US 7,610,312 B1Granted

System and method for managing data in multiple bills of material over a network

AssigneeArena Solutions, Inc.

InventorsMichael Topolovac, Eric Larkin, Janet Yu

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Abstract

A system for managing a bill of materials includes a data structure having at least one record with a primary key data field, an owner data field for indicating the owner of the record, the owner data field including data representative of one of a plurality of owners, and at least one other data field. In another aspect, the system for managing a bill of materials includes a database having a single namespace, and at least one record with a primary key data field, an owner data field for indicating the owner of the record, the owner data field including data representative of one of a plurality of owners, and at least one other data field.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A computer implemented method for storing and managing a plurality of bills of material (BOMs) comprising:

accepting information for a plurality of BOMs, each BOM describable as a tree with each node an element, each element in each BOM having an owner of a set of more than one owner, and each BOM having an owner of the set of owners;
storing the plurality of BOMs in a database in a processing system;
and
providing access to at least some of the information of one or more of the plurality of BOMs to one or more users according to control information, control information for providing access to a particular BOM being received from an entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or any entity that the owner of the BOM designates, such that the providing of further access to at least some of the information of a particular BOM is controlled by the entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or by any entity that the owner of the BOM designates,
such that BOMs associated with different owners are stored in the same processing system,
wherein for each of at least two different owners, at least one of the BOMs of the respective owner includes confidential information of the owner, such that unrestricted access to the confidential information is limited to the owner of the BOM and/or to any entity that the owner of the BOM designates;
and
wherein the different owners need not be related except that they each have information stored in the same processing system.

5 more elements

A computer implemented method for managing a plurality of bills of material (BOMs) comprising:

accepting information for a database, the database including:
a list of elements, each element having a unique identifier, one or more elements of the list of elements being for inclusion in one or more of the plurality of BOMs;
and
one or more data structures for storing the plurality of BOMs, each BOM describable as a tree with each node an element of the list of elements, at least two of the BOMs being associated with different respective owners of a set of owners;
storing the database in a processing system;
and
providing remote access to one or more elements of information in the database to one or more users according to control information, control information for providing access to elements of a particular BOM being received from an entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or any entity that the owner of the BOM designates, such that the providing of further access to at least some of the information of a particular BOM is controlled by the entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or by any entity that the owner of the BOM designates,
such that the database is arranged to contain BOMs associated with different owners,
wherein for each of at least two different owners, at least one of the BOMs of the respective owner includes confidential information of the owner, such that unrestricted access to the confidential information is limited to the owner of the BOM and any designates of the owner of the BOM, and
wherein the different owners need not be related other than in that they each have information stored in the same processing system.

7 more elements

A computer-implemented method for managing a plurality of bills of material (BOMs) comprising:

accepting information for a database, the database including:
a list of elements, each element having a unique identifier, one or more of the elements being for inclusion in at least one of the BOMs;
and
one or more BOM data structures for storing the plurality of BOMs, each BOM describable as a tree with each node an element of the list of elements and each branch of the tree defining a parent-child relationship, the one or more BOM data structures storing information on the parent-child relationships of the plurality of BOMs, two or more of the BOMs associated with a respective owner of a set of owners;
storing the database in a processing system;
and
providing remote access to one or more elements of information in the database to one or more users according to control information, control information for providing access to elements of a particular BOM being received from an entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or any entity that the owner of the BOM designates, such that the providing of further access to at least some of the information of a particular BOM is controlled by the entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or by any entity that the owner of the BOM designates,
such that the database is arranged to contain BOMs having different owners,
wherein the database includes confidential information of at least two of the owners such that unrestricted access to the confidential information is limited to the respective owner of the confidential information and any designates of the owner, and
wherein the different owners need not be related other than in that they each have information stored in the same processing system.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/750,254Filed 17 May 2007 · continuation
Priority: 10 Apr 2000
Granted: 27 Oct 2009
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification3 codes

G06Q 10/087
Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management: inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling,…
G06Q 10/0875
Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders: itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or…
G06Q
Information and communication technology [ict] specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial

Family

Application60/195,918Us provisional application · filed 10 Apr 2000
Application60/206,219Us provisional application · filed 22 May 2000
Application60/206,221Us provisional application · filed 22 May 2000
Application60/210,935Us provisional application · filed 12 Jun 2000
Application09/832,753Parent of this continuation · filed 10 Apr 2001
US 7,610,312 B1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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