A service-oriented framework for collaborative product commerce

We propose a service-oriented process model and a Web service framework for collaborative product commerce (CPC). The framework, called MIDAS, integrates design process, business plan and assembly operations using the Web services. A CPC process involves a collaborative process, which consists of interdependent tasks. In a global environment, many tasks are outsourced to other companies. In MIDAS, a task is regarded as a service that an organization can provide. The service discovery of MIDAS, through UDDI, enables companies to find the services and processes other companies provide. MIDAS provides service composition to support a process which involves several services of other companies. MIDAS interface is written in XML and Web service description language (WSDL), which facilitates platform independent process management among heterogeneous and collaborative systems.