A system for managing an independent supply chain, comprising independent suppliers, independent distributors, independent stores, and an independent supply chain manager with an independent supply chain manager computer connected together by a network, comprising:
- a storage medium including a supply chain electronic database accessible via the network storing supplier master contracts between the independent supply chain manager and the independent suppliers, the supplier master contracts negotiated by the independent supply chain manager on behalf of the independent stores and/or the independent distributors, wherein each different supplier master contract is to supply at least one item an at least one independent distributors, and storing distributor master contracts between the independent supply chain manager and the independent distributors, the distributor master contracts negotiated by the independent supply chain manager on behalf of the independent stores, wherein each of the distributor master contracts requires the distributor to receive items from at least one of the independent suppliers and to distribute the items to an at least one of the independent stores, wherein each of a plurality of the supplier master contracts includes a term assigning a particular at least one of the independent distributors to the independent supplier to which to supply the at least one item, wherein each of a plurality of the distributor master contracts includes a term assigning a particular at least one of the independent stores to the independent distributor to which to distribute the at least one item, and further wherein each of a plurality of the supplier master contracts establishes a contract price for one of the items and an invoice price for that item and requires the independent supplier to bill the independent distributor at the invoice price, wherein the contract price for the item and the invoice price for the item are different;
- and
- at least one processors for implementing the independent supply chain manager computer that use the storage medium and include among them the following logic elements
- logic for registering each of a plurality of the independent suppliers, the independent distributors and the independent stores as one of at least three types comprising suppliers, distributors and stores, and maintaining a list of registered users in the independent supply chain manager computer;
- logic for receiving store sales data from a plurality of the independent stores utilizing the network, the store sales data comprising the sales of the goods by the independent stores, wherein the sales of the goods are made independently of the network;
- logic for receiving data from the independent suppliers and/or the independent distributors utilizing the network, the data relating to the sales of the items from the independent suppliers to the independent distributors and including the number of items;
- for the sales of items, logic for electronically calculating an amount to be transferred from or to the independent supplier based on the number of items and the difference between the contract price and invoice price for the items;
- logic for generating a communication or providing electronic access via the network to data relating to the amount to be transferred;
- logic for automatically comparing at least one contract term in one of the supplier or distributor master contracts for the at least one item to received data relating to the sales of the at least one item;
- logic for automatically generating a signal if there is a discrepancy between the at least one contract term and the received data;
- logic for providing an interface on the network to allow access by a registered user on the list to different data in the supply chain electronic database depending on the user type, wherein each of a plurality of the registered users that are independent suppliers or independent distributors has access to the sales data for the stores that they supply either directly or indirectly.