FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and rule 13)
"A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR E- AUCTION"
Zycus Infotech Pvt. Ltd
an Indian Company registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956,
with our Corporate office at GJ-07, SEEPZ++, SEEPZ SEZ, Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400096.,
Maharashtra, India.
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the matter in which it is to
be performed.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system including a computer assisted business method for generating requests for proposals for products and services and submissions of proposals responding thereto. More specifically this invention relates to a method for automatically identifying, matching and interacting buyers and supplier in proposed electronic commercial transactions
Background of the Invention
A well-established process for initiating commercial transactions involves a potential buyer creating what is known as a request for proposal or a request for pricing (RFP) and identifying one or more potential vendors to direct the request to. Traditionally, such procedures have involved creating a written document (the RFP) and mailing the same to any of a number of possible appropriate supplier who then review the written document and prepare a proposal or price quote in return. Such a proposal or price quote is typically also a written document that is mailed back to the prospective buyer, along with any information that might influence the buyer's decision. The buyer may then wait a period of time until a sufficient number of proposals have been received to permit a decision to be made regarding the transaction. Once the buyer has reviewed the various proposals and the information provided by the suppliers, a choice is made with respect to a specific supplier and a purchase order is issued.
This basic process, though well-established in the commercial field, involves time-consuming efforts, not only in the transmittal of documents back and forth between the buyer and prospective suppliers, but also in the process of research and selection of the specific suppliers to whom the RFP is directed. A significant amount of time is involved in reviewing materials, both

prior to directing an RFP to a potential supplier and further reviewing materials after a proposal has been received. It is not unusual for the process to take days, weeks, or even months when significant quantities and costs of products are involved.
The most basic modern embodiment of electronic commerce consists of a salesman using a telephone and a facsimile machine to negotiate a sale with a buyer. In this system, two parties negotiate the various components of the transaction, which may include, among other things, the quantity of goods to be purchased, the performance specifications of the goods, the payment terms, and delivery requirements. If the parties are informed and efficient in their bargaining, a transaction may be completed with one phone call. If there is uncertainty or ignorance on either side of the transactions, several calls may be necessary to complete the transaction. The buyer may take time to solicit other suppliers, shopping on the basis of price, availability, quality, and so on. The supplier, in the meantime, may have to investigate logistics issues, discount pricing possibilities, or the quantity of the goods in inventory. These activities cost both parties' time and money that could be better allocated to more profitable pursuits.
Some efforts have been made with the advent of commercial transactions occurring over wide area computer networks and the like to facilitate the process of identifying and matching buyers with appropriate suppliers of goods and services. In most cases the effort in this area has focused on providing online catalogs for suppliers to present their product information to prospective buyers. The process whereby a buyer offers a request for proposal or pricing is by its nature more difficult to implement in an online environment.
None of these systems provide for buyer and supplier interaction. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system whereby a prospective buyer could direct a request for proposal to an

automatically selected group of appropriate potential suppliers without the need for significant review of the materials and information provided by the suppliers. Accordingly, the present invention overcomes these problems by accomplishing the following objects.
Object of the Invention
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system intelligent interactive base for having supplier inputs and posing further questions to the supplier and a method for online flexi price builder that adds lot of functionality to pricing table creation process and makes it very easy to use and flexible for both buyers and suppliers
It is a further object of the present invention for creating an interactive base for interaction between buyer and suppliers for performing the RFP stage of electronic auction, thus, creating an interactive base for interaction between buyer and suppliers such that the interactive base uses pre- defined decision rules in real time to automatically define and regulate interaction between said supplier and buyer.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and appended claims. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen for pricing table; having the 'Question Type' menu at the time of event creation.
Figure 2 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen for creating the item table through user interface (UI) as per old functionality of selecting required item settings and adding item details.
Figure 3 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen wherein users can select and upload an existing excel file. The supported file type is .xlsx (MS Office 2010 onwards). The imported file is displayed on user interface similar to how it looks in excel but it is not editable online.
Figure 4 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen enabling user to map the excel file through a quick 6 step procedure in order to interpret the excel file by iSource as a pricing table. Use selects the excel work sheet that contains the requisite pricing information and iSource seeks further information on item details and pricing within this sheet.
Figure 5 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen showing columns headers in excel file structure can be multi-level, detailed and can span across first few rows whereby entering the row number where header ends so that iSource can identify where the item details begin.
Figure 6 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen wherein user makes a selection to define whether pricing table contains a single level item

hierarchy. In other words, if the pricing table contains a parent child relationship such that one or more components build up to apart then select 'Yes', otherwise select 'No'.
Figure 7 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen illustrating if there is a parent child hierarchy then define the column that contains the parent child flag. Parent child flag is a way of identifying whether items in pricing table contains one level breakup into components. It is a simple column, with any possible header name, and two input values: alphabets 'P' and 'C wherein P stands for Parent and C stands for Child. In the example, shown on user interface Desktop is a parent item consisting of Child items Monitor, CPU and Keyboard.
Figure 8 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen depicting the imported excel file has a mapped primary sheet from Step 1: of Identifying primary sheet, using the column headers in this primary sheet to identify and map information that is required for iSource to interpret the excel file as a pricing table. The information that requires mandatory mapping in this step is item number, item name, required quantity, unit of measure of the required quantity and total cost.
Figure 9 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen wherein user can then bucket remaining columns into Unit Cost, Fixed Cost and Formula using simple drag and drop functionality. This way iSource will interpret these fields as pricing information and make them available in such downstream functionality as view response, collect stage exports, analyze stage exports and bid analysis.

Figure 10 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen showing the final step wherein user can define the cells that are meant for suppliers; as mandatory and non-mandatory based on their color codes / fill.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or illustration of the present invention, and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
In accordance to the present embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system intelligent interactive base for having supplier inputs and posing further questions to the supplier more preferably a portal system for conducting electronic auction request for information, wherein buyer managing supplier inputs having an interconnection of at least one configurable and namable business process element; said system comprises a host computer system; at least one database component associated with the host computer system; a communication interface for accessing the host computer system from a plurality of remote input/ output devices to manage the business process element. Said system further comprising a buyer on a web enabled handheld device/s selected from the group consisting of but not limited to mobile, iPhone, iPad, Android device, Windows device, Blackberry and any web based devices and the supplier on a

second web enabled handheld device/s selected from the group consisting of but not limited to mobile, iPhone, iPad, Android device, Windows device, Blackberry and any web based devices. In order to accessing the flexi price builder tab for capturing request for information sought by buyer from various suppliers for the purpose of conducting electronic auctions.
The present system of the invention is advantageous when quotes are required for more open ended pricing/item structure as well as for more complex pricing modeling consisting of excel file with multiple sheets, across sheet formulas, single level parent-child item structure, comprehensive excel formulas such as conditional formulae, vlookup and multiple colors in excel etc.
Flexi Price Builder is a method to create e-sourcing content, questions or pricing tables, for suppliers such that based on certain predefined buyer defined rules automatic activities can be triggered without user intervention. Thus there exists automatically trigger-able activities such as, 1.supplier interaction can be controlled i.e. certain fields can become mandatory or non-mandatory on the fly. System intelligent interactive base for having supplier inputs and posing further questions to the supplier, 2. Automatic scoring of supplier response can be done and feedback can be provided to suppliers on the fly, 3. Supplier can be automatically promoted to next setups, such as a next round of negotiation, or demoted or blocked etc. 4. Help content can be presented dynamically if the supplier is facing an issues, 5. Supplier's position, relative to other suppliers, can be determined automatically in dynamic situations such as auctions. 6. Supplier interaction can be controlled i.e. certain fields can become mandatory or non-mandatory on the fly thereby providing a system intelligent interactive base for having supplier inputs and

posing further questions to the supplier, 7. Automatic scoring of supplier response can be done and feedback can be provided to suppliers on the fly, 8. Supplier can be automatically promoted to next setups, such as a next round of negotiation, or demoted or blocked etc., 9. Help content can be presented dynamically if the supplier is facing an issues and 10. Supplier's position, relative to other suppliers, can be determined automatically in dynamic situations such as auctions
Thus, once the supplier inserts the inputs using the user interface available on the mobile application in accordance to the pricing table setup, the output is provided to the buyer on its mobile device through the system, each field which requires supplier inputs are preconfigured with some tolerance limits, therefore once the inputs are provided by the supplier to the pricing table, the pre-configured tolerance limits attached to the input fields are mapped to the inputs provided by the supplier based on the deviations to the tolerance limits, the scores are provided by the system to each supplier pricing table inputs. Therefore, based on the scores generated by the system the conditional formatting mapping generates further questions to the supplier for inputs and again the above process continues as an interactive base, until the system freezes the inputs of supplier with final scores and analyses the top three suppliers as selected suppliers.
The invention herein discussed as show in figure 1 to 10 wherein, Figure 1 is a screen shot of one of the embodiment of the present invention showing the working screen for pricing table; for creating the item table through user interface (UI) as per old functionality of selecting required item settings and adding item details. Users can select and upload an existing excel file. The

supported file type is .xlsx (MS Office 2010 onwards). The imported file is displayed on user interface similar to how it looks in excel but it is not editable online.
Further user is able to map the excel file through a quick 6 step procedure in order to interpret the excel file by iSource as a pricing table. Use selects the excel work sheet that contains the requisite pricing information and iSource seeks further information on item details and pricing within this sheet wherein columns headers in excel file structure can be multi-level, detailed and can span across first few rows whereby entering the row number where header ends so that iSource can identify where the item details begin.
User makes a selection to define whether pricing table contains a single level item hierarchy. In other words, if the pricing table contains a parent child relationship such that one or more components build up to a part then select 'Yes', otherwise select 'No' if there is a parent child hierarchy then define the column that contains the parent child flag. Parent child flag is a way of identifying whether items in pricing table contains one level breakup into components. It is a simple column, with any possible header name, and two input values: alphabets 'P' and 'C wherein P stands for Parent and C stands for Child. In the example, shown on user interface Desktop is a parent item consisting of Child items Monitor, CPU and Keyboard.
Thus, the imported excel file has a mapped primary sheet from Step 1: of Identifying primary sheet, using the column headers in this primary sheet to identify and map information that is required for iSource to interpret the excel file as a pricing table. The information that requires mandatory mapping in this step is item number, item name, required quantity, unit of measure of the required quantity and total cost. Further user is able to bucket remaining columns into Unit Cost, Fixed Cost and Formula using simple drag and drop functionality. This way iSource will

interpret these fields as pricing information and make them available in such downstream functionality as view response, collect stage exports, analyze stage exports and bid analysis. Subsequently in the final step user can define the cells that are meant for suppliers; as mandatory and non-mandatory based on their color codes / fill.
In Supplier side impact, the suppliers is able to download and input data into the excel file. The excel file generated on supplier side automatically lock the cells that are not meant to be edited by the supplier and validate at the time of import whether all mandatory information has been filled or not. The downstream impact wherein, the rest of iSource functionality including collect stage, analyze stage and bid analysis works in the current way without any changes. Importantly, only the mapped pricing fields will show up in these downstream steps, and not all the columns from imported excel.
Further, Once the supplier inserts the inputs in accordance to the pricing table setup, it provides the same to the buyer through the system, each field which requires supplier inputs are preconfigured with some tolerance limits, therefore once the inputs are provided by the supplier to the pricing table, the pre-configured tolerance limits attached to the input fields are mapped to the inputs provided by the supplier based on the deviations to the tolerance limits, the scores are provided by the system to each supplier pricing table inputs. Based on the scores generated by the system the conditional formatting mapping generates further questions to the supplier for inputs again the above process continues as an interactive base, until the system freezes the inputs of supplier with final scores and analyses the top three suppliers as selected suppliers.
Thus flexible pricing model of the present invention supports such as, single level item hierarchy which can be used for bill of materials (BOM), excel formulas such as conditional formulas,

VOOKLUP etc., across sheet formulas, excel file with multiple sheets which can be used to break down large pricing tables, different formulas per item (row) which can be used to model complex pricing breakup and use of colors in excel which can be used to differentiate buyer fields from supplier fields.
Moreover iSource has now eliminated the need of creating large pricing tables online all it takes is a quick mapping process to translate your existing excel template into a pricing table online. In addition, supplier side usability can be enhanced by, use of multiple sheets allows buyer to put detailed descriptions/instructions for supplier's ease of understanding of pricing table and use of colors for differentiating suppliers fields from buyers fields.
Using the pricing model of the present invention creating a new pricing table in an event is user friendly because pricing table can be directly created from excel without starting from scratch on-line. Moreover, events with flexible pricing tables are also reusable if created as templates or when re-used under 'Copy from existing' feature. Therefore, through the system the inputs of the supplier can be analyzed and through the system the suppliers can be selected automatic activities further includes the auto creation or deletion or modification information required from supplier based on various parameters including at least predefined buyer rules, responses of other suppliers in the same event, historically submitted responses by said or other supplier, information obtained from other third party supplier information systems.
The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will

be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Elements, of different implementations described herein may be combined to form other implementations not specifically set forth above. Other implementations not specifically described, herein are also within the scope of the following claims.

CLAIM:
1. A system and method for conducting electronic sourcing request for information using
flexi price builder, wherein buyer managing supplier inputs having an interconnection of
at least one configurable and namable business process element; said system comprises
a host computer system;
at least one database component associated with the host computer system;
a communication interface for accessing the host computer system from a plurality of remote input/ output devices to manage the flexi price builder business process element.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising, comprising a buyer on a web enabled handheld device/s and the supplier on a second web enabled handheld device/for accessing the flexi price builder tab for capturing request for information sought by buyer from various suppliers for the purpose of conducting electronic auctions.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said system creates e-sourcing content, questions or pricing tables, for suppliers such that based on certain predefined buyer defined rules automatic activities can be triggered without user intervention.
4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein automatic activities further includes the auto creation or deletion or modification information required from supplier based on various parameters including at least predefined buyer rules, responses of other suppliers in the same event, historically submitted responses by said or other supplier, information obtained from other third party supplier information systems.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the method comprising supplier inserting the inputs using the user interface available on the mobile application in accordance to the pricing table setup, the output is provided to the buyer on its mobile device through the system, each field which requires supplier inputs are preconfigured with some tolerance limits, therefore once the inputs are provided by the supplier to the pricing table, the pre-configured tolerance limits attached to the input fields are mapped to the inputs provided by the supplier based on the deviations to the tolerance limits, the scores are provided by the system to each supplier inputs.
6. A system as claimed in claim 1 and 5 wherein, based on the scores generated by the system the conditional formatting mapping generates, modifies, or deletes further questions to the supplier for inputs.
7. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein, a web enabled handheld device/s selected from the group consisting of but not limited to mobile, iPhone, iPad, Android device, Windows device, Blackberry.