A Data Warehouse Application Framework for Negotiation in Procurement

Negotiation is a long-standing process during procurement. Depending upon the size, volume, and nature of the business, the criticality of the negotiation process varies. For an efficient negotiation of a large and medium-size enterprise, historical information plays a vital role. Traditional negotiation needs complete knowledge about the business process and its legacy systems. A Data Warehouse along with the OLAP measures provide that support.Further to the introduction of the Internet, the entire negotiation process is changed. Automated transactions replace the traditional transaction process. The actual marketplace has become a virtual marketplace and opens new avenues for enterprises to do innovative business through electronic agents. The agents are multifaceted, intelligent, and autonomous and can be made enriched with the enhancement of business logic. In this paper, we propose a generic framework on the e-procurement process with the help of a case study in the steel industry