基于Web的网上购物系统 第5页
electronic submission of the bid, the communication between client and provider and the
electronic dispatching of the results. If this is accomplished in a way that does not endanger
confidentiality of the bids, then substantial advantages could be gained from the
minimisation of the response times to tenders.
In this context many electronic tendering/bidding systems have already been developed
and are currently in use, supporting the tender/bid process in the construction sector.
Outside Europe most of the systems operate in the USA  (Trns*port Expedite(TM), Bid
Express, Bid Line), in Canada  (MERX, BIDDs) in Autsralia (DCIS System) and in Hong-
Hong (ETS). In Europe a very important factor in the tendering process is the obligation of
authorities to publish in the Official Journal of the European Union (Supplement S) tenders,
when their values exceed the established thresholds. Thresholds vary, depending on the
subject of the tender (e.g. services, procurement, works). In the case of public works the
threshold is set at 5.000.000 EURO. In other words Europe has developed a database of
medium and high value tenders fed daily by members states. The existence of this database
has resulted in the development of two categories of systems supporting the
tendering/bidding process in the construction sector; pan European systems based on TED
(Tenders Electronic Daily, the electronic version of Supplement S) and national systems
fed by tenders published by national and local authorities.
Functionalities provided by the electronic tendering/bidding systems vary from system
to system and could include:
*  electronic search of ongoing or assigned tenders, 
*  tender documents download,
*  search for partners in the systems database
*  e-mail exchange between primes, subcontractors and suppliers,
*  automatic search of new tenders based on defined user profile and user notification by
e-mail,
*  electronic creation and submission of bids
Most of the non-European systems are initiated by and focus on the support of tendering
authorities, whereas systems in Europe aim more often to support companies, including the
construction sector. The main scope of most existing systems is to support the search for
tenders and the acquisition of tender documents. Few of them provide also the ability to
search for potential partners through  a database containing companies validated by the
authority, or members of local official construction companies records. 
Some systems offer also ability to submit electronic documents after appropriate
registration. With the exception of systems operated  by tendering authorities, where
services are provided for free, the most common pricing policy is to provide free tender
search and requiring subscription to the service before providing access to the full service
package. However, many of the systems covering the national level in European countries
require subscription before proving any service.  
Closing this section, it is important to note that none of the systems reviewed provide a
solid collaboration platform that can support  - in a virtual manner  - the formation of a
consortium. Another area that these systems lack is the integration and automation of the
whole tendering/bidding process. Such integration could be obtained by incorporating
technologies like workflow management systems; see for example [4] & [8]. 
 3. Supplypoint Architecture 
 As previously mentioned, SupplyPoint is an innovative European-wide research and
development effort partly funded by the European Commission under the ESPRIT
Programme; see also [2]. The scope of the project is to develop a system, that will support

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