Centralized Media Production System and Method
A centralized media production system and its method of use is described. Web services are utilized in order processing in an electronic commerce system and fulfillment requests in a vendor manufacturing system. An XML-formatted WSDL file is used for submitting order and fulfillment requests. This process and system provides a way for software manufacturers to fulfill customer orders for physical copies of downloadable software, without being restricted to a particular e-commerce platform while allowing the manufacturer to interface with multiple vendors for fulfillment.
1 . A centralized media production system, comprising:
a web service configured to receive information about software product files and orders from at least one e-commerce system;
a web service configured to communicate with at least one media manufacturing system to coordinate the manufacture and distribution of media to end customers; and
a database configured to store status and other information about the media manufacturing and distribution.
2 . An apparatus for on-demand distribution of software, comprising;
a web service module configured to receive an identification of order and product details from an e-commerce platform;
a database operatively configured to store order and product information;
a business logic module operatively configured to validate data received;
a fulfillment adapter module operatively configured to determine fulfillment requirements based on the received order and product details; and
a vendor adapter module operatively configure to perform special processing based on the received order and product details that are specific to a particular fulfillment vendor.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the web service module is operatively configured to receive information from at least two e-commerce platforms.
4 . The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a second vendor adapter module operatively configured to perform special processing that are specific to another fulfillment vendor.
5 . The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the web service module is operatively configured to receive identification of order and product details from an e-commerce platform in real time.
6 . The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the web service module is operatively configured to receive identification of order and product details from an e-commerce platform in a batch processing message comprising multiple orders and product details.
7 . The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the business logic module comprises a rules engine with data associating trial offers and advertisements to product details and wherein the business logic module is operatively configured to automatically include one of: (i) an associated trial offer and (ii) an advertisement along with the product when fulfilling the order based on results from the rules engine and the received product details.
8 . The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a reporting module operatively configured to provide transactional reporting.
9 . A method of centralizing online ordering and fulfillment of products comprising steps of:
processing a received electronic order and product details from an e-commerce system to generate a fulfillment request message for one of a first and second fulfillment vendor;
transmitting the fulfillment request message to the first fulfillment vendor;
receiving a fulfillment response message from the first fulfillment vendor; and
storing data from the order and fulfillment response in a database.
10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the processing step comprises utilizing the received product details and a rules engine, where the rules engine comprises data associating trial offers and advertisements with product details, to identify an offer to include with the order such that at least one of: (i) an associated trial offer and (ii) an advertisement is associated with the product when fulfilling the order.
11 . The method of claim 9 further comprising a reporting step which generates a report related to orders and fulfillment records across multiple e-commerce platforms and fulfillment vendors.
12 . The method of claim 9 wherein the transmitting the fulfillment request step comprises a location of graphics for use in labeling media by the particular fulfillment vendor.
13 . The method of claim 9 wherein the transmitting the fulfillment request step comprises a location of a product for use in creating media by the particular fulfillment vendor.
14 . The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the product details comprise a location of graphics for use in labeling media by the particular fulfillment vendor.
15 . The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the product details comprise a location of a product for use in creating media by the particular fulfillment vendor.