PATENT DOCUMENT

Abstract:
A computer-implemented method, system and computer program product are provided for simulating two or more suppliers in a market and forecasting their financial performance, with one supplier using optimization that utilizes feedback in generating an optimal price. In use, an optimal price is generated for the designated supplier. All suppliers compete in a simulated market place. A result of utilizing the optimal price is identified for the supplier with optimization and a reaction may then be carried out based on that result. The suppliers compete in a simulated market place again, and their financial performance recorded.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to computer-implemented system that simulates an optimized supplier in a market. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A supplier who competes in a market with one or more competitors is faced with the challenge of continuously pricing their goods and services. If a supplier understands the market&#39;s responsiveness to price as well as the supplier&#39;s cost, a supplier can determine the optimal price that ensures meeting one or more of the following business objectives; a) Maximizing revenue, b) Maximizing Gross Profit, c) Maximizing Earnings Before Income Tax, d) Market share, e) Factory utilization, and more. In addition to determining the optimum price to meet the designated business objective, the supplier may desire a capability to automatically update the optimal price as the market changes, forecast the supplier&#39;s financial performance based on the new optimized price, as well as forecast the performance of the supplier&#39;s competitors. 
   Prior art has multiple limitations that not only prevent a supplier from making an initial useable estimate of the optimal price, but also from making an accurate update of the optimal price, and forecasting the financial performance of the supplier and its competitors. The limitations begin with inaccuracies and potentially incorrect assumptions associated with the demand or yield curve, which depicts the relationship between quantity and price. These inaccuracies are the result of one or more of the following problems; a) Limited span in sales order data in which to build the demand curve, b) Lack of statistically relevant sales order data, c) Lack of market relevant sales order data, d) Implicit assumption that the historical and future sales environments remain the same, e) Lack of a rapid method for assessing whether a new optimized price is required as a result of a shift in market demand or pricing, f) Lack of a method of rapidly updating the optimized price calculation. 
   The demand curve is typically constructed using the supplier&#39;s historical sales order data, which limits the extent and completeness of the demand curve. For example, if the supplier behaves as the “low price leader”, the sales order data can only be used to create a demand curve reflecting how the market responds to low pricing. 
   The demand curve should depict the market&#39;s responsiveness to all pricing scenarios, not just those scenarios, previously employed by the company. As a result of using a demand curve constructed using a limited span of sale order data, it is not likely that the optimum price can be determined. 
   Another challenge in constructing the demand curve is the lack of statistically relevant data. Frequently, there are pieces of sales data which conflict. An example is that one customer was willing to pay $2.23 each for 10,000 units. Another customer, in the identical customer group may demand 11,500 units for $2.23 each, a 15% difference in quantity. This situation is not unusual, especially for opaque markets where one buyer does not see what other buyers are paying and therefore facilitates a supplier charging different unit prices for the same goods or services. The current art attempts to resolve this situation through averaging algorithms and requires sufficient sale order data for statistical relevance. The challenge is that there is seldom-sufficient data to build a statistically relevant demand curve. 
   Yet another challenge with the current art is that even if the demand curve is statistically relevant, it is not market relevant. Statistical relevance can be assured through a large enough set of sales orders. However, collecting a large set of sales orders may necessitate waiting long periods of time to allow a sufficient number of orders to be accumulated for statistical relevance. During the long collection period, the market may have changed considerably in its responsiveness to pricing. So while the demand curve may have statistical relevance, it is meaningless because it is based on data too old for market relevance. As a consequence, determining an optimum price based on a data demand curve is unlikely. 
   In the current art, there is an implicit assumption that the historical sales and future sales environments are identical. For example, if the derived demand curve indicates that 10,000 units were sold when the price was $3.25, the expectation going forward is that the supplier will again sell 10,000 units at $3.25. The implicit assumption is that the overall economic environment, the supplier&#39;s approach to marketing, and selling methodology has remained the same. Rarely do the economic environment, the supplier&#39;s marketing, and selling methodologies remain intact for any length of time. As a consequence, the validity of the demand curve is questionable and its usefulness in doubt. 
   Without a representative demand curve, it is impossible to determine an optimum price that ensure meeting one or more of the following business objectives; a) Maximizing revenue, b) Maximizing Gross Profit, c) Maximizing Earnings Before Income Tax, d) Market share, e) Factory utilization, etc. 
   Even if prior art could overcome the aforementioned issues associated with the span of sales order data, statistical relevance, market relevance, and the accommodate changes in selling methodologies, prior art still must overcome the final issue of rapidly determining when market shifts in pricing and demand necessitate updating the demand curve. Without a method for rapidly determining when the demand curve is no longer representative of the market&#39;s responsiveness to price, a supplier will continue under the presumption that the current price is optimal when the market shifts have necessitated that a new optimal price is needed. 
   In accuracies and poor assumptions aside, once a demand curve is created, the supplier can make a determination of how to price their goods and services in order to satisfy certain business objectives. With an understanding of the relationship between quantity and price, an income statement, as well as additional metrics, can be constructed for each price through the following steps; a) Calculation of revenue by multiplying the price and quantity, b) Determination of the cost-of-goods by multiply the quantity and unit cost at that quantity, c) Calculation of gross profit by subtracting the cost-of-goods from the revenue, d) Determining the sales and general administration costs, e) Calculating the earnings before income tax by subtracting the sales and general administration costs from the gross profit, f) Calculation of market share by dividing the quantity by the total quantity sold by all suppliers, and e) Calculating factor utilization by dividing the units sold by the capacity of the factory for that product. 
   Once the income statement and additional metrics are calculated for each price, the optimum price can be selected to satisfy various business objects. For example, the supplier may wish to optimize pricing to maximize revenue. To identify the optimum price that maximizes revenue, the income statements are searched to identify where the revenue is maximized and the associated price extracted. 
   In addition to optimizations with one objective in mind, optimizations are possible that maximize the multiple business objectives. For example, the supplier may wish to optimize pricing to maximize revenue and gross profit. In this example, the income statements are searched for the price at which revenue is maximized and the price at which gross profit is maximized. The supplier then selects a price between the maximum gross profit and revenue price that represents the best tradeoff between these two business objectives. 
   While forecasting an income statement for a supplier using price optimization remains a challenge because of the limitation of prior in creating a demand curve, accurately modeling the financial performance of a supplier with optimization and their competitors is an even steeper challenge. If the optimized supplier lowers their price, sales volume is likely to increase with a corresponding reduction in sales for other suppliers. In the absences of an accurate relationship of price and quantity for any of the suppliers, it is challenging if not impossible to predict the financial performance of the suppliers. 
   DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
   A computer-implemented method, system and computer program product are provided for simulating two or more suppliers in a market and forecasting their financial performance, with one supplier using optimization that utilizes feedback in generating an optimal price. In use, an optimal price is generated for the designated supplier. All suppliers compete in a simulated market price. A result of utilizing the optimal price is identified for the supplier with optimization and a reaction may then be carried out based on that result. The suppliers compete in a simulated market place again, and their financial performance recorded. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a general-purpose computer system with principal elements used in one embodiment. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of the processing flow between the major processing components. 
       FIG. 3  is an input menu on the display device. 
       FIG. 4  is a second input menu on the display device. 
       FIG. 5  is a third menu on the display device. 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating the input of data. 
       FIG. 7  is the second flow chart illustrating the input of data. 
       FIG. 8  is the third flow chart illustrating the input of data. 
       FIG. 9  is the fourth flow chart illustrating the input of data. 
       FIG. 10  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier2. 
       FIG. 11  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier3. 
       FIG. 12  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier4. 
       FIG. 13  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier5. 
       FIG. 14  is a flow chart that illustrates the assignment of variables and the calculation of the Frequency Distributions for each supplier. 
       FIG. 15  is a flow chart illustrates the continued the calculations of Frequency Distributions for each supplier. 
       FIG. 16  is a flow chart illustrates completion of the supplier Frequency Distribution calculations and begins the Frequency Distribution smoothing process. 
       FIG. 17  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the Frequency Distribution smoothing process. 
       FIG. 18  is a flow chart that illustrates the integration of the Frequency Distributions and initiates the calculations of the normalization constants. 
       FIG. 19  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the calculations of the normalization constants and initiates the calculations of the Price Distribution. 
       FIG. 20  is a flow chart that illustrates the continued calculation of the Price Distribution. 
       FIG. 21  is a flow chart that illustrates the continued calculation of the Price Distribution. 
       FIG. 22  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the Price Distribution calculations. 
       FIG. 23  is a flow chart that illustrates the initial steps of determining the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 24  is a flow chart illustrating the beginning of the optimization loop. 
       FIG. 25  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of optimization variables. 
       FIG. 26  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of optimization variable and initiation of the Mean Price Error Index Loop. 
       FIG. 27  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of optimization variables and the calculation of the lower portion of the Frequency Distribution Array. 
       FIG. 28  is a flow chart illustrating the continued creation of the upper portion of the Frequency Distribution Array. 
       FIG. 29  is a flow chart illustrating the smoothing of the Frequency Distribution Array data. 
       FIG. 30  is a flow chart illustrating the continued smoothing of the Frequency Distribution Array data. 
       FIG. 31  is a flow chart illustrating the integration of the Frequency Distribution Array and the determination of the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 32  is a flow chart illustrating the continued determination of the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 33  is a flow chart illustrating the continued determination of the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 34  is a flow chart illustrating the search for Mean Price Estimate plus and minus an uncertainty in the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 35  is a flow chart illustrating the continued search for Mean Price Estimate plus and minus an uncertainty in the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 36  is a flow chart illustrating the continued search for Mean Price Estimate plus and minus an uncertainty in the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 37  is a flow chart illustrating the search in the Expected Results Array for the price that yields the maximum income. 
       FIG. 38  is a flow chart illustrating the search in the Expected Results Array for the price and corresponding index that yields the maximum income and the search in the Expected Results Array for the price that yields the maximum profit. 
       FIG. 39  is a flow chart illustrating the continued search in the Expected Results Array for the price and index that yields the maximum profit. 
       FIG. 40  is a flow chart illustrating the determination of price so that the objectives of maximum income and profit are balanced. 
       FIG. 41  is a flow chart illustrating the continued determination of price so that the objectives of maximum income and profit are balanced. 
       FIG. 42  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of variables if the objective is to maximize income. 
       FIG. 43  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of variables if the objective is to maximize profit and store the optimal price in the Expected Results Array. 
       FIG. 44  is a flow chart illustrating the determination of the Error Lookup Array contents. 
       FIG. 45  is a flow chart illustrating the continued determination of the Error Lookup Array contents. 
       FIG. 46  is a flow chart illustrating the continued determination of the Error Lookup Array contents, completion of the optimization loop, and test to determine if price optimization should be updated. 
       FIG. 47  is a flow chart illustrating the calculation of Actual Wins for a given period. 
       FIG. 48  is a flow chart illustrating the determination of whether Actual Wins is within a tolerable limit. 
       FIG. 49  is a flow chart illustrating the selection of a New Mean Price. 
       FIG. 50  is a flow chart illustrating the random drawing of bids from the Price Distribution Array. 
       FIG. 51  is a flow chart illustrating the population of the Market Price Array and the identification of the lowest bidder. 
       FIG. 52  is a flow chart illustrating the continued identification of the lowest bidder. 
       FIG. 53  is a flow chart illustrating the continued identification of the lowest bidder. 
       FIG. 54  is a flow chart illustrating the continued identification of the lowest bidder and the accumulation of supplier wins and actual results. 
       FIG. 55  is a flow chart illustrating the continued accumulation of actual results. 
       FIG. 56  is a flow chart of the continued accumulation of actual results. 
       FIG. 57  is a flow chart of the continued accumulation of actual results. 
       FIG. 58  is a flow chart of the continued accumulation of actual results and the formation of the income statement. 
       FIG. 59  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the income statement. 
       FIG. 60  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the income statement and Competition Set Array. 
       FIG. 61  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the Competition Set Array. 
       FIG. 62  is a flow chart of the formation of the Statistics Array. 
       FIG. 63  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the Statistics Array. 
       FIG. 64  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. 
       FIG. 65  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. 
       FIG. 66  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. 
       FIG. 67  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. 
       FIG. 68  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. 
       FIG. 69  is an illustration of the output display. 
       FIG. 70  is an illustration of the output display. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The following description is present to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present embodiment and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the illustrated embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the present embodiment is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , a system includes one input/display device  100  or multiple input/display devices  102  such as a computer workstation that a user enters commands, inputs data, and views computed results; a connection to the Internet/WAN/LAN  104  that uses TCIP protocol; a firewall  106 ; a server or other such computing device  108  consisting of an application server  110 , a processor  112 , random access memory  114 , and disk storage  116 . 
   The memory  114  and disk  116  will store a Frequency Distribution Engine  118  that calculates the number of offers for the subject goods and services that the user believes competitors are offering in a particular market. In addition the memory  114  and disk  116  store the Probability of Win Engine  120 , which calculates the probability that the user will receive a sale when the subject goods and services are priced at a specific value, and a Expected Results Engine  122  that calculates the anticipated revenue and gross profit for each price. The Optimization Update Engine  124  determines when an update of the optimal price should be conducted. The Bid Engine  126  provides supplier quotes based on the supplier&#39;s pricing behavior. The Market Place Engine  128  allows bids for a single competition to be compared and the lowest bidder identified. The Financial Accumulator  130  aggregates supplier&#39;s financial performance based on competitions conducted in the Market Place Engine  128 . It will be understood that the described embodiments are embodied as computer instructions stored in memory  114  and executed by processor  112 . These instructions can also be stored on a computer readable media such as a floppy disk, CD ROM, etc. and can also be transmitted via a network such as the internet, an intranet, etc., via a carrier wave embodying the instructions. 
     FIG. 2  shows the Menu  100 , major processing engines, Frequency Distribution Engine  102 , Probability of Win Engine  104 , Expected Results Engine  106 , Optimization Update Engine  108 , Bid Engine  110 , Market Place Engine  112 , and Financial Accumulator Engine  114 . 
   The user enters the bidding characteristics of the non-optimized suppliers, as well as the business objectives and optimization characteristics of the optimize supplier in Menu  100 . For the non-optimized suppliers, the Frequency Distribution Engine  102  calculates the distribution of prices. The Bid Engine  110  produces a set of bids based on distribution of prices produced by the Frequency Distribution Engine  102 . 
   For the optimized supplier, the Frequency Distribution Engine  102  calculates the optimized supplier&#39;s estimate of the non-optimized supplier&#39;s distribution of prices. The frequency distribution of prices is used by the Probability of Win Engine  104  to determine the probability of the optimized supplier winning at various prices. Based on the probability of win, the Expected Results Engine  106  projects an income statement for each price based on a number of competitions. Using the business objectives from Menu  100 , the income statements are compared to determine which price yields the maximum income, gross profit, or other business objective. The optimal price is passed to the Bid Engine  110 . 
   The Market Place Engine  112  randomly draws prices from the Bid Engine  110  for each competition. In the case of the non-optimized supplier, the randomly drawn bids will vary based on the distribution of prices calculated by the Frequency Distribution Engine  102 . For the optimized supplier, the bids will be identical until updated. The engine determines which supplier wins and passes the results to the Financial Accumulator Engine  114  where the wins are recorded, actual income statements calculated, and statistics aggregated. In addition, the result of whether the optimized supplier wins is passed to the Optimization Update Engine  108 . 
   The Optimization Update Engine  108  determines when and if the optimized price is updated. The determination is based on the number of competitions and the ratio of expected verses actual wins. If the number of competitions is less than the number specified in the Menu  100 , no optimization is conducted. If the number of competitions are equal to the number specified in the menu, and the ratio of expected verses actual wins is outside of a tolerance window specified in the Menu  100 , then the Optimization Update Engine  108  determines how the estimated frequency distribution of prices should be modified to produce a more accurate optimization. This determination, which consist of a new estimate of mean price, sigma high, and sigma low, is passed to the Frequency Distribution Engine  102  so that a new optimized price can be calculated. 
     FIG. 3  shows a Menu  300  used to estimate the pricing behavior of non-optimized suppliers. Fields  302 ,  308 ,  314 , and  320 , define the Mean Price value for Suppliers  2  through  5  respectively. Fields  304 ,  310 ,  316 , and  322 , define the Standard Deviation Low value for Suppliers  2  through  5  respectively. Fields  306 ,  312 ,  318 , and  324 , define the Standard Deviation High value for Suppliers  2  through  5  respectively. After the user enters the values for fields  302  through  324 , the Setup Optimized Supplier button  326 , causes the Optimized Supplier Setup menu to be displayed. 
     FIG. 4  shows Menu  400 , which specifies the optimized supplier&#39;s estimate of the other supplier&#39;s pricing behavior. The user enters in the estimated Mean Price, Standard Deviation Low, Standard Deviation High, Number of Competitors, Low End, and High End, in fields  402 ,  404 ,  406 ,  408 ,  410 , and  412  respectively. The Business Objectives are set in field  414 . The business characteristics depicting expense is set in fields  416  and  418 . The Set Update Characteristics button  422  causes the Optimization Update Characteristics Menu  500  to be displayed. 
     FIG. 5  shows Menu  500 , which specifies the optimization update characteristics. The maximum error in the optimized supplier&#39;s estimate of Mean Price is entered in fieled  502 . The number of competition between optimization updates in entered in field  504 . The acceptable tolerance window for the ratio of expected verses actual wins is entered in  506 . The Initiate Optimization button  504 , starts the simulation. 
     FIG. 6  shows the inputting of non-optimized supplier characteristics into the program. Input and assignment of a value of Supplier2_Mean_Price  600  is accomplished in  600 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier2_Sigma_Low  602  is accomplished in  602 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier2_Sigma_High  604  is accomplished in  604 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier3_Mean_Price  606  is accomplished in  606 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier3_Sigma_Low  608  is accomplished in  608 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier3_Sigam_High  610  is accomplished in  610 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier4_Mean_Price  612  is accomplished in  612 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier4_Sigma_Low  614  is accomplished in  614 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier4_Sigma_High  616  is accomplished in  616 . 
     FIG. 7  shows the continued inputting of information into the program. Input and assignment of a value to Supplier5_Mean_Price  700  is accomplished in  700 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier5_Sigma_Low  702  is accomplished in  702 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier_Sigma_High  704  is accomplished in  704 . 
     FIG. 8  shows the continued inputting of information into the program. Input and assignment of a value to Standard_Deviation_High  800  is accomplished in  800 . Input and assignment of a value to Standard_Deviation_Low  802  is accomplished in  802 . Input and assignment of a value to Mean_Price_Panel_Est  804  is accomplished in  804 . Input and assignment of a value to Supplier_Number  806  is accomplished in  806 . Input and assignment of a value to Low_End  808  is accomplished  808 . Input and assignment of a value to High_End  810  is accomplished in  810 . Input and assignment of a value to variable Supplier_Number  812  is accomplished in  812 . 
     FIG. 9  shows the continued inputting of information into the program. Input and assignment of a value to Sel_Bus_Obj  900  is accomplished in  900 . Input and assignment of a value to Cost_Per_Unit  902  is accomplished in  902 . Input and assignment of a value to SG&amp;A  904  is accomplished in  904 . Input and assignment of a value to Price_Max_Error  906  is accomplished in  906 . Input and assignment of a value to Optimization_Update  908  is accomplished in  908 . Input and assignment of a value to Error_Window  910  is accomplished in  910 . 
     FIG. 10  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier2. A programming loop defined by 1000 to 1710 is initiated by the For statement  1000 . In the For statement  1000 , Supplier_Index  1000  is initialized to one and incremented to four in steps of one. A determination  1002  of whether Supplier_Index  1002  is equal to one is made. If the determination  1002  is true, then Standard_Deviation_High  1004  is calculated by subtracting Supplier2_Sigma_High  1004  from Supplier2_Mean_Price  1004 . Standard_Deviation_Low  1006  is calculated by subtracting Supplier2_Sigma_Low  1006  from Supplier2_Mean_Price  1006 . Mean_Price  1008  is assigned the value Supplier2_Mean_Price  1008 . The determination  1002  is terminated in the End If statement  1010 . If the determination  1002  is false, then the determination terminates in the End If satement  1010 . 
     FIG. 11  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier3. A determination  1100  of whether Supplier_Index  1100  is equal to two is made. If the determination  1100  is true, then Standard_Deviation_High  1102  is calculated by subtracting Supplier3_Sigma_High  1102  from Supplier3_Mean_Price  1102 . Standard_Deviation_Low  1104  is calculated by subtracting Supplier3_Sigma_Low  1104  from Supplier3_Mean_Price  1104 . Mean_Price  1106  is assigned the value Supplier3_Mean_Price  1106 . The determination  1100  is terminated in the End If statement  1108 . If the determination  1100  is false, then the determination terminates in the End If statement  1108 . 
     FIG. 12  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier4. A determination  1200  of whether Supplier_Index  1200  is equal to three is made. If the determination  1200  is true, then Standard_Deviation_High  1202  is calculated by subtracting Supplier4_Sigma_High  1202  from Supplier4_Mean_Price  1202 . Standard_Deviation_Low  1204  is calculated by subtracting Supplier4_Sigma_Low  1204  from Supplier3_Mean_Price  1204 . Mean_Price  1206  is assigned the value Supplier4_Mean_Price  1206 . The determination  1200  is terminated in the End If statement  1208 . If the determination  1200  is false, then the determination terminates in the End If statement  1208 . 
     FIG. 13  is a flow chart illustrating the assignment of standard deviations and mean price to Supplier5. A determination  1300  of whether Supplier_Index  1300  is equal to four is made. If the determination  1300  is true, then Standard_Deviation_High  1302  is calculated by subtracting Supplier5_Sigma_High  1302  from Supplier5_Mean_Price  1302 . Standard_Deviation_Low  1304  is calculated by subtracting Supplier5_Sigma_Low  1304  from Supplier5_Mean_Price  1304 . Mean_Price  1306  is assigned the value Supplier5_Mean_Price  1306 . The determination  1300  is terminated in the End If statement  1308 . If the determination  1300  is false, then the determination terminates in the End If statement  1308 . 
     FIG. 14  is a flow chart that illustrates the assignment of variables and the calculation of the Frequency Distribution for each supplier. The price increments between the lowest and highest price of the supplier&#39;s frequency distribution is calculated and assigned to Price_Increment  1400  by subtracting High_End  1400  from Low_End  1400  and then dividing by 1000. The number of price increments from the low end of the frequency distribution to the mean price is calculated and assigned to Increments_To_Mean_Price  1402  by taking the integer value of Mean_Price  1402  less Low_End  1402  divided by Price_Increment  1402 . The value of Const1  1404  is calculated in  1404 . The value of Const2  1406  is calculated in  1406 . The value for Price  1408  is assigned the value contained in the variable Low_End  1408 . A programming loop is defined by steps  1410  through  1504  and initiated by the For statement  1410 . In the For statement  1410 , Frequency_Index  1410  is initialized to zero and incremented to Increments_To_Mean_Price  1410  in steps of one. Supplier_Price_Index Array  1412  stores the value of Price  1412 . 
     FIG. 15  is a flow chart illustrates the continued calculations of Frequency Distributions for each supplier. The frequency distribution is calculated for a given Price  1500 , Mean_Price  1500 , Const1  1500 , Standard_Deviation_Low  1500  and stored in the Freq_Dist Array  1500 . Price  1502  is incremented by Price_Increment  1502 . The Next Frequency_Index  1504  is incremented by one and the programming loop defined by steps  1410  through  1504  is repeated until Increments_To_Mean_Price  1410  plus one is reached. A programming loop defined by steps  1506  to  1600  is initiated by the For statement  1506 . In the For statement  1506  Frequency_Index  1506  is set to a value of Increments_To_Mean_Price  1506  plus one, and incremented to  100  in steps of one. The Supplier_Price_Index Array  1508  stores the value of Price  1508 . The value of frequency distribution is calculated and assigned to an array element of Freq_Dist  1508 . The frequency distribution is calculated for a given Price  1510 , Mean_Price  1510 , Const2  1510 , Standard_Deviation_High  1510  and stored in the Freq_Dist Array  1510 . Price  1512  is incremented by Price_Increment  1512 . 
     FIG. 16  is a flow chart illustrates completion of the supplier Frequency Distribution calculations and begins the Frequency Distribution smoothing process. The programming loop defined by steps  1506  through  1600  is completed by the Next Frequency_Index statement  1600 . The smoothing, or joining of the two distributions at the mean price is accomplished by the steps  1602  through  1610 . A determination as to whether Const1  1602  is greater than Const2  1602  is made. If the determination is true, then a program loop defined by steps  1604  through  1608  is executed. The For statement  1604  initializes i to zero and increments i in steps of one to the value contained in Increments_To_Mean_Price  1604 . The values contained in the Freq_Dist Array  1606  are multiplied by the ratio of Const2  1604  divided by Const1  1604 . The Next statement  1608  increments i by one and the programming loop defined by steps  1604  through  1608  is repeated until Increments_To_Mean_Price plus one is reached. If the determination  1602  is false, then the If statement  1602  is terminated in the End If statement  1610 . 
     FIG. 17  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the Frequency Distribution smoothing process. The smoothing, or joining of the two distributions at the mean price is accomplished by the steps  1700  through  1708 . A determination as to whether Const1  1700  is less than Const2  1700  is made. If the determination is true, then a programming loop defined by steps  1702  through  1706  is executed. The For statement  1702  initializes i to the value of Increments_To_Mean_Price and increments i in steps of one to 1000 plus one. The values contained in the Freq_Dist Array  1704  are multiplied by the ratio of Const1  1704  divided by Const2  1704 . The Next statement  1706  increments i by one and the programming loop defined by steps  1702  through  1706  is repeated until 1000 plus one is reached. If the determination  1700  is false, then the If statement  1700  is terminated in the End If statement  1708 . The Next statement  1710  increments Supplier_Index  1710  by one and the programming loop defined by steps  1000  through  1710  repeated until Supplier_Index  1000  equals four plus one. 
     FIG. 18  is a flow chart that illustrates the integration of the Frequency Distribution and initiates the calculations of the normalization constants. A programming loop defined by steps  1800  through  1810  is established by the For statement  1800 . i  1800  is initialized to zero and steps in increments of one to 1000. The integral for Supplier2  1802  is calculated in step  1802 . The integral for Supplier3  1804  is calculated in step  1804 . The integral for Supplier4  1806  is calculated in step  1806 . The integral for Supplier5  1808  is calculated in step  1808 . The Next statement  1810  causes i to be incremented and the programming loop defined by steps  1800  through  1810  repeated until  100  plus one is reached. The array element Mult_Supplier(1)  1802  is calculated by dividing 10000 by the integral of the frequency distribution for Supplier2. 
     FIG. 19  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the calculations of the normalization constants and initiates the calculations of the Price Distribution associated with the Bid Engine  126  reference in  FIG. 1 . The array element Mult_Supplier(2)  1900  is calculated by dividing 10000 by the integral of the frequency distribution for Supplier3. The array element Mult_Supplier(3)  1902  is calculated by dividing 10000 by the integral of the frequency distribution for Supplier4. The array element Mult_Supplier(4)  1904  is calculated by dividing 10000 by the integral of the frequency distribution for Supplier5. A programming loop defined by steps  1906  through  2208  is initiated by the For statement  1906 . Supplier_Index  1906  is set to one and incremented to four plus one in steps of one. Current_Index  1908  is set to zero. Target_Index  1910  is set to zero. Begin_Index  1912  is calculated by determining the integer value of Max_Price  1912  divided by Price_Increment  1912 . End_Index  1914  is determined by taking the integer value of Max_Price  1914  and dividing it by Price_Increment  1914 . 
     FIG. 20  is a flow chart that illustrates the continued calculations of the Price Distribution. A programming loop defined by steps  2000  through  2206  is initiated by the For statement  2000 . i is initialized to Begin_Index  2000  and incremented by one until the value of End_Index  2000  plus one is reached. Temp  2002  is calculated by multiplying the value of Freq_Dist Array  2002  for a given index by the current Price_Increment  2002  multiplied by value of Mult_Supplier  2002  for a given index. Temp  2004  is rounded to the first digit to the left of the decimal point in step  2004 . A determination of whether Temp  2006  is equal to zero is made in step  2006 . If the determination  2006  is true, then Price_Dist array element  2008  is set to zero. The Current_Index  2010  is incremented by one in step  2010 . If the determination  2006  is false, the If statement  2006  is terminated in the End If statement  2012 . 
     FIG. 21  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the Price Distribution calculations. A determination  2100  as to whether Temp  2100  is equal to one is made in step  2100 . If the determination  2100  is true, then an array element of the Price_Dist Array  2102  is loaded with a value stored in the Supplier_Price_Index Array  2102 . Current_Index  2104  is incremented by one in  2104 . If determination  2100  is false, then the If statement  2100  terminates in an End If statement  2106 . A determination as to whether Temp  2108  is greater than one is made in  2108 . If the determination is true, then Target_Index  2110  is calculated by adding Current_Index  2110  and Temp  2110 , then subtracting one. A programming loop defined by steps  2112  through  2200  is initiated with the For statement  2112 . k  2112  is set equal to Current_Index  2112  and incremented by one until the value stored in Target_Index  2112  plus one is reached. The index array element of Price_Dist  2114  stores the value contained in the indexed array element of Supplier_Price_Index  2114 . 
     FIG. 22  is a flow chart that illustrates the completion of the Price Distribution calculations. The Next k statement  2200  increments k by one and the programming loop defined by steps  2112  through  2200  repeated until the value stored in Target_Index  2112  plus one is reached. The Current_Index  2202  is calculated by adding one to Target_Index  2202 . If the determination  2108  is false, then the If statement  2108  is terminated in an End If statement  2204 . The Next i  2206  statement increments i  2206  and the programming loop defined by steps  2000  through  2206  repeated. The Next Supplier_Index statement  2208  increments Supplier_Index  2208  by one and the programming loop defined by steps  1906  through  2208  repeated. The variable Optimization_Count  2210  is set equal to zero. A programming loop defined by steps  2210  through  6106  is initiated by the For statement  2212 . Competition_Set_Index  2212  is set equal to zero and incremented in steps of one to the value Competition_Set_Number  2212  plus one. The variable Flag_Optimize  2214  is set equal to one. 
     FIG. 23  is a flow chart that illustrates the initial steps of determining the Expected Results Array. The standard deviation low ratio, the ratio of the lower standard deviation to the mean price, is calculated in  2300  and assigned to variable Standard_Deviation_Low_Ratio  2300 . The standard deviation high ratio, the ratio of the upper standard deviation to the mean price, is calculated in  2302  and assigned to variable Standard_Deviation_High_Ratio  2302 . The flag, Flag_Optimization  2304 , that determines whether an optimization is conducted is set to 1 in  2304 . A programming loop is established by steps  2305  through  5806  and is initiated by the For statement  2305 . The variable Competition  2305  is set equal to zero and is incremented in steps of one to a value store in the variable Competition_Number  2305  plus one. The flag, Use_New_Mean_Price  2306 , is set to zero in  2306 , which indicates the user&#39;s initial estimate of the mean price should be used rather than the estimate derived by the application. The optimization loop, defined by steps  608  through  3302 , begins with a program branch  608 . The program branches in  2308  based on the value of Use_New_Mean_Price  2308 . If Use_New_Mean_Price  2308  has a value of one, the the program uses a New_Mean_Price_Est  2310  derived in subsequent steps. If Use_New_Mean_Price  2308  does not have a value of one, then the value the user entered in  FIG. 4 , menu  400 , field  402  is used and is implemented by assigning the value stored in Mean_Price_Est Panel  2312  to NewPrice_Est  2312 . 
     FIG. 24  illustrates the determination of whether the optimization will be conducted or delayed. If Flag_Optimization  2400  is not equal to one, then the optimization is delayed and the If statement  2400  terminates in and End If statement  4610 . If Flag_Optimization  2400  is one, then the two dimensional array of size 5 by 20,000 called Expected_Results_Array  2406  is initialized to zero in a For—Next loop established by  2402 ,  2404 ,  2406 ,  2408 , and  2410 . Expected_Results_Array  2406  will store the expected win rate, revenue, and gross profit, for a given mean price estimate and price. 
     FIG. 25  is illustrates the assignment of optimization variable. The size of the price increments between the lower and upper bounds of the range of Mean_Price_Est  2500 , as defined by the user&#39;s entry in  FIG. 4 , field  402 , is calculated in  2500 . The lower standard deviation is calculated and assigned to Standard_Deviation_Low  2502 . The upper standard deviation is calculated in and assigned to Standard_Deviation_High  2504 . The first Mean_Price is calculated in  2506 . The value for Price_Low_Est  2508  is assigned to Price_Low  2508 . The value for Price_High_Est  2510  is assigned to Price_High  2510 . 
     FIG. 26  illustrates the assignment of the optimization variables and the initiation of the Mean Price Error Loop defined by steps  2602  through  3310 . The value of Expected_Results_Start_Index  2600  is set to one. The Mean Price Error Loop defined by steps  2602  through  3310  is initiated by the For statement in  2602 . The value of mean price is calculated and assigned to Mean_price  2604 , which is recalculated for every repetition of the Mean Price Error Loop defined by steps  2602  through  3310 . 
     FIG. 27  illustrates the assignment of optimization variables and a continuation of the Mean Price Error Loop.  FIG. 27  begins by determining the number of price increments represented by Price_Increment  2700  contained in the range of the frequency distribution, as well as the number of increments from the low end to the mean price represented by Increments_To_Mean_Price  2702 . The values for variables Const1  2704  and Const2  2706  are calculated. The value of Price  2708  is initialized. A programming loop  2710  to  2802  is established that increments Frequency_Index  2710  in single steps to Increments_To_Mean_Price  2710 . The value of variable Price  2708  is stored in Supplier_Price_Index  2712 . The Frequency Distribution for the given variable Price  2708  is calculated and stored in an array called Freq_Dist  2714 . 
     FIG. 28  illustrates the continued creation of the upper portion of the Frequency Distribution Array. The next value for the variable Price  2708  is calculated in  2800 . The Frequency_Index  2802  is increment and the instruction in the loop  2710  repeated until the value of Frequency_Index  2710  is equal to Increments_To_Mean_Price  2710  plus one. A programming loop defined by steps  2804  through  2812  is established that increments Frequency_Index  2804  from the value of Increments_To_Mean_Price  2804  plus one in steps of one to 1000 inclusive. The Supplier_Price_Index  2806  array is set to the value contained in the variable Price  2806 . The value for Freq_Dist  2808  array is calculated. The value of Price  2810  is incremented by the value of Price_Increment  2810 . The Frequency_Index  2812  is incremented and the instructions in programming loop defined by steps  2802  through  2812  is repeated until the value of Frequency_Index  2804  is equal to Increments_To_Mean_Price  2804  plus one. 
     FIG. 29  illustrates the smoothing of the Frequency Distribution Array data. The flow diagram that is the continuation of the Frequency Distribution Engine  118  referenced in  FIG. 1  and relates to the normalization of the two halves of the distribution curve. The normalization begins with a determination  2900  of whether Const1  2900  is larger than Const2  2900 . If it the determination  2900  is true, then a programming loop defined by steps  2902  through  2906  is initiated where i  2902  is initialized to zero and incremented by one to a value of Increments_To_Mean_Price  2902  plus one. The value stored in the array Freq_Dist(i)  2904  is multiplied by the ratio of Const2  2904  divided by Const1  2904  and restored in Freq_Dist(i)  2904 . Then the value of i  2906  is incremented and the loop defined by  2902  through  2906  repeated. If Const1  2900  is not larger than Const1  2900 , then the determination results in the End If  2908  statement. 
     FIG. 30  illustrates the continued smoothing of the Frequency Distribution Array and the determination of the Expected Results Array. If the determination  2900  is false, then a second determination  3000  of whether Const1  3000  is less than Const2  3000 . If the determination  300  is true, then a programming loop  3002  through  3006  is established where i  3002  is initialized to a value of Increments_To_Mean_Price  3002  plus one and stepped by increments of one. The value stored in the array Freq_Dist(i)  3004  is multiplied by the ratio of Const2  3004  divided by Const1  3004  and restored in Freq_Dist(i)  3004 . The value of i  3006  is incremented and the programming loop defined by  3002  through  3006  repeated. Once the programming loop defined by  3002  through  3006  is complete, a variable which represents the integrated value of the Frequency Distribution Array, Freq_Dist_Total  3010  is set to zero. If the determination of  3000  is false, the If statement  3000  terminats in an End If statement  3008 , then the routine proceeds to step  3010  where Freq_Dist_Total is set to zero. The Probability of Win Engine  120  referenced in  FIG. 1  calculates the probability of a customer purchasing a subject good or service based on a number of competitions. For programming expediency, the Probability of Win Engine  120  is embedded in the Expected Results Engine  122 . 
     FIG. 31  shows the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . The programming loop defined by steps  3100  through  3108  is used to integrate, or sum, the values defined by the first and last array elements of the Frequency Distribution Array. The programming loop defined by steps  3100  through  3108  is initiated by setting Frequency_Index  3100  to one and then incrementing in steps of one to 1000 for each loop. Frequency_Index_Less_One  3102  is calculated. The variable Height  3104  is calculated by taking the average of two adjacent values of array Freq_Dist  3104  for a given value of Frequency_Index  3104 . Freq_Dist_Total  3106  is calculated by multiplying the Price_Increment  3106  by the Height  3106  and summing to the previous value of Freq_Dist_Total  3106 . The next Frequency_Index  3108  is calculated by incrementing Frequency_Index  610  by one. The programming loop defined by  3100  through  3108  is repeated until Frequency_Index  3100  equals  1001 . 
   On completion of the programming loop defined by steps  3100  through  3108 , the value of Expected_Results_Index  3110  is set to zero. The value of Expected_Results_End_Index  3112  is calculated. The value of Frequency_Index  3114  is set to one. The programming loop defined by  3116  through  3308  is established where the value of Expected_Results_Index  3116  is set to the value of Expected_Results_Start_Index  3116  and is incremented by one until Expected_Results_End_Index  3116  is exceeded by a value of one. 
     FIG. 32  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . The Price  3200  is stored in the Expected_Results_Array  3200  column zero. The Mean_Price  3202  is stored in the Expected_Results_Array  3202  column one. The value for Frequency_Index_less_One  3204  is calculated. The value for Cum_At_Price  3206  is calculated in step  3206 . The value for Cum_At_Price_Rounded  3208  which represents the integral from the value Low_End  808  to the current value of Price  3200  is calculated. The value for Expected_Results_Array  3210  column two is calculated and depicts the probability of win with one competitor. The value for Expected_Results_Array  3212  column three is calculated and depicts the probability of win with for more than one supplier. The value for Expected_Results_Array  3214  column four is calculated and depicts the anticipated revenue for a specific price based on the number of offer opportunities. 
     FIG. 33  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . The value for Expected Results Array  3300  column five is calculated and depicts the anticipated gross profit for a specific price based the anticipated revenue and cost-of-goods. The value for Expected_Results_Array  3302  column six is calculated and depicts the anticipated earnings before income tax. The value of Price  3304  is incremented. The value of Frequency_Index  3306  is incremented. The value of Next_Expected_Results_Index  3308  is incremented and the programming loop defined by steps  3316  through  3310  repeated until Expected_Results_End_Index plus one is reached. 
     FIG. 24  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 34  initiates the steps associated with identifying the first and last indexes of values contained in Expected Results Array corresponding to the current value Mean_Price_Est. As a result of potential rounding error, an uncertainty for Mean_Price_Est must be incorporated into the search. Flag_Skip — 1  3400  is set to zero indicating that the first value of interest in a subsequent search has not been found. Flag_Skip2  3402  is set to zero indicating that the second value of interest in a subsequent search has not been found. A programming loop defined by steps  3404  through  3700 , is established to search the for the first index in the Expected Results Array where the value of Mean Price plus or minus a tolerance equals Mean_Price_Est. The For statement  3404  initiates the programming loop defined by  3404  through  3700 . A determination of whether Flag_Skip1  3406  is equal to zero is made. If Flag_Skip1  3406  is not equal to zero, then step  3506  is executed. If Flag_Skip1  3406  is equal to zero, then the value of Mean Price contained in the Expected_Results_Array  3408  is checked starting with the index value corresponding to Frequency_Index  3408 . If Flag_Skip1  3406  is not equal to zero, then the If statement  3406  terminates in an End If statement  3506 . If the Mean Price value is equal to Mean_Price_Est  3408 , the program proceeds to the steps shown in  FIG. 35 . If the Mean Price value is not equal to Mean_Price_Est  3408 , then the If statement  3408  terminates in an End If statement  3504 . 
     FIG. 35  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 35  illustrates the continued search in the Expected Results Array corresponding to the first index value of the array element Mean Price corresponding to the value stored in the variable Mean_Price_Est. If the value corresponding to Mean Price contained in the Expected_Results_Array is equal to Mean_Price_Est, then the value of Start_Index  3500  is set to Frequency_Index  3500  plus one. Flag_Skip1  3502  is set to one indicating that the index of the first Mean Price in Expected_Results_Array has been identified. A determination is made as to whether Flag_Skip2  3508  is equal to zero. If Flag_Skip2  3508  is not equal to zero, the last instance of the Mean Price in Expected_Results_Array has not been identified, and the program proceeds to step  3606  listed in  FIG. 36 . If Flag_Skip2  3508  is equal to zero, then a determination is made as to whether Frequency_Index  3510  is equal to 20,000, and then the steps shown in  FIG. 36  executed. 
     FIG. 36  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 36  illustrates the continued search in the Expected Results Array corresponding to the first and last index value of the array element Mean Price corresponding to the value stored in the variable Mean_Price_Est. If the determination of Flag_Skip2  3508  equal to zero is not true, then the If  1808  statement is terminated in step  3606 . If the determination of Flag_Skip  1808  equal to zero is true, then the determination of Frequency_Index  1810  equal to 20,000 is made. If Frequency_Index  1810  is equal to 20,000, then true, then the value of Frequency_Index is assigned to the variable End_Index  3600 . Flag_Skip2  3602  is set to one and the If  3510  statement is terminated in  3604 . If the determination that Frequency_Index is equal to 20,000 is true, then and value of Mean Price contained in the Expected_Results_Array  3608  is checked starting with the index value corresponding to Frequency_Index  3608 . If the Mean Price value is equal to Mean_Price_Est  3608 , the program proceeds to store the value of Frequency_Index less one in the variable End_Index  3610 . The variable Flag_Skip2  3612  is set to one indicating that no further checking is necessary. If the Mean Price value is not equal to Mean_Price_Est  3508 , the program proceeds to the End If  3614  statement. 
     FIG. 37  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 37  illustrates the search in the Expected Results Array for the price and corresponding index that yields the maximum income. The Next  3700  statement completes the programming loop defined by steps  3404  to  3700  associated with the search for the first and last index values of the array elements Mean Price corresponding to the value stored in the variable Mean_price_Est. Temp1  3702  is assigned the first value of income in the Expected_Results_Array  3702  corresponding to the element point to by Start_Index  3702 . The corresponding price to the first value of income in the Expected_Results_Array  3704  is assigned to the variable Max_Income_Price  3704 . A programming loop defined by steps  3706  through  3806  is established. The For  3706  statement will increment Frequency_Index  3706  from Start_Index+1  1706  to End_Index  3706 . Temp2  3708  stores the next array element in Expected_Results_Array depicting the projected income. A determination is made as to whether Temp2  3710  is larger than Temp1  3710 , and if true, then Temp2  3712  is assigned to Temp 1  3712  and the program proceeds to the steps shown in  FIG. 38 . If the determination of whether Temp2  3710  is larger than Temp1  3710  is false, then the program proceeds to the steps shown in  FIG. 21 . 
     FIG. 38  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 38  illustrates the continued search in the Expected Results Array for the price and corresponding index that yields the maximum income. Max_Income_Price  3800  is set based on the first price entry in the Expected_Results_Array  3800 . The Max_Income_Price_Index  3802  is set to the current Frequency_Index  3802 . The End If  3804  statement terminates the If  3710  statement. The Frequency_Index  3806  is incremented and the programming loop defined by steps  3706  through  3806  repeated until Frequency_Inex  3706  exceeds End_Index  3706  by one. 
   After the programming loop defined by steps  3706  through  3806  is completed, the program begins the process of identifying the price representing the highest gross profit. Temp1  3808  is assigned the gross profit value in the Expected_Results_Array  3808  based on Start_Index  3808 . The price stored in the Expected_Results_Array corresponding to Temp1  3808  is stored in Max_GM_Profit  3810 .  FIG. 39  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 39  illustrates the continued search in the Expected Results Array for the price and index that yields the maximum profit. A programming loop defined by steps  3900  through  4000  is initiated by the For  3900  statement. Frequency_Index  3900  is stepped in increments of one starting with the value (Start_Index1)  3900  to End_Index  3900 . Temp2  3902  is assigned the value in Expected_Results_Array  3902  corresponding to profit pointed to by Frequency_Index  3902 . A determination is made in as to whether Temp2  3904  is larger than Temp1  3904 . If the determination is not true, then the If statement is terminated in the End If  3912  statement. If the determination is true, then Temp2  3906  is assigned to Temp1  3906 . Max_GM_Price  3908  is assigned the value corresponding to price stored in the Expected_Results_Array  3908  pointed to by Frequency_Index  3908 . Max_GM_Price_Index  3910  is assigned the current value of Frequency_Index  3910 . The Frequency_Index  4000  is incremented by one and the programming loop defined by steps  3900  through  4000  repeated until the value of End_Index  3900  is exceeded by one. 
     FIG. 40  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 40  illustrates the determination of price so that the objectives of maximum income and profit are balanced. A determination of whether the variable Balance_Choice  4002  equal to 0.5 is made. If the determination is not true, the program proceeds to the End If  4108  statement. If the determination is true, then the user has specified the program optimize the selection of price by balancing the objectives of profit and income, and the program proceeds to step  4004 . 
   A determination is made as to whether Max_Income_Price_Index  4004  is greater than Max_GM_Price_Index  4004 . If the determination is not true, then the program proceeds to the End If  4008  statement. If the determination is true, then the program assigns Optimal_Price_Pointer  4006  with the value calculated by averaging the difference of index pointers Max_GM_Price_Index  4006  and Max_Income_Price_Index  4006  and summing Max_GM_Price_Index  4006 . 
     FIG. 41  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 41  illustrates the continued determination of price so that the objectives of maximum income and profit are balanced. A determination of whether Max_Income_Price_Index  4100  is greater than Max_GM_Price_Index  4100  is made. If the determination is not true, then the program proceeds to the End If  4106  statement. If the determination is true, then the program assigns Optimal_Price_Pointer  4102  with the value calculated by averaging the difference of index pointers Max_Income_Price_Index  4102  and Max_GM_Price_Index  4102  and summing Max_GM_Price_Index  4102 . Optimal_Price  4104  is assigned the value of price stored in Expected_Results_Array  4104  pointed to by the value stored in Optimal_Price_Pointer. 
     FIG. 42  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 42  illustrates the assignment of variables if the objective is to maximize income. A determination is made as to whether Balance_Choice  4200  is equal to one. If the determination is not true, then the If  4200  statement terminates in the End If  4206  statement. If the determination is true, then the variable Optimal_Price  4202  is assigned Max_Income_Price  4202 . Optimal_Price_Pointer  4204  is assigned the value of Max_Income_Price_Index  4204 . 
   A determination is made as to whether Balance_Choice  4208  equals zero. If the determination is not true, then the If  4208  statement terminates in the End If  4302  statement. If the determination is true, then the variable Optimal_Price  4210  is assigned the value stored in Max_GM_Price  4210 . Optimal_Price_Pointer  4300  is assigned the value of Max_GM_Price_Index  4300 . 
     FIG. 43  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . If the percentage difference in expected and actual win rates are outside a predefined window, a table that defines a relationship between the actual win rate, the current optimized price, and new mean price is used to update the optimization.  FIG. 43  illustrates the steps used to determine the contents of the Error Lookup Array. A programming loop defined by steps  4304  through  4308  is initiated with the For  4304  statement, with i  4304  set to zero and stepped in increments of one to 19. The elements of Error_Lookup_Array(0,i)  4306  are populated with the value of Optimal_Price  4306  based on index i. i  4307  is incremented and the programming loop defined by steps  3404  through  4307  repeated. Error_Lookup_Array(1,0)  4308  is assigned the lowest Mean_Price_Est  4308  given the largest error as defined by Price_Max_Error  4308 . The value of Optimal_Price_pointer is assigned to Lowest_Pointer  4310  and to Temp  4312 . A programming loop defined by steps  4314  through  4408  is established with the For  4316  statement, where i is set to zero and incremented by one to a value of 19. 
     FIG. 44  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . Steps  4400  through  4410  find the lowest index to the optimal price for a given Mean Price. Temp  4400  is assigned a new value determined by subtracting 1000 from the original value of Temp  4400 . A determination of whether Temp  4402  is equal to, or greater than zero is made. If the determination is not true, then the If  4402  statement is terminated in the End If  4406  statement If the determination  4402  is true, then Lowest_Pointer  4404  is set equal to Temp  4404 . i  4408  is incremented and the programming loop defined by steps  4316  to  4408  repeated. Error_Lookup_Array(2,0)  4410  is set equal to the value stored in Lowest_Pointer  4410 . The first index of the first Mean_Price set is stored in Error_Lookup_Array(3,0)  4412  by setting it equal to one. 
     FIG. 45  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . The last index of the first Mean_Price set is stored by setting the Expected_Results_Array(4,0)  4500  equal to 1000. A programming loop defined by steps  4502  to  5414  is initiated by the For  4502  statement, and populates the Error_Lookup_Array. The programming loop increments i  4502  from 1 to 19 in steps of one. The variable ii  4504  is calculated by subtracting one from i  4504 . The value of Error_Lookup_Array(1,i)  4506  is calculated by adding the Price_Max_Error_Increment  4506  to Error_Lookup_Array(1,ii)  4506 . The value of Error_Lookup_Array(2,i)  4508  is calculated by adding 1000 to Error_Lookup_Array(2,ii). The value of Error_Lookup_Array(3,i)  4510  is calculated by adding 1000 to Error_Lookup_Array(3,ii)  4510 . Error_Lookup_Array(4,i)  4512  is calculated by adding 1000 to Error_Lookup_Array(4,ii)  4512 . i is incremented by one and the programming loop defined by steps  4502  through  4514  repeated. 
     FIG. 46  steps  4600  through  4610  shows the continuation of the flow diagram that is part of the Expected Results Engine  122  referenced in  FIG. 1 . A programming loop defined by  4600  through  4606  is established by the For  4600  statement. i  4600  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to  19 . k  4602  is set equal to the value stored in Error_Lookup_Array(2,i). Error_Lookup_Array(5,i)  4604  is set equal to the value in Expected_Results_Array(2,k)  4604 . i is incremented by one and the programming loop defined by steps  4600  through  4606  repeated. A programming loop is established with steps  4607 A through  4607 C and is initiated by the For statement  4607 A. i  4607 A is set to zero and stepped in increments of one to 11000 plus one. The indexed array of Price_Dist  4607 B is set equal to Optimal_Price  4607 B. The programming loop  4607 A through  4607 A is repeated until 1000 plus one is reached. The value of Flag_Optimization  4608  is set to zero indicating that the optimization is complete. 
   Step  4612  begins the flow diagram of the Optimization Update Engine  124  shown in  FIG. 1 . The decision whether to re-optimize pricing is based on a pre-determined number of offer opportunties and an evaluation of whether the percentage difference between the actual and expected win rates fall outside a predefined window. A determination of whether the arithmetic/logic expression (Competition MOD Optimization_Update AND Competition)  4612  is greater than zero. If the determination  4612  is not true, then the If  4612  statement is terminated in the End If  4916  statement. If the determination  4612  is true, then the program proceeds to step  4700  indicating the actual results of the optimization should be checked. 
     FIG. 47  shows the continued flow diagram of the Optimization Update Engine referenced in  FIG. 1 . Start_Wins  4700  is set equal to Competition  4700  less Optimization_Update  4700  plus one. End_Wins  4702  is set equal to Competition  4702 . Period_Wins  4704  is set to zero. A programming loop defined by the steps  4706  through  4708  is initiated by the For  4706  statement. k  4706  is set equal to Start_Wins  4706  and incremented in steps of one to a value equal to End_Wins  4706 . Period_Wins  4707  is calculated by adding Actual_Results_Array(1,k)  4704 +Period_Wins  4707 . k is incremented by one and the programming loop defined by steps  4706  through  4708  repeated. Actual_Wins_Decimal  4710  is calculated by dividing the Period_Wins  4710  by Optimization_Update  4710 . Expected_Wins_Decimal  4712  is set equal to Expected_Results_Array(2, Optimal_Price_Pointer)  4712 . Temp  4714  is calculated by taking the absolute value of the difference between Actual_Wins_Decimal  4714  and Expected_Wins_Decimal  4714 , and then dividing the difference by Expected_Wins_Decimal  4714 . 
     FIG. 48  shows the continued flow diagram of the Optimization Update Engine  124  referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 48  illustrates the determination of whether the actual results are within a tolerable limit. A determination of whether Temp  4800  is greater than Error_Window  4800  is made. If the determination  4800  is not true, then the if  4800  statement is terminated in an End If  4910  statement. If the determination  4800  is true, then Win_Difference_Current  4802  is calculated by taking the absolute value of the difference between the Actual_Wins_Decimal  4802  and the Error_Lookup_Array(5,0)  4802 . A programming loop defined by steps  4804  and  4904  is initiated with the For  4804  statement. i  4804  is incremented from on to 19 in steps of one. Win_Difference_Current  4806  is calculated by taking the absolute value of the difference between the Acutal_Wins_Decimal  4806  and Error_Lookup_Array(5,i)  4806 . A determination of whether Win_Difference_Lowest  4808  is greater than Win_Difference_Current  4808  is made. If the determination  4808  is not true, then the If  4808  statement is terminated in and End If  4902  statement. If the determination  4810  is true, then Win_Difference_Lowest is set equal to Win_Difference_Current  4810 . 
     FIG. 49  shows the continued flow diagram of the Optimization Update Engine referenced in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 49  illustrates the selection of a new mean price. Win_Difference_Lowest_Index  4900  is set equal to i. i  4900  is incremented by one and the programming loop defined by steps  4804  through  4904  is repeated. New_Mean_Price_Est  4906  is set equal to Error_Lookup_Array(1, Win_Difference_Lowest_Index)  4906 . The value for variable Use_New_Mean_Price_Est  4908  is set equal to one. The variable Use_New_Mean_Price_Est is set equal to one. Mean_Price  4912  is set equal to Expected_Results_Array(1, Win_Difference_Lowest_Index)  4912 . The variable Flag_Optimize  4914  is set equal to one. 
     FIG. 50  is a flow chart illustrating the random drawing of bids by the Market Place Engine  128  reference in  FIG. 1  from the Price Distribution Array. A programming loop defined by steps  5000  through  5104  is initiated by the For statement  5000 . Supplier_Index  5000  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to the value of Supplier_Number  5000  plus one. A Do Loop defined by steps  5002  to  5102  is initiated by the Do statement  5002 . The Randomize statement  5004  causes the operating system to extract a pseudo random number to serve as a “seed” for a random number generator. Steps  5006  and  5010  create a variable programming delay. A programming loop defined by steps  5007  through  5010  is initiated by the For statement  5007 . i  5007  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one until Temp4  5007  plus one is reached. Temp3  5008  is calculated simply as a programming delay. The Next i statement  5010  increments i and the programming loop  5007  through  5010  repeated. The Randomize statement  5012  causes the operating system to create a seed for the random number generator. Temp  5014  is calculated by multiplying 10000 by a random number. Temp2  5016  is calculated by using Temp  5014  to randomly draw a price from the Price_Dist Array  5016 . 
     FIG. 51  is a flow chart illustrating the populations of the Market Place Array and the identification of the lowest bidder. The Market_Place Array  5100  is assigned the bid, or price, stored in Temp2  5100 . The Do Loop defined by steps  5002  to  5102  is repeated until Temp2  5102  is greater than zero. The programming loop defined by steps  5000  through  5104  is repeated until Supplier_Index  5104  equals Supplier_Number  5000  plus one. Lowest_Bid  5106  is assigned a value associated with Supplier1 from the Market_Place Array  5106 . The Lowest_Supplier  5108  is set to zero. A determination as to whether the Lowest_Bid  5110  is less than the next bid contained in the Market_Place Array  5110  depicting the bid from Supplier2. If the determination  5110  is true, then the bid contained in the Market_Place Array  5110  for Supplier2 is stored in Lowest_Bid  5112 . Lowest_Supplier  5114  is set to one. If the determination  5110  is not true, the If statement  5110  is terminated in the End If  5116  statement. 
     FIG. 52  is a flow chart illustrating the continued identification of the lowest bidder. A determination as to whether Supplier_Number  5200  is greater than one AND Lowest_Bid  5200  is greater than the indexed element of Market_Place Array  5200 . If true, then Lowest_Bid  5202  is set equal to the indexed value in the Market_Place Array  5202 . Lowest_Supplier  5204  is set equal to two. If the determination  5200  is false, then the If statement  5200  is terminated in the End If statement  5206 . 
     FIG. 53  is a flow chart illustrating the continued identification of the lowest bidder. A determination as to whether Supplier_Number  5300  is greater than two AND Lowest_Bid  5300  is greater than the indexed element of Market_Place Array  5300 . If true, then Lowest_Bid  5302  is set equal to the indexed value in the Market_Place Array  5302 . Lowest_Supplier  5304  is set equal to three. If the determination  5300  is false, then the If statement  5300  is terminated in the End If statement  5306 . 
     FIG. 54  is a flow chart illustrating the continued identification of the lowest bidder and the accumulation of supplier wins and actual results. A determination as to whether Supplier_Number  5400  is greater than three AND Lowest_Bid  5400  is greater than the indexed element of Market_Place Array  5400 . If true, then Lowest_Bid  5402  is set equal to the indexed value in the Market_Place Array  5402 . Lowest_Supplier  5404  is set equal to four. If the determination  5400  is false, then the If statement  5400  is terminated in the End If statement  5406 . The indexed element of Supplier_Wins array  5408  is set to the value stored in Lowest_Bid  5408 . The Lowest_Bid  5410  is stored in the Supplier_Wins Array  5410 . The total wins for the supplier is incremented by one  5410  and stored in the array Total_Supplier_Wins  5410 . The value of the optimized supplier&#39;s bid is stored in the index array element for Actual_Results_Array  5412 . 
     FIG. 55  is a flow chart illustrating the continued accumulation of actual results. A determination  5500  as to whether Lowest_Supplier  5500  is equal to zero. If the determination  5500  is true, then the indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5502  is set to one indicating that the Optimized supplier won the current competition. If the determination  5500  is not true, then the Else statement  5504  is executed and a zero is stored in the indexed array element Actual_Results_Array  5506 . The If statement  5500  is terminated in the End If statement  5508 . A determination  5510  as to whether the indexed element of Actual_Results_Array  5510  is equal to one. If the determination  5500  is false, then the If statement  5500  terminates in the End If statement  5608 . If determination  5510  is true, then the indexed element of Actual_Results_Array  5512  containing the bid price is stored in another indexed element of Actual_Results_Array  5512  for income. 
     FIG. 56  is a flow chart of the continued accumulation of actual results. The indexed element of Actual_Results_Array  5600  contains the cost-of-goods and stores the value of Cost_Per_Unit  5600 . The gross profit is stored in the indexed element of Actual_Results_Array  5502  after the subtraction of the cost-of-goods, an indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5502 , from income, an indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5502 . The indexed element of the array Acutal_Results_Array  5604  stores the sale-general-and-administration expense, which is a percentage of income. The indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5606  stores earnings before income tax. A determination  5610  is made as to whether Competition  5610  is equal to zero. If the determination  5610  is not true, then the Else statement  5708  is executed. If the determination  5610  is true, then the indexed array element of Acutal_Results_Array  5612  stores the cumulative wins. The indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5614  stores the cumulative income. 
     FIG. 57  is a flow chart of the continued accumulation of actual results. The indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5700  stores the cumulative cost-of-goods. The indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5702  stores the cumulative gross profit. The indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5704  stores the cumulative sales-general-and-administration expense. The indexed array element of Actual_Results_Array  5706  stores the cumulative earnings before income tax. The If statement  5610  terminates in the End If statement  5804 . If determination  5610  is not true, then the array element Acutal_Results_Array  5710  stores the cumulative wins. The array element Actual_Results_Array  5712  stores the cumulative income. The array element Acutal_Results_Array  5714  stores the cumulative cost-of-goods. The array element Actual_Results_Array  5716  stores the cumulative gross profit. 
     FIG. 58  is a flow chart of the continued accumulation of actual results and the formation of the income statement. The array element Actual_Results_Array  5800  stores the cumulative sales-general-and-administrative expense. The array element Actual_Results_Array  5802  stores the cumulative earnings before income tax. The Next Competition statement  5806  causes the variable Competition  5806  to be incremented and the programming loop defined by steps  2305  through  3506  repeated. A programming loop defined by steps  5808  through  5816  with the For statement  5808 . Supplier_Index  5808  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value of stored in the variable Supplier_Number  5808  plus one. A programming loop defined by steps  5810  through  5814  is established with the For statement  5810 . Competition  5810  is set equal to zero and steps in increments of one to the value stored in Competition_Number  5810  plus one. The values representing winning prices in the array Supplier_Wins  5812  are aggragated in the array Income_Statement  5812 . The statement Next Competition  5814  causes the programming loop defined by steps  5810  through  5814  to repeat. The statement Next Supplier_Index  5816  causes the programming loop  5808  through  5816  to repeat. 
     FIG. 59  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the income statement. A programming loop defined by steps  5900  through  5904  is initiated with the For statement  5900 . Supplier_Index  5900  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value of stored in Supplier_Number  5900  plus one. Cost-of-goods are aggregated in the indexed array element of the Income_Statement  5902  through the multiplication of Cost_Per_Unit  5902  with the indexed array element Total_Supplier_Wins  5902 . The Next Supplier_Index  5904  causes the programming loop defined by steps  5900  through  5904  to repeat. A programming loop defined by steps  5906  and  5910  and is initiated with the For statement  5906 . 
   Supplier_Index  5906  is set equal to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value stored in Supplier_Number  5906  plus one. Gross profit is calculated by subtracting the indexed array element of Income_Statement  5908 , cost-of-goods sold, from another indexed array element of Income_Statement  5908  depicting income. The Next Supplier_Index statement  5910  causes the programming loop defined by steps  5906  through  5910  to be repeated. A programming loop defined by steps  5912  through  5916  is initiated with the For statement  5912 . Supplier_Index  5912  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one of a value of store in Supplier_Number  5912  plus one. Sales-general-and-administration expenses are aggregated in the indexed array element of the Income_Statement  5914  through the multiplication of SG_And_A_Cost  5914  with the indexed array element of Income_Statement  5914 . The Next Supplier_Index  5916  causes the programming loop defined by steps  5912  through  5916  to repeat. 
     FIG. 60  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the income statement and the Competition Set Array. A programming loop defined by steps  6000  through  6004  is initiated with the For statement  6000 . Supplier_Index  600  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value of store in Supplier_Number  6000  plus one. Earnings before income tax are calculated and stored in an indexed array element of Income_Statement in step  6002  by subtracting the array elements of Income_Statement  6002  depicting cost-of-goods sold and sales-general-and-administration expenses from income, also depicting in Income_Statement  6002 . The Next Supplier_Index  6004  causes the programming loop defined by steps  6000  through  6004  to repeat. A programming loop defined by steps  6006  through  6104  is initiated with the For statement  6006 . Supplier_Index  6006  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value of store in Supplier_Number  6006  plus one. The total wins for each supplier are stored in multiple indexed array elements of Competition_Set_Array  6008 . The variable Temp  6010  stored the total supplier wins from the Competition_Set_Array  6008 . A programming loop defined by steps  6012  through  6102  is initiated with the For statement  6012 . y  6012  is set equal to one and incremented in steps of one to a value of five plus one. The variable k  6014  is calculated by subtracting one from the value of stored in y  6014 . 
     FIG. 61  is a flow chart of the continued formation of the Competition Set Array. The Competition_Set_Array  6100  stores the income statement for the current Competition_Set  6100 . The Next y statement  6102  causes the programming loop defined by steps  6012  through  6102  to repeat. The Next Supplier_Index statement  6104  causes the programming loop defined by steps  6006  to  6104  to repeat. The Next Competition_Set_Index  6106  causes the programming loop  2212  through  6106  to repeat. A programming loop defined by steps  6108  through  6206  is initiated by the For statement  6108 . The variable Calculated_Value_Index  6108  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value of five plus one. A programming loop defined by steps  6110  through  6204  is initiated by the For statement  6110 . The Supplier_Index  6110  is set equal to zero and incremented in steps of one to the value stored in Supplier_Number  6110  plus one. Zero is assigned to the variable Temp  6112 . A programming loop defined by steps  6114  through  6200  is initiated by the For statement  6114 . The variable Competition_Index  6114  is set to zero incremented in steps of one to the value stored in Competition_Set_Number  6114  plus one. The variable Temp  6116  is used to accumulate similar array elements in the Competition_Set_Array  6116  for the purposes of averaging. 
     FIG. 62  is a flow chart showing the formation of the Statistics Array. The Next Competition_Index  6200  statement cause the programming loop defined by steps  6114  through  6200 . The average value is calculated for similar array elements of the Competition_Set_array  6116  by dividing Temp  6202  by the value stored in Competition_Set_Number  6202 . The Next Supplier_Index statement  6204  cause the programming loop defined by  6110  through  6204  to repeat. The Next Calculated_Value_Index  6206  causes the programming loop defined by steps  6108  through  6206  to repeat. A programming loop defined by steps  6207  through  6312  is established and initiated by the For statement  6207 . Supplier_Index  6207  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to Supplier_Number  6207 . A programming loop defined by steps  6210  through  6310  is initiated by the For statement  6210 . The variable Competition_Value_Index  6210  is set to a value of six and incremented in steps of one to a value of eleven plus one. Temp  6212  is set to zero. Temp1  6214  is set to zero. The variable Avg_Offset_In_Statistics_Array  6216  is calculated by subtracting six from the value stored in Competition_Value_Index  6216 . The variable Data_offset_In_Competition_Set_Array  6218  is calculated by subtracting six from the value stored in Competition_Value_Index  6218 . 
     FIG. 63  is a flow chart showing the continued formation of the Statistics Array. A programming loop defined by steps  6300  through  6306  and is initiated by the For statement  6300 . Competition_Set_Index  6300  is set to zero and incremented in steps of one to a value stored in Competition_Number  6300  plus one. The variable Temp  6302  is calculated by squaring the difference between the average value stored in the array element of Statistics_Array  6302  and the stored array element value in Competition_Set_Array  6302 . Temp1  6304  is calculated by summing Temp1  6304  with Temp  6304 . The Next Competition_Set_Index statement  6306  causes the programming loop defined by steps  6300  through  6306  to repeat. The standard deviation is calculated and stored in the Statistics_Array  6308 . The Next Competition_Value_Index statement  6310  causes the programming loop defined by steps  6210  through  6310  to repeat. 
     FIG. 64  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. Supplier_Index  6400  is set to zero. The value for Supplier1_Avg_Wins  6402  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6402  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Std_Dev_Wins  6404  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6404  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Avg_Income  6406  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6406  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Std_Dev_Income  6408  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6408  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Avg_COGs  6410  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6410  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Std_Dev_COGs  6412  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6412  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Avg_Gross_Profit  6414  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6414  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit  6416  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6416  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Avg_SGandA  6418  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6418  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Std_Dev_SGandA  6420  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6420  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Avg_EBIT  6422  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6422  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier1_Std_Dev_EBIT  6424  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6424  and passed to the display. 
     FIG. 65  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. Supplier_Index  6500  is set to one. The value for Supplier2_Avg_Wins  6502  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6502  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Std_Dev_Wins  6504  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6504  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Avg_Income  6506  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6506  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Std_Dev_Income  6508  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6508  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Avg_COGs  6510  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6510  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Std_Dev_COGs  6512  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6512  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Avg_Gross_Profit  6514  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6514  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit  6516  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6516  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Avg_SGandA  6518  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6518  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Std_Dev_SGandA  6520  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6520  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Avg_EBIT  6522  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6522  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier2_Std_Dev_EBIT  6524  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6524  and passed to the display. 
     FIG. 66  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. Supplier_Index  6600  is set to two. The value for Supplier3_Avg_Wins  6602  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6602  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Std_Dev_Wins  6604  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6604  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Avg_Income  6606  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6606  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Std_Dev_Income  6608  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6608  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Avg_COGs  6610  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6610  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Std_Dev_COGs  6612  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6612  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Avg_Gross_Profit  6614  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6614  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit  6616  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6616  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Avg_SGandA  6618  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6618  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Std_Dev_SGandA  6620  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6620  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Avg_EBIT  6622  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6622  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier3_Std_Dev_EBIT  6624  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6624  and passed to the display. 
     FIG. 67  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. Supplier_Index  6700  is set to three. The value for Supplier4_Avg_Wins  6702  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6702  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Std_Dev_Wins  6704  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6704  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Avg_Income  6706  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6706  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Std_Dev_Income  6708  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6708  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Avg_COGs  6710  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6710  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Std_Dev_COGs  6712  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6712  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Avg_Gross_Profit  6714  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6714  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit  6716  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6716  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Avg_SGandA  6718  is extracted from the Statistics_array  6718  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Std_Dev_SGandA  6720  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6720  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Avg_EBIT  6722  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6722  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier4_Std_Dev_EBIT  6724  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6724  and passed to the display. 
     FIG. 68  is a flow chart showing the output of data to the display. Supplier5_Index  6800  is set to four. The value for Supplier5_Avg_Wins  6802  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6802  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Std_Dev_Wins  6804  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6804  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Avg_Income  6806  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6806  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Std_Dev_Income  6808  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6808  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Avg_COGs  6810  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6810  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Std_Dev_COGs  6812  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6812  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Avg_Gross_Profit  6814  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6814  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit  6816  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6816  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Avg_SGandA  6818  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6818  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Std_Dev_SGandA  6820  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6820  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Avg_EBIT  6822  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6822  and passed to the display. The value for Supplier5_Std_Dev_EBIT  6824  is extracted from the Statistics_Array  6824  and passed to the display. 
     FIGS. 69 and 70  shows the output displays. The output display  6974  shows the simulation results for Supplier1  6974  though Supplier3  6974 . The output display  7048  shows the simulation results for Supplier4  7048  and Supplier5  7048 . The manner in which the fields contained in the output displays are populated are described in the following table. The Source of the Data describes the variable name and drawing reference number. The Display Field Reference Number indicates the display field that corresponds to the variable that will be displayed. See Table 1 below. 
   
     
       
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 1 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
             
                 
               Display 
             
             
                 
               Field 
             
             
               Source of Data 
               Reference 
             
           
        
         
             
               Variable Name 
               Reference Number 
               Number 
             
             
                 
             
             
               Supplier1_Avg_Wins 
               6402 
               6900 
             
             
               Supplier1_Std_Dev_Wins 
               6404 
               6912 
             
             
               Supplier1_Avg_Income 
               6406 
               6902 
             
             
               Supplier1_Std_Dev_Income 
               6408 
               6914 
             
             
               Supplier1_Avg_COGs 
               6410 
               6904 
             
             
               Supplier1_Std_Dev_COGs 
               6412 
               6916 
             
             
               Supplier1_Avg_Gross_Profit 
               6414 
               6906 
             
             
               Supplier1_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit 
               6414 
               6918 
             
             
               Supplier1_Avg_SGandA 
               6418 
               6908 
             
             
               Supplier1_Std_Dev_SGandA 
               6418 
               6920 
             
             
               Supplier1_Avg_EBIT 
               6422 
               6910 
             
             
               Supplier1_Std_Dev_EBIT 
               6422 
               6922 
             
             
               Supplier2_Avg_Wins 
               6502 
               6924 
             
             
               Supplier2_Std_Dev_Wins 
               6504 
               6936 
             
             
               Supplier2_Avg_Income 
               6506 
               6926 
             
             
               Supplier2_Std_Dev_Income 
               6508 
               6938 
             
             
               Supplier2_Avg_COGs 
               6510 
               6928 
             
             
               Supplier2_Std_Dev_COGs 
               6512 
               6940 
             
             
               Supplier2_Avg_Gross_Profit 
               6514 
               6930 
             
             
               Supplier2_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit 
               6516 
               6942 
             
             
               Supplier2_Avg_SGandA 
               6518 
               6932 
             
             
               Supplier2_Std_Dev_SGandA 
               6520 
               6944 
             
             
               Supplier2_Avg_EBIT 
               6522 
               6934 
             
             
               Supplier2_Std_Dev_EBIT 
               6524 
               6946 
             
             
               Supplier3_Avg_Wins 
               6602 
               6948 
             
             
               Supplier3_Std_Dev_Wins 
               6604 
               6960 
             
             
               Supplier3_Avg_Income 
               6606 
               6950 
             
             
               Supplier3_Std_Dev_Income 
               6608 
               6962 
             
             
               Supplier3_Avg_COGs 
               6610 
               6952 
             
             
               Supplier3_Std_Dev_COGs 
               6612 
               6964 
             
             
               Supplier3_Avg_Gross_Profit 
               6614 
               6954 
             
             
               Supplier3_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit 
               6616 
               6968 
             
             
               Supplier3_Avg_SGandA 
               6618 
               6956 
             
             
               Supplier3_Std_Dev_SGandA 
               6620 
               6970 
             
             
               Supplier3_Avg_EBIT 
               6622 
               6958 
             
             
               Supplier3_Std_Dev_EBIT 
               6624 
               6972 
             
             
               Supplier4_Avg_Wins 
               6702 
               7000 
             
             
               Supplier4_Std_Dev_Wins 
               6704 
               7012 
             
             
               Supplier4_Avg_Income 
               6706 
               7002 
             
             
               Supplier4_Std_Dev_Income 
               6708 
               7014 
             
             
               Supplier4_Avg_COGs 
               6710 
               7004 
             
             
               Supplier4_Std_Dev_COGs 
               6712 
               7016 
             
             
               Supplier4_Avg_Gross_Profit 
               6714 
               7006 
             
             
               Supplier4_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit 
               6716 
               7018 
             
             
               Supplier4_Avg_SGandA 
               6718 
               7008 
             
             
               Supplier4_Std_Dev_SGandA 
               6720 
               7020 
             
             
               Supplier4_Avg_EBIT 
               6722 
               7010 
             
             
               Supplier4_Std_Dev_EBIT 
               6724 
               7022 
             
             
               Supplier5_Avg_Wins 
               6802 
               7024 
             
             
               Supplier5_Std_Dev_Wins 
               6804 
               7036 
             
             
               Supplier5_Avg_Income 
               6806 
               7026 
             
             
               Supplier5_Std_Dev_Income 
               6808 
               7038 
             
             
               Supplier5_Avg_COGs 
               6810 
               7028 
             
             
               Supplier5_Std_Dev_COGs 
               6812 
               7040 
             
             
               Supplier5_Avg_Gross_Profit 
               6814 
               7030 
             
             
               Supplier5_Std_Dev_Gross_Profit 
               6816 
               7042 
             
             
               Supplier5_Avg_SGandA 
               6818 
               7032 
             
             
               Supplier5_Std_Dev_SGandA 
               6820 
               7044 
             
             
               Supplier5_Avg_EBIT 
               6822 
               7034 
             
             
               Supplier5_Std_Dev_EBIT 
               6824 
               7046