Patent ID: 7035815

Claim:
A method for providing an interactive online lead time advisor for a customer configured computer system comprising: providing an online store computer system linked to a computer network for: receiving selection input from a customer; configuring a customer computer system of desired components in response to the selection input; and advising on a lead time for the customer configured computer system, wherein advising on lead time includes: outputting data representative of an estimated ship date for delivery of the customer configured computer system to the customer, wherein the estimated ship date is determined as a function of individual lead times of the desired components of the customer configured computer system; outputting a customer selectable option configured for optimizing the ship date in response to a selection of the desired components by the customer; and responsive to receiving the optimize ship date selection request: identifying a desired component of the customer configured computer system having a lead time that impacts the estimated ship date by a maximum lead time amount; identifying a recommendation configured to reduce an impact on the estimated ship date as an alternate component selection compatible with the desired component selection; and outputting data representative of the recommendation for consideration by the customer, the recommendation including an alternate component identification.