Distributed quote management

1. A system for distributed quote management at a seller computer system, comprising:

one or more quote modules stored in a memory medium and collectively operable to:

receive a buyer request for quote (RFQ) from at least one buyer, the buyer RFQ requesting a quote from the seller computer system and identifying a plurality of items;

automatically access a buyer profile for the at least one buyer;

automatically determine whether historical quote data is available for at least one of the plurality of items;

if historical quote data is available, automatically determine a best cost of each of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ according to the historical quote data;

if historical quote data is not available, automatically determine a best cost of each of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ according to one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers;

using the determined best costs of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ, automatically generate a quote for the buyer RFQ;

automatically generate a bid package for the buyer RFQ that comprises the generated quote; and

automatically communicate the generated bid package to the at least one buyer.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to automatically match a buyer part number identifying an item in the buyer RFQ with one or more seller part numbers.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the buyer RFQ comprises one or more approved supplier lists, the quote module is further operable to automatically match a buyer supplier identifier in an approved supplier list in the buyer RFQ with one or more seller supplier identifiers.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to automatically determine a best cost of an item in the buyer RFQ according to one or more contracts between the buyer and one or more suppliers.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to automatically determine a best cost of an item in the buyer RFQ according to historical quote data associated with the item.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to automatically determine a best cost of an item in the buyer RFQ according to one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to:

determine whether an item in the buyer RFQ is available from an inventory of the seller;

access inventory price data for the item; and

determine a best cost of the item according to the accessed inventory price data for the item.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to:

automatically generate one or more seller RFQs requesting a quote from one or more suppliers for an item in the buyer RFQ;

automatically communicate the one or more generated seller RFQs to one or more suppliers;

receive one or more supplier responses to the one or more seller RFQs; and

automatically determine a best cost of the item according to the one or more received supplier responses to the one or more seller RFQs.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the quote module is further operable to:

receive one or more changes to the buyer RFQ from the at least one buyer after the bid package has been communicated to the at least one buyer;

generate a new bid package that incorporates the one or more changes into the bid package; and

communicate the new bid package to the at least one buyer.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to:

automatically access a buyer profile for the buyer; and

according the accessed buyer profile, automatically determine whether to generate the bid package for the buyer RFQ.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the buyer profile comprises a profile selected from the group consisting of:

one or more win ratios of the seller computer system with the at least one buyer;

one or more sales volumes between the seller computer system and the at least one buyer; and

one or more margins on sales between the seller computer system and the at least one buyer.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to:

automatically identify one or more up-sell or cross-sell opportunities associated with the item; and

automatically generate a bid package for the buyer RFQ that comprises the generated quote and the one or more identified up-sell or cross-sell opportunities.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the components are operable to:

determine whether approval is required for one or more portions of the generated bid package; and

if approval is required, obtain the required approval prior to communicating the bid package to the buyer.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bid package further comprises one or more proposed contract terms.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the buyer and the seller are different departments within a single organization.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the buyer RFQ comprises one or more bills of materials (BOMs) each identifying a plurality of items.

17. A method for distributed quote management at a seller computer system, the method comprising:

receiving a buyer request for quote (RFQ) from at least one buyer, the buyer RFQ requesting a quote from the seller computer system and identifying a plurality of items;

automatically accessing a buyer profile for the at least one buyer;

automatically determining by a processor whether historical quote data is available for at least one of the plurality of items;

if historical quote data is available, automatically determine a best cost of each of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ according to the historical quote data;

if historical quote data is not available, automatically determine a best cost of each of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ according to one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers;

using the determined best costs of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ, automatically generating a quote for the buyer RFQ;

automatically generating a bid package for the buyer RFQ that comprises the generated quote; and

automatically communicating the generated bid package to the at least one buyer.

18. The method of claim 17 , comprising automatically matching a buyer part number identifying an item in the buyer RFQ with one or more seller part numbers.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the buyer RFQ comprises one or more approved supplier lists, the method further comprising automatically matching a buyer supplier identifier in an approved supplier list in the buyer RFQ with one or more seller supplier identifiers.

20. The method of claim 17 , comprising automatically determining a best cost of an item in the buyer RFQ according to one or more contracts between the buyer and one or more suppliers.

21. The method of claim 17 , comprising automatically determining a best cost of an item in the buyer REQ according to historical quote data associated with the item.

22. The method of claim 17 , comprising automatically determining a best cost of an item in the buyer RFQ according to one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers.

23. The method of claim 17 , comprising:

determining whether an item in the buyer RFQ is available from an inventory of the seller;

accessing inventory price data for the item; and

determining a best cost of the item according to the accessed inventory price data for the item.

24. The method of claim 17 , comprising:

automatically generating one or more seller RFQs requesting a quote from one or more suppliers for an item in the buyer RFQ;

automatically communicating the one or more generated seller RFQs to one or more suppliers;

receiving one or more supplier responses to the one or more seller RFQs; and

automatically determining a best cost of the item according to the one or more received supplier responses to the one or more seller RFQs.

25. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

receiving one or more changes to the buyer RFQ from the at least one buyer after the bid package has been communicated to the at least one buyer;

generating a new bid package that incorporates the one or more changes into the bid package; and

communicating the new bid package to the at least one buyer.

26. The method of claim 17 , comprising:

automatically accessing a buyer profile for the buyer; and

according the accessed buyer profile, automatically determining whether to generate the bid package for the buyer RFQ.

27. The method of claim 17 , wherein the buyer profile comprises a profile selected from the group consisting of:

one or more win ratios of the seller with the buyer;

one or more sales volumes between the seller and the buyer; or

one or more margins on sales between the seller and the buyer.

28. The method of claim 17 , comprising:

automatically identifying one or more up-sell or cross-sell opportunities associated with the item; and

automatically generating a bid package for the buyer RFQ that comprises the generated quote and the one or more identified up-sell or cross-sell opportunities.

29. The method of claim 17 , comprising:

determining whether approval is required for one or more portions of the generated bid package; and

if approval is required, obtaining the required approval prior to communicating the bid package to the buyer.

30. The method of claim 17 , wherein the bid package further comprises one or more proposed contract terms.

31. The method of claim 17 , wherein the buyer and the seller are different departments within a single organization.

32. The system of claim 17 , wherein the buyer RFQ comprises one or more bills of materials (BOMs) each identifying a plurality of items.

33. A system for distributed quote management, the system comprising one or more components stored in a memory medium and collectively operable to:

receive a buyer request for quote (RFQ) from a buyer, the buyer RFQ requesting a quote from a seller and comprising one or more bills of materials (BOMs) each comprising a plurality of items that are each identified by a buyer part number;

determine whether there are one or more contracts between the buyer and one or more suppliers affecting best costs of one or more first items in the buyer RFQ available to the seller from the one or more suppliers;

if there are one or more contracts between the buyer and one or more suppliers affecting best costs of one or more first items in the buyer RFQ available to the seller from the one or more suppliers, access the one or more contracts between the buyer and the one or more suppliers and determine the best cost of each first item according to the one or more contracts between the buyer and the one or more suppliers;

determine whether historical quote data associated with one or more second items in the buyer RFQ is available;

if historical quote data associated with one or more second items in the buyer RFQ is available, access the historical quote data and determine the best cost of each second item according to the historical quote data;

determine whether there are one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers affecting best costs of one or more fourth items available to the seller from the one or more suppliers, the one or more fourth items each comprising a third item;

if there are one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers affecting best costs of one or more fourth items in the buyer RFQ available to the seller from the one or more suppliers, access the one or more contracts between the seller and one or more suppliers and determine the best costs of the one or more fourth items according to the one or more contracts between the seller and the one or more suppliers;

generate one or more seller RFQs requesting a quote for one or more fifth items from one or more suppliers, communicate the one or more seller RFQs to the one or more suppliers, receive one or more supplier responses to the seller RFQs, and determine best costs of the one or more fifth items according to the supplier responses to the seller RFQs, the one or more fifth items each comprising a third item;

using the determined best costs of the plurality of items in the buyer RFQ, generate a quote for the buyer RFQ;

generate a bid package for the buyer RFQ that comprises the generated quote for the buyer RFQ; and

communicate the generated bid package to the buyer.