International Business Machines Corporation

David B Schroeder

Paul Anthony Smith

Gerald W Baumann

John M Salvadore

Richard A Leavitt

David H Goldstein

Kirk A Tatusko

Under the present invention, componentized costs for providing/producing an item are collected from a plurality of suppliers. The componentized costs include the fixed and variable costs associated with raw materials and production for providing the item according to various specifications and order quantities. When a buyer wishes to obtain the item, a particular order specification and a demand forecast for the item will be provided. Based on the particular specification, the demand forecast and the componentized costs, an optimal order quantity for the item will be calculated. Then, a total (lifetime) cost for providing the item will be calculated for each supplier. The supplier having the lowest total cost for the projected lifetime of the item will be identified to the buyer.

System and program product for selecting a lower cost supplier based on total cost and forecasted demand

System, method, and program product for selecting a lower cost supplier based on total cost and forecasted demand

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Randolph, NJ, United States of America

David B Schroeder