Abstract: A method, system and program for brokering and facilitating consumer projects in an electronic system are provided. A buyer submits a project request to a broker system. The broker system distributes the project request to multiple prospective manufacturers from among a catalog of manufacturers. Manufacturers submit bids and other indicators of the feasibility of manufacturing the project. The broker system facilitates obtaining a manufacturer who can feasibly manufacture the project request. The buyer selects a preferred manufacturer from among those obtained by the broker server, such that a buyer's project request is brokered to multiple manufacturers and a preferred manufacturer is then procured to produce the project.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
June 7, 2001
Date of Patent:
November 15, 2005
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Dwip N. Banerjee, Rabindranath Dutta, Kumar Ravi