1. Field of the Related Art
This disclosure relates to an approach for controlling the ordering of consumable supplies, and, more particularly, to a system and method for controlling supply ordering, such as the ordering of one or more color toners associated with one or more printing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the printing industry it is common for printer manufacturers to sell or rent a printer together with a service contract. The service contract may include terms which specify that the customer is entitled to receive consumable printing supplies for their printing needs associated with the printer. Based on the service contract, the customer may place orders for the consumable supplies as they are needed.
As such, various business models support full inclusion of supply management for customers as a part of the overall contract. All supplies in such models are priced into a customer contract. However, in conventional systems, contract price does not adjust based on the amount of supplies ordered by customers. The issue with the traditional approach is that customers order unlimited amounts of supplies at no extra cost to them, thus reducing and at times eliminating profit margins of the company offering the printing solutions. This process is referred to as “supply leakage,” and is a known issue for businesses that provide a multitude of printing solutions.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds