an associative table or bridge table) which creates a many-to-many relationship between the groups in phase table 205 and the items table 207, which will be described below. Each entry in the items in group table 206 is an entry with two foreign keys, referencing one group in the groups in phase table 205 and one item in items table 207, respectively. The two foreign keys in combination become the logical primary key of the items in group table 206. In embodiments where items are not grouped, groups in phase table 205 and the group table 204 may be left out and the items in group table 206 becomes an items in phase table referencing a phase ID directly and creating a many-to-many relationship between the items table 207 and the phases table 203. The items in group table 206 may hold additional information such as order status, order date, who made the order, delivery date, number of units ordered and the type of unit ordered for each respective item.

[0040] The item table 207 includes an item number primary key which identifies each item in the item table 206 uniquely. In addition, any information that is considered relevant in a particular application may be included, such as, for example, item description and provider/vendor. The provider may be identified as a reference to a provider in a provider table 208. If several providers are available to provide the same item, this relation may be a many-to-many relation, for example implemented through a junction table (not shown in the present example). The group each item belongs to can be defined as a reference to the group table 204.

[0041] In alternative embodiments the classification of the item, its group, can be entered directly in the items table 207. In that case, adding an item to the items in group table 206 provides the group information directly and this information can be used to create (if not already existing) and reference the entry in the groups in phase table 205. In such embodiments the groups table 204 is not necessary.

[0042] In other embodiments the classification, or grouping, of items is not done using a groups in phase table 205, but based on searches, sorting and presentation of the data. In such embodiments the items in group table 205 becomes an items in phase table and sorting and presenting items in a particular phase in accordance with their classification in groups is done by extracting this information from the relevant entries in the items table 207.

[0043] The providers table 208 may include relevant information about respective providers, such as name, address VAT number etc. The providers, at least some of them, may each operate their own order management system or ERP system 103, 104. These systems may be in communication with the web shop system 101 but they are not necessarily part of it. In some embodiments the operator of the web shop system 101 also acts as a vendor. In that case the operator as vendor or provider (i.e. the order management system or ERP of the operator) may be integrated into the web shop system, but it may also be implemented as a standalone system, i.e. as an instance of a vendor system 103, 104.

[0044] Some providers may operate several locations or presences. In that case each location may have its own entry in the provider table, or additional tables may be created to represent different locations, depending on the requirements created by circumstances in each case.

[0045] A final table in this example is a units table 209. Since each item may be delivered in several sizes or configurations, it may be desirable to be able to specify this in a separate table rather than defining essentially the same item repeatedly for each size, version, color, or other variety. An entry in the table may include a foreign key reference to an item number in the items table 207. This entry does, of course, not have to be unique, since an item may be available in several sizes, colors, type of packages etc. This foreign key reference thus establishes a one-to-many relationship between the items table 207 and the units table 209. Each entry will also have an entry defining the relevant unit. One example could be that for a given item (e.g. paint), available units could be 1 liter, 3 liters, 5 liters and 10 liters, each with their own entry in the units table 209. Another example would be protective coveralls, which could be available in small, medium, large, and extra-large, again with respective entries in the units table 209. A given unit would have a corresponding price per unit, which, of course, would have to be multiplied by the number of items of that unit a customer ordered.

[0046] In some cases it may be necessary to enable users to compare the different units in terms of usage. For example, if paneling boards are delivered by length as well as by square meters, it may be useful to include a conversion factor between a chosen unit and a standard unit or reference unit. This conversion factor and the designated standard unit may be identified in the units table 209.

[0047] When an item is added to the items in group table 206 the unit ordered field in the items in group table 206 must be a unit that has an entry in the units table 209 for that specific item.

[0048] Since a given unit (e.g.5 liters) will not be unique for one specific item, it alone cannot serve as the primary key for this table. The primary key in the units table 209 uniquely defining the entry may instead be a combination of the unit field and the foreign key reference to the item number.

[0049] With respect to color as a unit it should be noted that color, and other similar characteristics, could be a characteristic of the item itself (e.g. red paint and blue paint would be different items) entered in the item entry in the item table 207. Alternatively it could be in a separate table of available characteristics not shown in the example. However, in certain instances it could be useful to think of color or other characteristics that are not usually considered a unit of measure as a unit. For example, if an item is available in a range of qualities that depend only on such a characteristic (color, materials, or something similar) which determines the unit price, the characteristic may in some embodiments be thought of as a unit of measure.

[0050] Turning now to FIG.3 an example of a user interface for a web shop implementing the invention will be presented.

[0051] This example of a web shop implementation uses a web browser based interface. As will be well understood by those with skill in the art it could also be implemented as a dedicated application installed on a computer, as an app installed on a tablet computer or smartphone, or in any number of ways that are well known in the art, as long as the web shop functionality and the interaction with the databases described above is substantially in accordance with the invention as defined in the claims.

[0052] In order to avoid cluttering the drawings unnecessarily, reference numbers have only been given to graphic elements, not to text elements. As such, the text elements may be identified by their textual content. Also, in order to give this presentation on a general level no attempt has been made to give the project, phases and items actual project names, phase names and product names. In an actual implementation items, for example, would of course not be listed as “First item” and “Second item” but as specific product names and the like.

[0053] FIG.3A shows a web browser window 301 with typical browser functions such as an address bar 302 enabling a user to enter a URL and navigate forward and backward in a browsing history. Controls 303 for closing, minimizing or maximizing the browser window are also present. These elements are well known in the art and will not be discussed further.

[0054] The viewport of the browser window, i.e. the part of the browser window displaying content the web browser has retrieved from an accessible resource, displays a page of a web shop consistent with the principles of the invention. A first element included in this web page is a project selection button 304. If a user invokes this button a dialog box or window may be opened allowing the user to select among projects that he or she has access to, or to create a new project. This window will essentially be a list, and creation of a new project will essentially be done using a form. Lists and forms are well known in the art and will not be shown in separate drawings or discussed in further detail. Suffice to say that the form for creating a new project must enable the user to enter all the details required by the designer of the backend database. This may, for example, include all the information that will be entered in tables 201 and 202, except to the extent that this information is assigned by the provider (e.g. customer number for a new customer) or is created automatically by the database itself (e.g. the project number primary key).

[0055] In the exemplary embodiment described here the project selection button is displayed in all the views (or web pages) of the web shop and does not change. This is a design choice that is not mandatory, but it makes it possible to change from one project to another regardless of which activities the user is currently performing within the current project.

[0056] The web shop includes a number of tabs that are selectable by a user in order to allow the user to access specific functionality or view and update information relating to different aspects of the project. A first such tab is a phases tab 305 which, when active, provides a view of the phases of the current project. In the example illustrated in the drawing there are three such phases, First phase 311, Second phase 312 and Third phase 313. The accumulated costs associated with items that have been added to each phase is also displayed. In some embodiments of the invention the phases may be part of a hierarchical structure, for example with one or more levels of sub-phases. The sub-phases may be implemented as part of the database structure (for example in separate sub-phase tables as an addition to the database tables shown in FIG.2), with additional fields in the phases table 203 defining the level at which a particular phase or sub-phase exists, or simply as part of the numbering system for the phase numbers entered in table 203.

[0057] If the project includes sub-phases, the user interface elements 311, 312, 313 may be expandable, showing each sub-phase under the phase of which it is part. A sub-phase may be defined according to the types of actions or operations it involves, the types of items (products) that should or can be added, by start and finish dates, or in some other convenient manner. Some implementations of the invention may allow the user to freely create a hierarchy of phases and sub-phases, while other implementations only allow the systems designer to do this. It is also consistent with the invention to create templates for the user to choose among, wherein a given template provides a pre-defined structure of phases and perhaps also a predefined access to specific items that can be added only in the appropriate phases. (For example, building materials for a construction project may only be available in the phases for which they are relevant, and diagnostic procedures that are part of a medical treatment project may only be available in phases relating to examination and diagnosis and not to phases relating to treatment.)

[0058] In the example shown in the drawing, a drop down menu 314 can be used to add phases to a project. Such a drop down menu would typically list phases that are related to specific types of actions or items, for example as part of a project template. Such phases may have default names that may or may not be editable by the user, depending on design choices made by the systems designer. A further user interface element is a Create phase button 315 which can be used by the user to open a dialog box or window (not shown) enabling the creation of additional phases. Whether a specific embodiment of the invention implements the drop down menu 314, the Create phase button 315 or both, is a matter of design choice.

[0059] When a phase is added to a project it is created as an entry in table 203.

[0060] In addition to the Phases tab 305, this exemplary embodiment of the invention includes an Items tab 306, a Delivery tab 307, and Order tab 308, and a Shopping Cart tab 309. Selecting the Items tab 306 will change the web shop view to the view illustrated in FIG.3B.

[0061] The view shown in FIG.3B is a view designed for adding items to the various phases. The user interface elements that have already been described with reference to FIG.3A will not be described again here. In the part of the view that has changed in response to activation of the Items tab 306 a first field 320 gives a presentation of the costs accumulated for all items added in all phases. A next field 321 is a corresponding presentation of the costs accumulated in the First phase. In the illustrated example this sum is 0, indicating that no item has been added to this phase. A double chevron (or angle bracket) pointing to the right indicates that the phase can be expanded to show the individual items added to the phase, but in this case with no items added, expanding the phase would only open an empty list.

[0062] A next field 322 is a corresponding field for the Second phase, and below it is a field 323 for the Third phase.

[0063] The field 322 representing the Second phase has been expanded, as indicated by the double chevrons that now point to the left, and the field has been expanded downward to show a list of items that have been added to this phase. Field 324 represents a first item and field 325 represents a second item. As more items are added the expanded view of phase two will expand downwards and scroll bars may appear in order to allow the user to scroll up and down the list of items.

[0064] A user interface element in the form of an Add item button 327 can also be seen. This button may open a view of a list of items that are available to be added or some other representation of items in a web shop – many alternatives are known in the art. This view may be in a new browser window or tab, or the browser may temporarily navigate away from the view presented in FIG.3B. The list or presentation of items may be based on the items table 207 and the units table 209.

[0065] When a user adds an item to a phase, an entry can be created in the Items in group table 206. That entry will include a reference to the group ID and a reference to the item number as described above with reference to FIG.2. If no other item belonging to the same group has been added to the same phase, an entry for that group is created in the groups in phase table 205.

[0066] As mentioned above, in some embodiments the same item may be offered by more than one provider. This can be handled in different ways, for example by entering the same item repeatedly and treating the provider as a distinguishing feature, or by creating a manyto-many relationship between items in the items table 207 and providers in a provider table (not shown in the drawings). In the user interface for the web shop the user may be able to select provider, for example from a drop down menu 327 shown for item 1 in the drawing. A similar drop down menu 328 is shown in its open state for item 2, allowing the user to choose, in this example, between the providers Superstore and Megashop.

[0067] An additional field 329 is also provided. This field is called Own provision and enables the user to add items that should be included for completeness, but which will not be ordered through the system described herein. Items added in this manner may be available to be selected from the web shop through use of the Add item button 326, but with Own provision (or some other designation with a similar effect) selectable as provider. Alternatively, or in addition, some embodiments may enable the addition of new items to the items table 207 by the user, and corresponding entries may then be made in the items in group table 206. Items that are designated for own provision will not be available in the views where orders are placed, but their status may be updated manually by the user in order to show whether they have been ordered, when delivery is expected, or if they have already been delivered.

[0068] If, after adding items to the project, the user clicks on the Delivery tab 307, the user interface changes to the view shown in FIG.3C. Again the elements that have been described with reference to the previous views will not be described again.

[0069] Field 331 is shown in its collapsed state so it does not differ from the corresponding field 321 shown in FIG.3B. The same is the case for field 333. Field 332 is shown in its expanded state and below the cost summary for the phase is a list of the items added to this phase. In this case the items are shown along with delivery options. The list entry 334 for the first item is shown with a delivery date of December 12, 2016 and a selection in drop down menu 337 showing that the item should be delivered at the project site. In the list entry 335 for the second item the delivery date October 10, 2016 has been entered. The drop down menu 338 is shown in its open state and the user can select either delivery at project site or pickup at store. The project site will typically be determined by the project address entered in table 202. However, in some embodiments the user may be able to add additional addresses by selecting the Add address button 336. If several addresses or locations may be associated with a project it may be necessary to enter them in an additional table of addresses not shown in FIG.2.

[0070] In some embodiments it may be possible to select several items at the same time, for example by using check boxes, and change their delivery information simultaneously.

[0071] After entering the appropriate delivery information, the user may click on the order tab 308 and change the view to that shown in FIG.3D.

[0072] FIG.3D is a view where phases and items are shown much as in the previous view, but in this view the information entered cannot be modified. Instead a number of checkboxes are associated with each field in the view as well as with each individual item. These checkboxes make it possible to select one or more items. As such, checkbox 345, which is associated with the All phases field 340, enables simultaneous selection of all items in all phases. Similarly, checkbox 346 which is associated with the first phase field 341, enables simultaneous selection of all items added to the first phase. A checkbox 347 is associated with the field for the second phase 342. Since phase two is shown in its expanded state checkboxes 348, 349 are also associated with each item added to the second phase. In this example two items have been added and both have been selected, which can be seen in that the checkboxes 347, 348, 349 associated with the second phase and the respective items are shown as selected. A final checkbox 350 which is associated with the field for the third phase 343 is shown as unselected.

[0073] When a user has checked one or more items, either directly or by selecting one or more phases or all phases, clicking on the Add to shopping cart button 344 will move the selected items to a shopping cart. This can be implemented by updating the value in the Order status field of each selected item in their corresponding entries in the Items in group table 206 to a value that reflects their status as currently in shopping cart.

[0074] After items have been placed in the shopping cart the user may click on the shopping cart tab 309 and thereby change the view to that shown in FIG.3E.

[0075] FIG.3E is a view of a screen that allows a user to place orders. The view is similar to that shown in FIG.3D, but now the items are no longer shown sorted under their respective phases, but under their respective providers. At the top there is a field 351 representing all items in all phases. Immediately below is a field 352 representing a first provider, exemplified here as Superstore. This field 352 is collapsible as indicated by the chevrons pointing to the left, but is shown here in its expanded state, displaying a list of items in the shopping cart that is chosen to be ordered from this provider. The list also identifies delivery method and delivery date. A similar field 353 represents another provider, Megashop, with a corresponding list of items.

[0076] Along the right side, in a manner similar to that shown in FIG.3D, are checkboxes associated with the respective fields. A first checkbox 355 is associated with the All items field 351, and selecting this checkbox results in the simultaneous selection of all items in the shopping cart. A next checkbox 356 is associated with the first provider field 352, and selecting this checkbox selects all items that shall be delivered from the first provider. A similar checkbox 358 is associated with the second provider. Individual checkboxes are also associated with each item in the shopping cart, in the example in the drawing that means checkbox 357 and checkbox 359, which both are shown as selected.

[0077] A Place order button 354 is shown below the list of providers/items. When the user clicks on the place order button 354, one order is sent to each of the providers for which selected items are present in the shopping cart. Unselected items will remain in the shopping chart, but will not be included in any order. The items that are ordered in this manner will have their order status updated in table 206 and will no longer be shown in the shopping cart.

[0078] The examples shown in FIG.3A – FIG.3E do not show items sorted by group as defined in the groups table 204 and the groups in phase table 205, simply in order to reduce the amount of detail included in each drawing. Embodiments including groups can utilize the group classification when showing selectable items after the user clicks on the add item button 326, and may also group item fields by group under each individual phase and/or store.

[0079] FIG.4 is a flow chart which illustrates a method of managing structured information in accordance with the principles of the invention. Before commencing, a user should be logged in to the system with a user account associated with a customer in the customer list 201. In embodiments of the invention where a user may represent several customers, the user may have to select which customer to represent.

[0080] In a first step 401 of the method a project is selected to be the active, or selected, project, for example by clicking on user interface control element 304 and selecting from a list of available projects stored in table 202. The projects shown as available for selection will be the projects that are associated with the customer the user represents. In other embodiments, the user may be shown all projects they have access to and customer is selected implicitly through the selection of a project. If the desired project does not yet exist, functionality to create a new project may be available through a window or dialog box opened when invoking button 304.

[0081] In a next step 402 project phases are generated. This step is does not have to be repeated when the user returns to the system to make changes. The step may be performed automatically when the project is created, for example based on a template of project phases, in which case it may be performed prior to the user’s selection of a project in step 401.

[0082] The process then moves on to step 403 where the user is presented with a listing of selectable items from table 207. The listing may be generated based on additional optional steps performed by the user and/or the system, for example a search or filtering based on type of project, selected phase, selected group, etc.

[0083] In step 404 the user has made a selection of one or more items, and possibly entered or selected additional information such as quantity, size, color, quality, and any other selectable feature associated with the product, and possibly also desired delivery date, delivery address etc. If the item is available from several providers, the user may also have made a selection of a desired provider. Exactly which features the user may select and whether the selection can be made from one or several different views and with or without additional exchange of information with the server system 101 and the database 102, may depend on the features of a specific implementation of the invention, as well as the nature of the type of projects and items included in the implemented system.

[0084] When the server computer 101 has received the identification of the selected item, along with additional information, this information is entered by the server computer 101 in table 206 in the database 102. The information includes an association with a phase in table 203, possibly indirectly through an association with a group in table 205 if group table 205 is implemented in the specific embodiment of the invention.

[0085] In a next step 406, the user is presented with a listing of selected items entered in table 206. The way of structuring data provided by the invention allows this listing to be sorted and filtered by phase (and group, if groups are implemented), by order status, etc. such that the user can focus on items that are relevant to a current situation in the execution of the project while all other information relating to the project is still retained by the system.

[0086] The user may now select items from this listing and designate them as items that should be included in an order. This designation may metaphorically be thought of as a transfer of designated items to a shopping cart. This designation, and the associated receipt of this designation by the server computer 101 in step 407, may of course include several transmissions of information back and forth between a user’s client device 108 and the server computer 101. As such, steps 406 and 407 may be initiated an arbitrary time interval after step 405 has been completed, and all the steps 402 through 407 may be performed repeatedly prior to the finalization of a current order as the conclusion of step 407.

[0087] Step 408 may be performed in embodiments of the invention where items may be provided by more than one provider. In this step designated items (i.e. items in the “shopping cart”) are filtered such that only items available from the same provider are included in the order. In step 409 the order is transmitted over a computer network to an order management system associated with that provider. If the selected provider is the operator of the computer system 101 and/or database 102, the order may be stored in an order management system implemented on the same hardware, maybe even in the same database 102.

[0088] Upon receipt of an order confirmation from a remote order management system over a computer network, or from a local order management system, in step 410, the order status for the items included in the order may be updated in table 206.

[0089] A determination may now be made in step 411 regarding whether items associated with other providers were included among the designated items in the “shopping cart.” If this is the case, the process returns to step 408 and items associated with another provider is included in a new order. The steps 408 through 411 are repeated until all designated items have been ordered.

[0090] In step 412, when items are eventually delivered – something that in itself most likely will happen outside the system itself, unless the items are purely digital and the system is configured to handle such delivery – the system may receive a delivery confirmation and perform a status update in table 206. The delivery confirmation may, for example, be received from the order management system of the respective providers, or it may be entered manually by users.

[0091] All the steps described above may be performed repeatedly during the life of a project. Thus, a user may log into the system, select a project, add or remove items to respective phases, finalize orders, review order status, and keep track of items that have been or must be ordered. The implementation of phases allows the user to keep track of items separately even when the same type of item is associated with different phases of a project. This unique structuring of data and flow of information removes a significant burden from a user who otherwise would have to rely of separate systems for related tasks, where information relating to orders would only be available from one system, while information relating to project phases would only be available from another system. The processing of data that becomes possible as a result of the invention enables generation of several views of interrelated information in a highly efficient manner, reducing both manual and computerized processing time and providing an efficient tool for users.

[0092] It will be understood that the various aspects of the present invention provide a number of possibilities that have been unavailable in traditional web shops and online ordering systems. A system according to the invention will enable the user to select items as part of a project planning phase and also to add items at any later point in time. Items can be selected to be ordered from more than one provider (or more than one location operated by the same provider, or any combination thereof) without entering several separate web shops and tracking several separate orders. All items can be associated with phases of the project, or even with a hierarchical structure of phases, something that will facilitate tracking of orders relative to when the ordered items will be used, what they will be used for, and how they relate to each other (e.g. materials for constructing a wall will be needed at a certain time prior to paint for painting the same wall after it has been constructed). Furthermore, delivery date can be specified as well as delivery method.

[0093] A number of these possibilities may have been present in part in earlier systems, but the present invention provides a structure which allows an integration of processes relating to planning, to ordering, to tracking and to status updates and changes.

Claims

1. A system for structuring information relating to the ordering of items associated with a project, comprising:

a computerized database (102) with

a representation of one or more projects (202);

a representation of a plurality of phases (203) each being associated with one of said one or more projects (202);

a representation of a plurality of selectable items (207) that can be ordered through the system; and

a list of selected items (206), each entry in said list including an identification of one of said plurality of selectable items and an association with one of said plurality of phases (203); and

a server computer (101) in communication with said computerized database (102) and configured to generate a user interface with a plurality of views, said plurality of views including user interface control elements capable of receiving user input that identifies

a selection of one of said one or more projects (202) as a selected project;

a selection of an item from said representation of selectable items (207) to be entered in said list of selected items (206);

an association of an entry in said list of selected items (206) with a phase from said plurality of phases (203), wherein said phase from said plurality of phases (203) is associated with said selected project;

a designation of a subset of entries from said list of selected items (206) to be included in a current order, wherein all items in said subset are associated with phases that are associated with the selected project; and

an instruction to transmit said current order to an order management system (103), said current order including at least an identification of said selected project and a list of said subset of entries from said list of selected items (206); wherein

said server computer (101) is configured to, upon receiving the appropriate user input resulting from interaction with said interface control elements,

update said list of selected items (206) with an entry identifying at least a selected item from said representation of selectable items (207) and identification of an associated phase from said plurality of phases (203), wherein said identified phase is associated with a selected project, designate a subset of entries from said list of selected items (206) to be included in a current order, and transmit said current order to an order management system (103).

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said server computer (101) is further configured to, upon receiving a confirmation from said order management system (103) that said current order is accepted, entering information in said list of selected items (206) indicating that the designated subset of entries has been ordered.

3. A system according to one of the claims 1 and 2, wherein said server computer (101) is further configured to, upon receiving information indicative of a fulfilled delivery of a selected item included in said current order, entering information in said list of selected items (206) indicating that the selected item has been delivered.

4. A system according to one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein said computerized database (102) further comprises a representation of a plurality of providers (208); and

said plurality of views generated by said server computer (101) further includes a user interface control element capable of receiving user input that identifies an association of an entry in said list of selected items (206) with one of said plurality of providers (208); wherein

said server computer (101) is further configured to designate items to be included in a current order only if they are associated with a common provider from said representation of a plurality of providers (208), and to transmit said current order to an order management system associated with said common provider.

5. A system according to one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein said plurality of views generated by said server computer (101) further includes a user interface control element capable of receiving user input that identifies an association of an entry in said list of selected items (206) with a requested delivery date, and said server computer (101) is further configured to upon receiving said identification of a desired delivery date, enter information in said list of selected items (206) associating said entry in said list of selected items (206) with said requested delivery date in said list of selected items (206).

6. A system according to one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein said computerized database (102) is a relational database, and said representations and lists are tables.

7. A system according to one of the claims 1 to 6, wherein said plurality of views include

a listing of projects from said representation of one or more projects (202);

a listing of phases (311, 312, 313) from said representation of a plurality of phases (203) each being associated with a common selected project from said representation of one or more projects (202);

a listing of selectable items from said representation of a plurality of selectable items a listing of a subset of selected items from said list of selected items (206), each selected item in said subset of selected items being associated with a common selected project from said representation of one or more projects (292) through their respective association with one of said plurality of phases (203); and

a listing of said designated subset of entries from said list of selected items (206) to be included in a current order.

8. A data structure embedded on a computer readable storage medium and configured for holding information relating to the ordering of items associated with a project, comprising:

a representation of one or more projects (202);

a list of selected items (206), each entry in said list including an identification of one of said plurality of selectable items and an association with one of said plurality of phases (203).

9. A data structure according to claim 8, further comprising a representation of a plurality of providers (208), and a representation of an association between each of said plurality of selectable items (207) and at least one of said plurality of providers (208).

10. A data structure according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising a representation of a plurality of entities (201), and an association between each of said one or more projects (202) with exactly one of said entities.

11. A data structure according to claim 10, wherein said entities are chosen from the group consisting of: a customer, a project owner, a project manager, a person, a company, and a role.

12. A data structure according to one of the claims 8 to 11, wherein said representations and lists are tables in a relational database.

13. A data structure according to one of the claims 8 to 11, wherein said representations and lists are objects in an object oriented data infrastructure.

14. A data structure according to one of the claims 8 to 11, wherein said representations and lists are one or more tables in respective flat databases.

15. A method of managing structured information relating to the ordering of items associated with a project, said information being stored in a database at least comprising: a representation of one or more projects (202);

a list of selected items (206), each entry in said list including an identification of one of said plurality of selectable items and an association with one of said plurality of phases (203);

the method comprising:

receiving information constituting an instruction to select one of said one or more projects (202) as a selected project;

generating a user interface including a listing of selectable items from said representation of a plurality of selectable items (207);

receiving information identifying an item from said listing of selectable items as a selected item and an association with one of said plurality of phases associated with said selected project;

creating an entry in said list of selected items (206) and including in said entry an identification of said selected item and said association with one of said plurality of phases associated with said selected project;

generating a user interface including a listing of items from said list of selected items (206), each selected item in said subset of selected items being associated with said selected project through their respective association with one of said plurality of phases (203);

receiving information designating a subset of items included in said listing of items;

generating a current order including said designated subset of items; and

transmitting said current order to an order management system.

16. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

upon receiving information from said order management system that said current order is accepted, entering information in the corresponding entry in said list of selected items (206) indicating that the designated subset of entries has been ordered.

17. A method according to one of the claims 15 and 16, further comprising:

upon receiving information indicative of a fulfilled delivery of a selected item included in said current order, entering information in the corresponding entry in said list of selected items (206) indicating that the selected item has been delivered.

18. A method according to one of the claims 15 to 17, wherein said database further comprises a representation of a plurality of providers (208), the method further comprising:

receiving user input that identifies an association of an entry in said list of selected items (206) with one of said plurality of providers (208); and

said step of generating a current order only includes items that are associated with a common provider from said representation of a plurality of providers (208), and said step of transmitting said current order transmits the current order to an order management system associated with said common provider.

19. A method according to one of the claims 15 to 18, wherein said step of receiving information identifying an item from said listing of selectable items as a selected item also includes information constituting a requested delivery date, the method further comprising:

entering information in said list of selected items (206) associating said entry in said list of selected items (206) with said requested delivery date in said list of selected items (206).

20. A method according to one of the claims 15 to 19, further comprising:

receiving information constituting an instruction to generate a phase to be included in said representation of a plurality of phases (203) and associated with said selected project.