WO2004109563A1

WO2004109563A1 - A task management system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2004109563A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/000733
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Simon Coulter
Original assignee: Task Logistics Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-06-04
Filing date: 2004-06-03
Publication date: 2004-12-16
Also published as: AU2003902798A0

Abstract

A task management system comprises a means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers (208), data storage for storing said gathered service providing capabilities of the service providers, and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task (210). The system is arranged to select at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task by comparing the gathered service provider capabilities information with the gathered task information (212).The system then communicates the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor (214).

Description

A TASK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a task management system for use in managing tasks requested by service requestors and carried out by service providers and to a corresponding task management method.

Background of the Invention

It is known for service requestors such as shippers or construction companies to engage service providers such as carriers or trade contractors to cany out a task by placing advertisements and/or invitations to tender in newspapers, trade publications and so on, or to negotiate directly with selected service providers in order to identify a preferred service provider to carry out the task.

However, such methods of engaging service providers are time consuming and costly to service requestors. Also, with such methods it is difficult for relatively small service providers to compete with relatively large service providers.

In this specification, it will be understood that the term "contract" means at least one task which is desired to be carried out more than once by one or more service providers.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a task management system comprising: means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; data storage means for storing said gathered service provider capabilities information: and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; the system being arranged to select at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task by comparing said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information, and to communicate the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

Preferably, the system is arranged to gather at least one performance indicator for each of the service providers, the or each performance indicator being indicative of previous performance of a service provider in carrying out at least one task. The system may be arranged so as to use the or each performance indicator to select at least one service provider. The or each performance indicator may be indicative of price, level of service provided, safety and/or punctuality. The or each performance indicator may be updatable so as to include current performances of a service provider in carrying out tasks.

In one arrangement, each performance indicator has an associated weighting, each weighting being indicative of the importance of the relevant performance indicator. The weightings may be received from a service requestor.

In one arrangement, the performance indicators are used to calculate a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of the service provider in accordance with the following formula:

(performance indicator) !

(weighting) i (max value for each performance indicator)!

In one alternative arrangement, the performance indicators are added together to provide a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of a service provider. The data storage means may be arranged to store rate information indicative of the charge rates for a plurality of service providers, and the system is arranged to select at least one service provider based on the charge rates.

In a preferred embodiment, the system is arranged to select a plurality of service providers with the capability to carry out the task, and to communicate a bid request to each of the selected service providers, each bid request serving to invite a selected service provider to bid on the desired task. Preferably, three service providers are selected.

The system is also preferably arranged so as to facilitate creation of bids by the selected service providers, each bid including information indicative of a price quoted by the service providers to carry out the task, and to select at least one preferred bid from the bids created by the selected service providers using the at least one performance indicator and the quoted price, the selected preferred bid being communicated to the service requestor.

Preferably, the system is arranged so as to facilitate approval or rejection of the selected preferred bid by the service requestor.

The system may also be arranged to facilitate receipt and storage in the data storage means of information indicative of completion of the task by the relevant service provider.

In one arrangement, the service requestors are shippers and the service providers are carriers. With this arrangement, the information indicative of service providing capabilities for each carrier includes information indicative of the locations serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the industry types serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the cargo transported by the carrier and/or information indicative of the vehicle types available to the carrier. In one arrangement, the information indicative of a desired task includes information indicative of pick-up and delivery details, and/or information indicative of cargo type and amount.

The system may be arranged so as to facilitate selection by service providers of locations serviced by facilitating access by the service providers to an interactive map, the map having a plurality of selectable map portions, the arrangement being such that when a map portion is selected by a service provider, the locations corresponding to the selected map portion are associated with the service provider and stored in the data storage means.

In an alternative embodiment, the service requestors are construction companies or individuals and the service providers are trade contractors such as building contractors.

The system may be arranged so as to facilitate creation of contract tasks, each contract task including at least one task which is desired to be carried out more than once.

The system may be arranged to communicate with service providers and service requesters through the Internet.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing tasks, said method comprising the steps of: gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; selecting at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task using said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information; and communicating the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor. Preferably, the method further comprises the step of gathering at least one performance indicator for each of the service providers, the or each performance indicator being indicative of previous performance of a service provider in carrying out at least one task. The method may further comprise the step of using the or each performance indicator to select the at least one service provider. The or each performance indicator may be indicative of price, level of service provided, safety and/or punctuality. The or each performance indicator may be updatable so as to include current performances of a service provider in carrying out tasks.

The method may further comprise the step of associating each performance indicator with a weighting, each weighting being indicative of the importance of the relevant performance indicator. The weightings may be received from a service requestor.

In one arrangement, the method further comprises the step of using the performance indicators to calculate a perfomiance rating indicative of the overall performance of the service provider in accordance with the following formula:

n (performance indicator)_!

X (weighting) i • _i (max value for each performance indicator)_!

In an alternative arrangement, the method further comprises the step of adding the performance indicators together to provide a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of a service provider.

The method may further comprise the step of arranging the data storage means to store rate information indicative of the charge rates for a plurality of service providers, and selecting at least one service provider based on the charge rates.

In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises the step of selecting a plurality of service providers with the capability to carry out the task, and communicating a bid request to each of the selected service providers, each bid request serving to invite a selected service provider to bid on the desired task. Preferably, three service providers are selected.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of facilitating creation of bids by the selected service providers, each bid including information indicative of a price quoted by the service providers to carry out the task, selecting at least one preferred bid from the bids created by the selected service providers using the at least one performance indicator and the quoted price, and communicating the selected preferred bid to the service requestor.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of facilitating approval or rejection of the selected preferred bid by the service requestor.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of facilitating receipt and storage in the data storage means of information indicative of completion of the task by the relevant service provider.

In one arrangement, the service requestors are shippers and the service providers are carriers. With this arrangement, the information indicative of service providing capabilities for each carrier includes information indicative of the locations serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the industry types serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the cargo transported by the carrier and/or information indicative of the vehicle types available to the carrier.

In one arrangement, the information indicative of a desired task includes information indicative of pick-up and delivery details, and/or information indicative of cargo type and amount.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of facilitating selection by service providers of locations serviced by facilitating access by the service providers to an interactive map, the map having a plurality of selectable map portions, the arrangement being such that when a map portion is selected by a service provider, the locations corresponding to the selected map portion are associated with the service provider and stored in the data storage means.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of facilitating creation of contract tasks, each contract task including at least one task which is desired to be carried out more than once.

The method may further comprise the step of facilitating communication with service providers and service requestors through the Internet.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program arranged, when loaded into a computer, to instruct the computer to operate in accordance with a task management system, said system comprising: means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; data storage means for storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; the system being arranged to select at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task by comparing said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information, and to communicate the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer useable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer to operate in accordance with a task management system, said system comprising: means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; data storage means for storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; the system being arranged to select at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task by comparing said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information, and to communicate the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a task management system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the system being shown in use in communication with a service requestor and a service provider;

Figures 2 to 23 show screens of the system shown in Figure 1 when the system is implemented using a computer program; and

Figure 24 is a flow diagram showing steps of operation of the system shown in Figure 1, the steps being part of a method of managing tasks in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of an Embodiment of the Present Invention

In the following description of an embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be implemented as hardware and/or software using an appropriate platform such as a computing system.

The present invention broadly relates to a system which enables service providers to input information indicative of their capabilities, which enables service requestors to input information indicative of desired tasks, and which uses the capabilities information and the desired task information to match the service requestors with the most appropriate service providers. The service requestors may be shippers, construction companies, or any person or organisation requiring a task to be carried out. The service providers may be carriers, building contractors, or any person or organisation able to carry out a desired service task.

The present embodiment is described in relation to a service requestor in the form of a shipper and a service provider in the form of a carrier.

During use, the system 10 in accordance with the present embodiment facilitates receipt of task requests from shippers associated with the system 10, selects the most appropriate carriers to cany out the tasks associated with the task requests using the stored capabilities information, facilitates reception of bids on the tasks from the selected carriers, selects the most appropriate bid from the received bids for each task and makes the selected bid available for consideration by the appropriate shipper, and facilitates receipt of bid approvals from the shippers. In this way, the carriers which are most appropriate to cany out the desired tasks are selected and engaged by shippers in an efficient and cost effective way.

It will be understood that the present system is also appropriate for contract tasks, that is, tasks which are required to be repeatedly carried out, or relatively complex tasks which require several separate jobs to be carried out in order to complete the task. For example, a shipper may require items to be transported from a first location to a second location every week, and the contract task may require such a repeated delivery to be carried out for a predetermined contract period.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a task management system 10 which is accessible from a remote location by a service requestor computing device, in this example a shipper computing device 12, and by a service provider computing device, in this example a carrier computing device 14. However, it will be understood that the service requestor computing device may be associated with any service requestor and the service provider computing device may be associated with any service provider.

In this example, communications between the supplier and carrier computing devices 12, 14 and the system 10 are facilitated using the Internet 16, although it will be understood that any other communications mechanism is envisaged.

The system 10 includes a control unit 18 for controlling and coordinating operations in the system 10, a data storage device, in this example in the form of a database 20, for storing task requests created by service requestors and service provider capabilities defined by service providers, a server 22 for facilitating web based communication with the shipper and carrier terminals 12, 14, and an administrative terminal 24 for enabling an administrator of the system 10 to control and monitor operations in the system 10.

It is envisaged that during use a plurality of shipper terminals 12 would be present, each shipper terminal 12 being associated with a respective shipper and being located on site at premises of the shipper. Similarly, during use a plurality of canier terminals 14 would be present, each canier terminal 14 being associated with a respective canier and being located on site at premises of the carrier.

The shipper computing device 12 is arranged to facilitate reception of shipper information indicative of characteristics of the shipper such as the name, address and contact details of the shipper, to facilitate creation of a task request indicative of a task which the shipper desires to be ca ied out, and to forward the task request to the control unit 18 using the Internet 16 for storage in the database 20. The shipper computing device 12 also enables a shipper administrator to interact with the system 10, for example so as to view the status of submitted task requests, to approve task bids received from the system 10, to create a contract task, and so on.

The carrier computing device 14 is arranged to facilitate reception of carrier information indicative of characteristics of the carrier such as the name, address and contact details of the carrier, and to facilitate reception of carrier information indicative of the capabilities of the canier such as the locations serviced by the canier, the industiy types serviced by the carrier, the cargo types transported by the carrier, the vehicle types available to the carrier, and so on.

The control unit 18 is arranged to coordinate storage of shipper infonnation, carrier information, task requests, task bids and bid approvals in the database 20, to carry out automatic selection or facilitate selection by a system administrator of the most appropriate carriers to cany out a task request using the stored capabilities information, to carry out automatic selection or facilitate selection by a system administrator of the most appropriate bid from the received bids for each task, and to make the selected bid available for consideration and approval by the appropriate shipper.

The server 22 is arranged to provide the shipper terminals 12 and the carrier terminals 14 with a user friendly interface to the system 10, in this example by serving to the shipper and canier terminals 12, 14 screens designed to facilitate reception of information from respective shipper and carrier administrators and to facilitate distribution of information to the respective shipper and carrier administrators in an intuitive user friendly way.

The administrator terminal 24 is ananged to facilitate reception from a system administrator of performance indicators indicative of past performance of a carrier in carrying out tasks. Such performance indicators may include a price indicator, a level of service indicator, a safety indicator, a punctuality indicator, and may be used by the system to distinguish between carriers having the required capabilities to cany out a task. For example, if two carriers are recorded in the database as being able to service the industry, cargo and region required by a task request, and both carriers have the required vehicles to carry out a task, the two carriers may be compared using the performance indicators in order to select the most appropriate carrier(s) for the task.

In Figure 2 there is shown a log in screen 26 which is served to a shipper, canier or administrator terminal 12, 14, 24 when the appropriate website address of the system 10 is input into an Internet browsing program. The log in screen 26 enables a registered shipper, a registered carrier or a system administrator to access the system 10 by entering username and password details into log in boxes 28.

In order to register with the system 10 and thereby gain the ability to generate task requests and bid on tasks, each shipper and carrier must provide the system with basic information representative of the shipper or carrier using a company details screen 30 as shown in Figure 3. At the company details screen 30, company name, address, contact, and system access information is input by the appropriate shipper or carrier using company details boxes 32 and administrator boxes 34.

In order for a carrier to complete the registration process, the carrier administrator must complete a carrier capabilities screen 36, as shown in Figure 4. Using this screen, the carrier administrator defines the capabilities of the carrier by specifying industry types serviced by the canier, cargo types transported by the carrier, unit types, and vehicle types available to the canier. This information is provided using industry type boxes 38, cargo type boxes 42, regions serviced boxes 44, unit type boxes 46 and vehicle type boxes 48. It will be understood that for ease of entry of the capabilities information, drop down boxes may be provided to facilitate appropriate selection from a list of predefined types.

When the carrier capabilities screen 36 is viewed by a system administrator, a performance indicator box 40 is also displayed, the performance indicator box 40 including information indicative of performance categories and associated performance indicators usable to rate the performance of the canier at carrying out previous tasks. In this example, the performance categories are price, level of service provided, safety, and punctuality, the maximum value for each indicator being 50. For a newly registered canier, the performance indicators are set at a default level, in this example 100, by the system administrator.

As part of the shipper registration process, each shipper is required to enter a weighting indicator for each performance indicator, each weighting indicator being indicative of the importance of a respective performance category to the shipper. In a preferred anangement, the maximum value for each weighting is 100 and the sum of all weightings for a carrier is 100.

The performance indicators are used to generate a performance rating indicative of the overall performance level of the carrier. The performance rating may be calculated by adding all performance indicators for a carrier. Alternatively, the performance rating may be calculated using the following fonnula:

(performance indicator)_!

(weighting) i

• -t (max value for each performance indicator)_!

where n is the number of perfomiance indicators.

Assuming that the sum of all weightings is 100, the formula provides a weighted performance rating expressed as a percentage.

The performance indicators are regularly updated by the system administrator in response to feedback from the shippers as to price, level of service provided, safety, and punctuality so that the performance rating for each canier is relatively up to date at any given time.

In order to facilitate ease of entry of the regions serviced by the carrier, a region selection screen 50 as shown in Figure 5 is provided. The region selection screen 50 includes a country representation 52, in this example a representation of Australia, which includes a plurality of selectable area identifiers 54 in the form of descriptive area terms, and a plurality of selectable region identifiers 56 in the form of graphical representations of regions within the country or greater area. Each area identifier 54 represents all regions, localities, cities, towns, and so on, which are appropriate to the area designated by the area identifier. Similarly, each region identifier 56 represents all localities, cities, towns, and so on, which are appropriate to the region designated by the region identifier 56. The selected regions are shown in a regions box 58, each region shown in the regions box 58 being modifiable so as to include or exclude specific regions by selecting a modify regions link 59. During implementation of the system 10, it is necessary that all available areas, regions, localities, cities, towns and so on must be input into the system 10 and stored in the database 20 by operators of the system 10 and, in this example, this is achieved by entering postcodes for all relevant postcode localities and by associating the postcodes with the appropriate area, region, locality, city, town and so on.

When the carrier capabilities screen 36 has been completed, carrier registration with the system 10 is complete and the canier is then able to bid on tasks requested by shippers registered with the system 10.

Operation of the system 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention will now be described in relation to Figures 6 to 23 of the drawings which show representations of screens of the system 10 during use, and in relation to Figure 24 which shows steps of a method of managing tasks.

In order to create a task request, a shipper registered with the system 10 uses a job creation screen 60 as shown in Figure 6. Using the job creation screen 60, a shipper is able to define a task by specifying basic job details, pick up details, delivery details and cargo details.

The basic job details are entered in a basic job details box 62 and include a job reference 64 particular to the shipper, cargo type 66, and any special conditions 68. The pick up details are entered in a pick up details box 70 and include a pick up address 72 with postcode, pick up contact 73, pick up date and time 74, and any pick up instructions 76. The basic job details box 62 also includes a pick up address drop down box 78 which may be used to select a pick up address from a list of previously used pick up addresses.

The delivery details are entered in a delivery details box 80 and include a delivery address 82 with postcode, delivery contact 83, delivery date and time 84, and any delivery instructions 86. The delivery details box 80 also includes a delivery address drop down box 88 which may be used to select a delivery address from a list of previously used delivery addresses.

The cargo details are entered using a cargo details box 90 and include item boxes 92 usable to enter details of the type of item to be transported such as the quantity, type of packaging or container used, any item references, a description of the item, and the weight and dimensions of the item. Previously entered items which are to form part of the cargo to be transported are displayed in a previous items box 94.

The cargo details box 90 may also include a standard unit of measure drop down box (not shown) which enables a shipper to select a standard cargo type with predefined weight and size characteristics. In this way, the job creation process is simplified since a shipper need only select from a list of predefined cargo types without having to enter specific weight and size details for each cargo item.

When the job creation screen 60 has been completed, the control unit 18 identifies the carriers registered with the system that are able to carry out the requested task using the information entered by the shipper at the job creation screen 60 and the information entered by the caniers at the canier capabilities screen 36. In particular, the control unit 18 identifies the caniers with specified regions serviced which conespond with the postcodes entered in the pick up details box 70 and the delivery details box 80, with specified cargo types which conespond with the cargo type entered in the cargo type box 66, and with specified vehicle types which are appropriate for transporting the cargo quantity, weight and dimensions entered in the item boxes 92. From the identified caniers, the control unit 18 then selects three caniers having the highest performance ratings and the selected caniers are invited to make bids on the task by making a bid request available on-line for consideration by the respective three carriers. However, it will be understood that any number of carriers may be selected.

Using a carrier jobs screen 96 as shown in Figure 1, a canier is able to view in a prospective jobs box 98 all bid requests made available for consideration by the carrier, and to monitor the progress of bids placed in response to bid requests by the carrier by selecting a task 100 from the prospective jobs box 98. The tasks 100 are searchable using a search box 102 and the tasks 100 are colour coded so as to indicate the urgency of the bid request associated with the task 100.

In order to bid on a task, a canier administrator activates the appropriate task 100 on the prospective jobs box 98, for example using a mouse, and is presented with a bid screen 104 as shown in Figure 8. The bid screen 104 includes job details 106 derived from information entered using the job creation screen 60 such as the pick up address, pick up date and time details, delivery address, delivery date and time details, and cargo details. Using a bid entry box 108, a carrier administrator is able to enter details of the proposed transport method 110 and a proposed price 112. To forward the bid to the system 10, the carrier administrator activates a submit bid button 114.

When all bids on a task have been received from the selected carriers, the control unit 18 selects the best of the received bids and the best bid is made available for viewing and approving by the relevant shipper. The best bid may be selected using the prices 112 entered by the selected carriers and the performance ratings of the selected carriers. For example, the best bid may be selected by selecting the lowest bid price of all bids having associated performance ratings above a predetermined value. Alternatively, the best bid may be selected only on the basis of the prices 112 entered, or in any other suitable way.

Details of the selected best bids and associated carriers may be stored in a best carrier record in the database 20. The best carrier record may be used by the system 10 to select a carrier to carry out a task without using the bidding process. In this way, a shipper is able to quickly engage a carrier recognised by the system as providing satisfactory performance. In the event that bids have not been received for a predetermined period of time from a canier listed in the best carriers record, a warning may be added to the best carrier record to the effect that the price charged by the canier may have changed. Using a shipper bids screen 116 as shown in Figure 9, a shipper is able to view in an outstanding bids box 118 all tasks 120 in relation to which outstanding best bids have been received. The tasks 120 are searchable using a search box 122 and are colour coded so as to indicate the urgency of the outstanding bids 120.

In order to approve a best bid, a shipper administrator selects a best bid from the outstanding bids box 118, for example using a mouse, and is presented with an approve bid screen 124 as shown in Figure 10. The approve bid screen 124 includes job details 106 indicative of the selected task, and bid details 128 indicative of the appropriate outstanding best bid. The selected best bid may then be rejected or approved using selection approve/reject buttons 130.

When a best bid has been approved by a shipper using the approve bid screen 124, an active task appears in a current jobs box 132 on a carrier jobs screen 134.

As an alternative to the bidding process, the system may be arranged so as to store in the database charge rates for one or more of the carriers and to select a carrier to be communicated to the shipper for approval on the basis of the charge rates, for example on the basis of the lowest charge rate.

The carrier then canies out the requested task and, when the task has been completed, uses a confirm delivery details screen 136 as shown in Figure 12 to enter actual delivery details 138 including the actual delivery date, the actual delivery time and any comments in relation to the delivery.

Subsequent to completion of the task, the canier may be required to forward a hard copy of a proof of delivery form to the operators of the system 10 so that an electronic copy of the form may be generated and stored in the database 20.

It will be understood that the above described embodiment operates automatically in that, for each created task, the carriers to be invited to submit a bid are automatically selected by the control unit 18, and the best bid of the received bids is automatically selected by the control unit 18 and made available for consideration by a shipper without the need for input from a system administrator. However, it will be understood that other arrangements are envisaged.

Figures 13 to 19 show representations of screens which are used by a system administrator when the system is arranged to operate with system administrator input.

In Figure 13 there is shown a processing type selection screen 140 which facilitates modification of operation of the system 10 so as to provide a system administrator with a degree of control over the carrier selection process. Using this screen, a system administrator is able to modify the system by activating check boxes 142 so that administrator approval is sought prior to finalising selection of the caniers which are to be invited to make bids, and prior to finalising selection of a best bid which is to be made available to a shipper for consideration and approval.

Using an administrator jobs screen 144 shown in Figure 14, the administrator is able to view in an approve bidders box 146 outstanding tasks 148 in relation to which bid requests have not yet been made available to selected carriers. By activating an outstanding task 148, for example using a mouse, the administrator is presented with a selected caniers screen 150 as shown in Figure 15. The selected caniers screen 150 shows a selected earners box 152 in which is displayed the carriers which have been identified by the system 10 as being able to carry out the requested task and which the system proposes to invite to make bids on the requested task. Any carriers which are not proposed to be invited to make bids are displayed in a discarded carriers box 154. If the administrator accepts the carriers selected by the system 10, the selected carriers are invited to make bids on the task by making a bid request available for on-line consideration by the selected three caniers listed in the selected carriers box 152.

The bidding process may be monitored by the system administrator using a monitor bidding progress screen 156 as shown in Figure 16. At this screen, an administrator is able to review task details 158 and to monitor the bidding progress of each selected carrier in a bid status box 160. Once all bids have been received from the selected carriers, the administrator is able to view the received bids for each task request by selecting the task request on an approve bids box 162 shown in the administrator jobs screen 144 in Figure 17. Selection of a task on the approve bids box 162, for example using a mouse, causes a select best bid screen 164 to be displayed, as shown in Figure 18. At this screen, a received bids box 166 which lists all received bids for the selected task request is displayed. By selecting a bid displayed in the received bids box 166, for example using a mouse, the administrator is presented with an approve bids box 168 as shown in Figure 19 which displays bid details 170 associated with the selected bid and which allows the administrator to confirm that the selected bid is the best bid and should be made available for on-line consideration by the relevant shipper. The shipper is then able to approve or reject the bid as discussed above in relation to automatic system operation.

Figures 20 to 22 show representations of screens of the system which are used to generate a contract task.

In order to initiate creation of a contract request, a shipper registered with the system 10 uses a contract creation screen 172 as shown in Figure 20. Using the contract creation screen 172, a shipper is able to define a contract task by specifying general contract details in a general contract details box 174 including shipper contact details and shipper reference, contract start and finish dates 176 and a short description of the contract. The administrator is then presented with a contract particulars screen which includes general contract details 182 entered using the contract creation screen 172 and which facilitates entry of more specific particulars of the contract in a contract delivery box 184, a comments box 186 and a contract documents box 188. By activating an add contract delivery link 189 in the contract delivery box 184, the shipper administrator is presented with a delivery creation screen 190 as shown in Figure 22 which is usable to enter particulars of one or more deliveries which are to form part of the contract task, such as cargo type, pick up details, delivery details, delivery frequency and cargo details. Basic delivery details such as cargo type are entered in a contract details box 192 and include a delivery reference particular to the shipper, cargo type and any special conditions. The pick up details are entered in a pick up details box 194 and include a pick up region and any pick up instructions. The delivery details are entered in a delivery details box 196 and include a delivery region and any delivery instructions. The delivery frequency details are entered using a delivery frequency box 198 and include information indicative of the number of deliveries per day, per week or per month as appropriate.

It will be understood that any number of deliveries may be created as part of the contract task.

Following creation of a contract, the deliveries forming part of the contract are handled by the system 10 in essentially the same way as with created task requests in that each delivery is treated as a task request and, for each delivery, the system 10 identifies several caniers which are able to carry out the delivery, makes bid requests available to the selected carriers, receives bids from the selected carriers, selects a bid which is considered to be the best, and makes the selected best bid available to the relevant shipper for consideration and approval/rejection.

It will be understood that the system 10 may facilitate entry of further contract details such as specific contract terms and conditions, quality control requirements, and so on.

It will also be understood that the system may facilitate engagement of one canier to cany out all deliveries associated with a contract or engagement of several earners to cany out the deliveries, each carrier carrying out one or more of the deliveries or carrying out one or more parts of one or more of the deliveries.

The system administrator is able to view, modify and delete carriers and shippers associated with the system 10 using a manage clients screen 202 as shown in Figure 23, the manage clients screen 202 including tabs 204 which facilitate selective display of all carriers and shippers, all shippers only, or all carriers only. The system 10 may also be provided with a report generation application arranged to generate user defined reports derived from information stored in the database 20.

The system 10 may also be arranged so as to facilitate on-line tracking of progress of a task so that a user of the system 10 is able to monitor the location of the cargo being transported and/or other characteristics of the task at any time.

It will be appreciated that the screens served to the shipper computing devices 12, the carrier computing devices 14, and the administrator terminal 24 may be tailored to the shippers, carriers and system administrator as appropriate.

It will also be appreciated that the system may be implemented at one location, for example at premises of operators of the system, or the system may be implemented by locating different parts of the system at different locations, with the different parts communicating with each other by any suitable communications network, such as the Internet.

In the claims of this application and in the description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the words "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A task management system comprising: means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; data storage means for storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; the system being ananged to select at least one service provider with the capability to cany out the task by comparing said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information, and to communicate the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is arranged to gather at least one performance indicator for each of the service providers, the or each performance indicator being indicative of previous perfonnance of a service provider in canying out at least one task.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the system is arranged so as to use the or each performance indicator to select the at least one service provider.

4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the or each performance indicator is indicative of price, level of service provided, safety and/or punctuality.

5. A system as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the or each performance indicator is updatable so as to include current perfomiances of a service provider in carrying out tasks.

6. A system as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein each performance indicator has an associated weighting, each weighting being indicative of the importance of the relevant performance indicator.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the system is arranged to receive weightings from a service requestor.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the performance indicators are used to calculate a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of the service provider in accordance with the following formula:

(performance indicator)_!

X (weighting) i (max value for each performance indicator)_!

9. A system as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the performance indicators are added together to provide a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of a service provider.

10. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the data storage means is arranged to store rate information indicative of the charge rates for a plurality of service providers, and the system is ananged to select at least one service provider based on the charge rates.

11. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the system is arranged to select a plurality of service providers with the capability to carry out the task, and to communicate a bid request to each of the selected service providers, each bid request serving to invite a selected service provider to bid on the desired task.

12. A system as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, wherein three service providers are selected.

13. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate creation of bids by the selected service providers, each bid including information indicative of a price quoted by the service providers to cany out the task, and to select at least one preferred bid from the bids created by the selected service providers using the at least one performance indicator and the quoted price, the selected preferred bid being communicated to the service requestor.

14. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the system is ananged so as to facilitate approval or rejection of the selected prefened bid by the service requestor.

15. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate receipt and storage in the data storage means of information indicative of completion of the task by the relevant service provider.

16. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the service requestors are shippers and the service providers are caniers.

17. A system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the information indicative of service providing capabilities for each canier includes information indicative of the locations serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the industry types serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the cargo transported by the canier and/or information indicative of the vehicle types available to the carrier.

18. A system as claimed in claim 16 or claim 17, wherein the information indicative of a desired task includes information indicative of pick-up and delivery details, and/or information indicative of cargo type and amount.

19. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means for gathering information indicative of service provider capabilities includes means for facilitating selection by service providers of locations serviced by facilitating access by the service providers to an interactive map, the map having a plurality of selectable map portions, the arrangement being such that when a map portion is selected by a service provider, the locations conesponding to the selected map portion are associated with the service provider and stored in the data storage means.

20. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the service requestors are construction companies or individuals and the service providers are trade contractors.

21. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged so as to facilitate creation of contract tasks, each contract task including at least one task which is desired to be canied out more than once.

22. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged to communicate with service providers and service requesters through the

Internet.

23. A method of managing tasks, said method comprising the steps of: gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; selecting at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task using said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information; and communicating the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

24. A method as claimed in claim 23, further comprising the step of gathering at least one performance indicator for each of the service providers, the or each performance indicator being indicative of previous performance of a service provider in canying out at least one task.

25. A method as claimed in claim 24, further comprising the step of using the or each performance indicator to select the at least one service provider.

26. A method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 25, wherein the or each performance indicator is indicative of price, level of service provided, safety and/or punctuality.

27. A method as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the or each performance indicator is updatable so as to include current performances of a service provider in canying out tasks.

28. A method as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 27, further comprising the step of associating each performance indicator with a weighting, each weighting being indicative of the importance of the relevant performance indicator.

29. A method as claimed in claim 28, further comprising the step of facilitating reception of weightings from a service requestor.

30. A method as claimed in claim 29, further comprising the step of using the performance indicators to calculate a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of the service provider in accordance with the following formula:

(performance indicator)_!

X (weighting) i

(max value for each performance indicator)!

31. A method as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 29, further comprising the step of adding the performance indicators together to provide a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of a service provider.

32. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 31 , further comprising the steps of arranging the data storage means to store rate information indicative of the charge rates for a plurality of service providers, and selecting at least one service provider based on the charge rates.

33. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 31, wherein the method further includes the steps of selecting a plurality of service providers with the capability to carry out the task, and communicating a bid request to each of the selected service providers, each bid request serving to invite a selected service provider to bid on the desired task.

34. A method as claimed in claim 32 or claim 33, wherein three service providers are selected.

35. A method as claimed in claim 33, further comprising the steps of facilitating creation of bids by the selected service providers, each bid including information indicative of a price quoted by the service providers to cany out the task, selecting at least one prefened bid from the bids created by the selected service providers using the at least one performance indicator and the quoted price, and communicating the selected prefened bid to the service requestor.

36. A method as claimed in claim 35, further comprising the step of facilitating approval or rejection of the selected preferred bid by the service requestor.

37. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 36, further comprising the step of facilitating receipt and storage in the data storage means of information indicative of completion of the task by the relevant service provider.

38. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 37, wherein the service requestors are shippers and the service providers are carriers.

39. A method as claimed in claim 38, wherein the information indicative of service providing capabilities for each carrier includes information indicative of the locations serviced by the carrier, information indicative of the industry types serviced by the canier, information indicative of the cargo transported by the carrier and/or information indicative of the vehicle types available to the carrier.

40. A method as claimed in claim 38 or claim 39, wherein the information indicative of a desired task includes information indicative of pick-up and delivery details, and/or information indicative of cargo type and amount.

41. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 40, wherein the step of gathering information indicative of service provider capabilities includes the step of facilitating selection by service providers of locations serviced by facilitating access by the service providers to an interactive map, the map having a plurality of selectable map portions, the arrangement being such that when a map portion is selected by a service provider, the locations conesponding to the selected map portion are associated with the service provider and stored in the data storage means.

42. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 37, wherein the service requestors are construction companies or individuals and the service providers are trade contractors.

43. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of facilitating creation of contract tasks, each contract task including at least one task which is desired to be carried out more than once.

44. A method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 43, further comprising the step of facilitating communication with service providers and service requesters through the Internet.

45. A computer program arranged, when loaded into a computer, to instruct the computer to operate in accordance with a task management system, said system comprising: means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; data storage means for storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; the system being arranged to select at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task by comparing said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered task information, and to communicate the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

46. A computer program as claimed in claim 45, wherein the system is ananged to gather at least one performance indicator for each of the service providers, the or each performance indicator being indicative of previous performance of a service provider in carrying out at least one task.

47. A computer program as claimed in claim 46, wherein the system is arranged so as to use the or each performance indicator to select the at least one service provider.

48. A computer program as claimed in claim 46 or claim 47, wherein the or each performance indicator is indicative of price, level of service provided, safety and/or punctuality.

49. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 46 to 48, wherein the or each performance indicator is updatable so as to include current performances of a service provider in carrying out tasks.

50. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 46 to 49, wherein each performance indicator has an associated weighting, each weighting being indicative of the importance of the relevant performance indicator.

51. A computer program as claimed in claim 50, wherein the system is ananged to receive weightings from a service requestor.

52. A computer program as claimed in claim 51 , wherein the performance indicators are used to calculate a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of the service provider in accordance with the following formula:

„ (performance indicator)_! X (weighting) a.

• 1 (max value for each performance indicator)_!

53. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 46 to 52, wherein the performance indicators are added together to provide a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of a service provider.

54. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 46 to 53, wherein the data storage means is arranged to store rate information indicative of the charge rates for a plurality of service providers, and the system is ananged to select at least one service provider based on the charge rates.

55. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 46 to 53, wherein the system is ananged to select a plurality of service providers with the capability to carry out the task, and to communicate a bid request to each of the selected service providers, each bid request serving to invite a selected service provider to bid on the desired task.

56. A computer program as claimed in claim 55, wherein the system is ananged to facilitate creation of bids by the selected service providers, each bid including information indicative of a price quoted by the service providers to carry out the task, and to select at least one preferred bid from the bids created by the selected service providers using the at least one performance indicator and the quoted price, the selected prefened bid being communicated to the service requestor.

57. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 45 to 56, wherein the service requestors are shippers and the service providers are carriers.

58. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 45 to 57, wherein the means for gathering information indicative of service provider capabilities includes means for facilitating selection by service providers of locations serviced by facilitating access by the service providers to an interactive map, the map having a plurality of selectable map portions, the arrangement being such that when a map portion is selected by a service provider, the locations conesponding to the selected map portion are associated with the service provider and stored in the data storage means.

59. A computer useable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer to operate in accordance with a task management system, said system comprising: means for gathering from a plurality of service providers information indicative of service providing capabilities of the service providers; data storage means for storing said gathered service provider capabilities information; and means for gathering from a service requestor information indicative of a desired task; the system being ananged to select at least one service provider with the capability to carry out the task by comparing said gathered service provider capabilities information and said gathered information, and to communicate the identity of the at least one selected service provider to the service requestor.

60. A computer useable medium as claimed in claim 59, wherein the system is arranged to gather at least one performance indicator for each of the service providers, the or each performance indicator being indicative of previous performance of a service provider in canying out at least one task.

61. A computer useable medium as claimed in claim 60, wherein the system is arranged so as to use the or each performance indicator to select the at least one service provider.

62. A computer useable medium as claimed in claim 60 or claim 61, wherein the or each performance indicator is indicative of price, level of service provided, safety and/or punctuality.

63. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 60 to 62, wherein the or each performance indicator is updatable so as to include current performances of a service provider in carrying out tasks.

64. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 60 to 63, wherein each performance indicator has an associated weighting, each weighting being indicative of the importance of the relevant performance indicator.

65. A computer useable medium as claimed in claim 64, wherein the system is ananged to receive weightings from a service requestor.

66. A computer useable medium as claimed in claim 65, wherein the performance indicators are used to calculate a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of the service provider in accordance with the following formula:

(performance indicator)_!

X (weighting) i

1 (max value for each performance indicator)_!

67. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 60 to 65, wherein the performance indicators are added together to provide a performance rating indicative of the overall performance of a service provider.

68. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 59 to 67, wherein the data storage means is arranged to store rate information indicative of the charge rates for a plurality of service providers, and the system is arranged to select at least one service provider based on the charge rates.

69. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 59 to 67, wherein the system is arranged to select a plurality of service providers with the capability to carry out the task, and to communicate a bid request to each of the selected service providers, each bid request serving to invite a selected service provider to bid on the desired task.

70. A computer useable medium as claimed in claim 69, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate creation of bids by the selected service providers, each bid including information indicative of a price quoted by the service providers to cany out the task, and to select at least one prefened bid from the bids created by the selected service providers using the at least one performance indicator and the quoted price, the selected preferred bid being communicated to the service requestor.

71. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 59 to 70, wherein the service requestors are shippers and the service providers are carriers.

72. A computer useable medium as claimed in any one of claims 59 to 71, wherein the means for gathering information indicative of service provider capabilities includes means for facilitating selection by service providers of locations serviced by facilitating access by the service providers to an interactive map, the map having a plurality of selectable map portions, the arrangement being such that when a map portion is selected by a service provider, the locations conesponding to the selected map portion are associated with the service provider and stored in the data storage means.