Patent ID: 7209904

Claim:
A method performed utilizing a computer system, the method comprising: receiving via an input device of the computer system a price-frequency mathematical distribution of prices associated with at least one non-optimized supplier; storing the distribution of prices in memory of the computer system; receiving via the input device of the computer system, a number of competitors, a business objective, and a cost associated with a good or service; storing the number of competitors, business objective, and cost associated with the good or service in the memory of the computer system; producing a set of non-optimized prices based on the distribution of prices, by selecting at least one non-optimized price for each competitor from the distribution of prices, utilizing a processor of the computer system; calculating an optimal price based on the selected non-optimized prices, number of competitors, business objective, and cost associated with the good or service, wherein the business objective is selected from the group consisting of maximizing revenue for the good or service, maximizing gross profit for the good or service, maximizing factory utilization for the good or service, maximizing market share for the good or service, and maximizing earnings before income tax (EBIT) for the good or service, utilizing the processor of the computer system; displaying via an output device of the computer system the calculated optimal price for accomplishing the business objective; simulating the optimal price to generate an updated optimal price by identifying a result of utilizing the optimal price, where the result is stored, and a search is performed for the updated optimal price that optimizes a user-selected business objective selected from the group consisting of maximizing revenue for the good or service, maximizing gross profit for the good or service, maximizing factory utilization for the good or service, maximizing market share for the good or service, and maximizing earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the good or service, utilizing the processor of the computer system, where a) the result includes an expected result, b) the expected result is compared with an actual result, c) it is determined whether an optimization is required based on the comparison, and d) if it is determined that the optimization is required, the updated optimal price is identified; and displaying via the output device of the computer system the updated optimal price for further accomplishing the business objective.