Intelligent order promising

1. A computer-implemented intelligent order promising system comprising one or more processing units and one or more memory units, the system comprising:

a commerce module operable to, using one or more processing units and one or more memory units, receive a product inquiry from a user, the product inquiry including a product configuration that comprises a product identifier, one or more option values, and a delivery location for the product;

one or more inventory engines each operable to, using one or more processing units and one or more memory units:

receive the product configuration from the commerce module;

identify one or more products in the inventory of one or more sellers that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more matching rules, the matching rules defining penalties that are incurred if one or more options of the matching product do not exactly match the option values received from the user;

determine a delivery date for each matching product based, at least in part, on the inventory location of the product and the delivery location for the product; and

communicate the matching products and associated delivery dates; dates to the commerce module;

one or more production engines each operable to, using one or more processing units and one or more memory units:

receive the product configuration from the commerce module;

identify one or more products in current or planned production that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more matching rules, the matching rules defining penalties that are incurred if one or more options of the matching product do not exactly match the option values received from the user;

determine a delivery date for each matching product based, at least in part, on the production lead time, production location of the product, and the delivery location for the product; and

communicate the matching products and associated delivery dates to the commerce module;

the commerce module further operable to, using one or more processing units and one or more memory units:

communicate the consolidated matching products and associated delivery dates to the user;

receive a request for at least one of the matching products from the user; and

communicate the request to the inventory or production engine that identified the matching product; and

the inventory or production engine further operable to, using one or more processing units and one or more memory units, receive the request and to commit the requested product to the user.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the commerce module is further operable to:

receive a product order from the user identifying a product that has been committed to the user which the user desires to purchase; and

communicate the order to an order management system associated with the seller of the product.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the commerce module is further operable to validate the product configuration received from the user.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the commerce module is further operable to provide an electronic shopping cart to the user, the shopping cart displaying one or more products that have been committed to the user.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the matching rules comprises production constraints.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a routing/consolidation module operable to:

communicate product configurations and requests from the commerce module to appropriate inventory engines and production engines;

consolidate product matches received from the inventory engines and production engines; and

communicate the consolidated product matches to the commerce module.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the product configuration further comprises a preference level associated with one or more of the option values, the preference level identifying the magnitude of the penalty for a product not exactly matching the associated option value, the penalty influencing whether the inventory engine identifies the product as a matching product.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inventory engine also identifies one or more products in the inventory of one or more sellers that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more reconfiguration rules, the reconfiguration rules identifying penalties for reconfiguring options associated with a product to match the option values in the product configuration, the penalties influencing whether the inventory engine identifies the product as a matching product.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more inventory engines comprise:

a primary inventory engine operable to process inquiries and requests; and

one or more secondary inventory engines operable to process inquiries but not requests; and

a message bus operable to:

receive inquiries and requests from the commerce module;

communicate requests received from the commerce module to the primary inventory engine; and

communicate inquiries received from the commerce module to one of the secondary inventory engines.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the secondary inventory engines is operable to become the primary inventory engine in the event the primary inventory engine becomes unavailable.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more products have one or more associated exclusive options groups including a plurality of option values, the product configuration being able to legally include only one option value from each exclusive option group.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein one or more matching rules are associated with each exclusive option group.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the inventory of one or more sellers is divided into a plurality of search pools; and

one or more search rules identify the order in which the one or more inventory engines will search the search pools for products that exactly or partially match the product configuration.

14. A computer-implemented method for intelligent order promising, using a computer system comprising one or more processing units and one or more memory units, the method comprising:

using the computer system, receiving a product inquiry from a user, the product inquiry including a product configuration that comprises a product identifier, one or more option values, and a delivery location for the product;

using the computer system, identifying one or more products in the inventory of one or more sellers that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more matching rules, the matching rules defining penalties that are incurred if one or more options of the matching product do not exactly match the option values received from the user;

using the computer system, determining a delivery date for each matching product based, at least in part, on the inventory location of the product and the delivery location for the product;

using the computer system, identifying one or more products in current or planned production that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more matching rules, the matching rules defining penalties that are incurred if one or more options of the matching product do not exactly match the option values received from the user;

using the computer system, determining a delivery date for each matching product based, at least in part, on the production lead time, production location of the product, and the delivery location for the product; and

using the computer system, communicating the consolidated matching products and associated delivery dates to the user;

using the computer system, receiving a request for at least one of the matching products from the user; and

using the computer system, committing the requested product to the user.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving a product order from the user identifying a product that has been committed to the user which the user desires to purchase; and

communicating the order to an order management system associated with the seller of the product.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising validating the product configuration received from the user.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising providing an electronic shopping cart to the user, the shopping cart displaying one or more products that have been committed to the user.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the matching rules comprises production constraints.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the product configuration further comprises a preference level associated with one or more of the option values, the preference level identifying the magnitude of the penalty for a product not exactly matching the associated option value, the penalty influencing whether a product is identified as a matching product.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising identifying one or more products in the inventory of one or more sellers that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more reconfiguration rules, the reconfiguration rules identifying penalties for reconfiguring options associated with a product to match the option values in the product configuration, the penalties influencing whether a product is identified as a matching product.

21. The method of claim 14 , wherein one or more products have one or more associated exclusive options groups including a plurality of option values, the product configuration being able to legally include only one option value from each exclusive option group.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein one or more matching rules are associated with each exclusive option group.

23. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the inventory of one or more sellers is divided into a plurality of search pools; and

one or more search rules identify the order in which the search pools are searched for products that exactly or partially match the product configuration.

24. Intelligent order promising software embodied in a computer-readable medium and, when executed, operable to:

receive a product inquiry from a user, the product inquiry including a product configuration that comprises a product identifier, one or more option values, and a delivery location for the product;

identify one or more products in the inventory of one or more sellers that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more matching rules, the matching rules defining penalties that are incurred if one or more options of the matching product do not exactly match the option values received from the user;

determine a delivery date for each matching product based, at least in part, on the inventory location of the product and the delivery location for the product;

identify one or more products in current or planned production that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more matching rules, the matching rules defining penalties that are incurred if one or more options of the matching product do not exactly match the option values received from the user;

determine a delivery date for each matching product based, at least in part, on the production lead time, production location of the product, and the delivery location for the product; and

communicate the consolidated matching products and associated delivery dates to the user;

receive a request for at least one of the matching products from the user; and

commit the requested product to the user.

25. The software of claim 24 , further operable to:

receive a product order from the user identifying a product that has been committed to the user which the user desires to purchase; and

communicate the order to an order management system associated with the seller of the product.

26. The software of claim 24 , further operable to validate the product configuration received from the user.

27. The software of claim 24 , further operable to provide an electronic shopping cart to the user, the shopping cart displaying one or more products that have been committed to the user.

28. The software of claim 24 , wherein the matching rules comprises production constraints.

29. The software of claim 24 , wherein the product configuration further comprises a preference level associated with one or more of the option values, the preference level identifying the magnitude of the penalty for a product not exactly matching the associated option value, the penalty influencing whether a product is identified as a matching product.

30. The software of claim 24 , further operable to identify one or more products in the inventory of one or more sellers that exactly or partially match the product configuration based on one or more reconfiguration rules, the reconfiguration rules identifying penalties for reconfiguring options associated with a product to match the option values in the product configuration, the penalties influencing whether a product is identified as a matching product.

31. The software of claim 24 , wherein one or more products have one or more associated exclusive options groups including a plurality of option values, the product configuration being able to legally include only one option value from each exclusive option group.

32. The software of claim 31 , wherein one or more matching rules are associated with each exclusive option group.

33. The software of claim 24 , wherein:

the inventory of one or more sellers is divided into a plurality of search pools; and

one or more search rules identify the order in which the search pools are searched for products that exactly or partially match the product configuration.