Universal product attribute modeler

A method of providing universal product attribute modeler, comprising:

• receiving a plurality of supplier product identifiers and associated supplier product attributes from a plurality of product suppliers;
• automatically loading into a data model, the plurality of supplier product identifiers, the plurality of product suppliers, and the associated supplier product attributes;
• receiving a plurality of buyer product identifiers and associated buyer product attributes from a plurality of product buyers;
• automatically loading into a data model, the plurality of buyer product identifiers, the plurality of product buyers, and the associated buyer product attributes;
• receiving a request for a product identified by buyer's product identifier;
• determining one or more product attributes associated with the buyer's product identifier;
• and
• searching the data model for a product having the one or more product attributes associated with the buyer's product identifier,
• wherein a buyer is automatically provided with one or more products and one or more suppliers according to buyer's product attribute requirement, regardless of one or more product identifiers used by supplier and buyer.

A method for coordinating communication between one or more parties wherein the one or more parties use different identifiers for referring to similar products, comprising:

• receiving a first identifier for a product and first one or more attributes describing the product from a first party;
• converting based on the first one or more attributes the first identifier to a first standard identifier identifying the first identifier;
• storing the first identifier, the first standard identifier, and the first one or more attributes in a data model;
• receiving a second identifier for a product and second one or more attributes describing the product from a second party;
• converting based on the second one or more attributes the second identifier to a second standard identifier identifying the second identifier;
• storing the second identifier, the second standard identifier, and the second one or more attributes in the data model.

A system for coordinating communication between one or more parties wherein the one or more parties use different identifiers for referring to similar products, comprising:

• a data entry module for capturing product and attribute information;
• a data load module for uploading the product and attribute information;
• and
• a universal product attribute modeler for storing the product and attribute information, the universal product attribute modeler including a search engine enabled to search data stored in the universal product attribute modeler according to one or more product attributes.

A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps of coordinating communication between one or more parties wherein the one or more parties use different identifiers for referring to similar products, comprising:

• receiving a first identifier for a product and first one or more attributes describing the product from a first party;
• converting based on the first one or more attributes the first identifier to a first standard identifier identifying the first identifier;
• storing the first identifier, the first standard identifier, and the first one or more attributes in a data model;
• receiving a second identifier for a product and second one or more attributes describing the product from a second party;
• converting based on the second one or more attributes the second identifier to a second standard identifier identifying the second identifier;
• storing the second identifier, the second standard identifier, and the second one or more attributes in the data model.